The second Group B match at the Spodek Arena in Katowice will be an exciting clash between the only non-European team in the group, Saudi Arabia, and Slovenia, one of the two teams awarded with a Wild Card for the 28th IHF Men's World Championship.

• 18:00 CET Saudi Arabia vs Slovenia

In their 10th appearance at an IHF Men's World Championship, Slovenia want to get back on track after failing to secure a spot through qualifications. Uroš Zorman's team is eager to prove their quality and dreams of repeating the country's best result so far – third place at the 2017 Men's World Championship.

With the absence of Gašper Marguč, Miha Zarabec and goalkeeper Urh Kastelic, Slovenia rely on a good mixture of youth and experience with many familiar faces in the squad, like stalwarts Jure Dolenec, Blaž Janc and Dean Bombač.

"We must be humble, respect everyone, but at the same time realise that we are capable of good results. But we can only do something if we are united, fighting, and if we play for each other. We have to fight and bite," said head coach Uroš Zorman to the official website of the Slovenia Handball Federation.

Even though Slovenia are favourites in the first match of Group B, Saudi Arabia will not let go easily. The ambitious team led by the famous Danish head coach Jan Pytlick want to improve in the flagship competition after missing out on the 2021 Men's World Championship. Considering they lost two previous World Championship encounters against Slovenia by double digits, their motivation for the opening match is even bigger.

It is challenging for Saudi Arabia against three strong European teams, especially defence-wise. The team has played two friendly matches against Denmark, both times conceding over 40 goals while struggling in the attack. For now, Coach Pytlick's luck is that he does not have to deal with many injuries, as only left back Abbas Al-Saffar stayed at home due to a rib injury.