After two interesting matches of Group B, the Spodek Arena in Katowice finally welcomes the national teams of Group E. A well-balanced group start with favourites Germany and Serbia taking on the opponents who have never won against them - Qatar and Algeria.

• 18:00 CET Germany vs Qatar

Germany have high hopes for the 28th IHF Men's World Championship with the rebuilt team and a new strategy. After appointing Alfreð Gíslason as head coach in 2020, Germany did not achieve the results everyone was expecting. From the 12th place at Egypt 2021 to seventh place at the EHF EURO 2022, it is obvious that this team can only progress.

Judging by past results, Germany have a good chance to start with a win against Qatar. The European side won both head-to-heads at the World Championship, leaving Qatar below the 20-goal mark. However, Qatar have improved since, boosted by the Spanish touch of head coach Valero Rivera.

Since winning a historic silver medal at the 2015 World Championship, Qatar's best results have been two eight places at the world flagship competition and they never lost one title at the Asian Men's Handball Championships. It is the reason why Germany talk about their opponents with respect.

"Qatar play a strong 6-0 defence and we know their goalkeeper Anadin Suljaković from HSG Wetzlar very well. They are trying to make fast breaks from that defence. We have the utmost respect towards them and Spanish coaches like Valero Rivera. They are doing a very good job at the international level", said German assistant coach Erik Wudtke to handball.net.

• 20:30 CET Serbia vs Algeria

If you ask fans in Serbia, they have high expectations for this team. And it has been like that since Antoni Gerona Salaet, known as Toni Gerona, took over the team. Coming back to the World Championship after a four-year hiatus, Serbia aim to restore their old glory.

The opening match of the major handball event is always tricky and hard to play. Still, Serbia hope they will be off to a good start against Algeria, who have never won in their three previous encounters against the Balkan country at the World Championship.

"I know Algeria very well because I had the opportunity to play against them as the head coach of Tunisia. We are expecting a completely different match compared to the one against Sweden in a friendly match, so we have to be careful. It will be challenging, but we have done a detailed analysis, and we will work on the finesse in our game until the match", said head coach Toni Gerona on the Serbian Handball Federation website.

Algeria came 22nd at the 2021 Men's World Championship and 24th at the 2015 edition, making their worst-ever ranking since the first appearance in 1974. In addition, missing out on the 2017 and 2019 World Championships make Poland/Sweden 2023 their chance to make amends.

Head coach Gherbi Rabah has a demanding job in Group E, and he will have to work without one of the most experienced players, left back Messaoud Berkous, who got injured during the preparation period.

Photo: Sascha Klahn