Third at Czechia 2012. Winners at Hungary 2018. Silver medallists at Slovenia 2022. A pattern starts to emerge when sifting through Hungary’s results at the IHF Women’s Junior World Championship. Only four countries have won more medals than the European powerhouse. None have secured more in the past 10 years. And now, Hungary have another chance to fight for the title, after conceding a loss in the final two years ago, against Norway.

The focus put on developing young players and the investment in a proper system, which has never changed, irrespective of the name and the players making the roster for Hungary is clear. The results, therefore, are just the end of the means, as the European side has been one of the teams to beat in the younger age categories.

The current generation has already secured the bronze medal at the 2022 IHF Women’s Youth World Championship and the title at the W17 EHF EURO 2021 and the W19 EHF EURO 2023. In fact, every major international competition they went to, Hungary secured a medal.

While some of the players made the leap to the senior team, others have been developing even further in this team, with back Júlia Farkas shining time and time again for Hungary. At North Macedonia 2024, Farkas, the MVP of the W17 EHF EURO 2021, has once again been crucial for the team which went to the final without dropping a single match.

With 25 goals and six assists, Farkas has delivered some excellent performances at North Macedonia 2024, sharing the court with some other excellent players in the back line, such as Emilia Varga, Lea Faragó or Luca Csíkos. When one was not efficient, the other stepped up. And this is how Hungary clinched another berth for the final, where they are due to meet France on Sunday.

“We have been playing as a team, with our hearts, in each match. We deserve to be here, I love this fighting spirit we are showing, I love how we act on the court and how we deliver in the most important moments in the competition,” said Farkas, after Hungary’s 28:24 win in the semi-final against the Netherlands.

“I am so proud of my team, we have this heart and I think we can beat every team with this, leaving everything on the court. The belief in our team, when we look in each other’s eyes, we understand that we can do a better job and beat any other team. And this is huge at this level.”

After the men’s team made it to the final at the 2023 IHF Men’s Junior World Championship, the women’s team followed suit and it is clear that there is a system where all players in the roster are important, all get meaningful time on the court, and all are carefully managed and developed to perform.

But no system can make up for the sheer fighting spirit proven by Hungary at this edition of the IHF Women’s World Championship. In the quarter-final against Iceland, Hungary were up seven goals at the break, only for the Nordic side to mount a huge comeback and push the match into extra-time. Hungary bounced back and clinched a 34:31 win.

In the semi-final against the Netherlands, Hungary were dominated in the first half and was down four goals early in the second half. Once again, they rallied the troops, mounted a comeback and secured a four-goal win at the end of the match, 28:24.

“There is no secret, but pure dedication and team spirit. We never panicked, we knew that we have a good team. And we fought for every ball. We tried to be better. We poured our hearts out, we left everything on the court and finally won the match. It was an amazing feeling and it is a huge pleasure to share the court with these amazing teammates,” adds Farkas.

Now, Hungary are only 60 minutes away from their second title at the IHF Women’s Junior World Championship. Six years ago, when they secured the title, their team was filled up with stars like Noemi Hafra, Katrin Klujber, Csenge Fodor, Greta Marton or Dorottya Faluvegi, each of which became senior team players.

This time around, Hungary seem to have more of a team, with the minutes distributed more evenly, as coach Zoltan Szilagyi has plenty of firepower at his disposal on each position. The match against France, another team which has superb depth, will definitely be a difficult one for Hungary.

But with such a team spirit and experience on the court – Farkas played in the last years for Györi Audi ETO KC, where she scored four goals this season in the EHF Champions League Women – Hungary might be the team to beat once again.