30 years after their first semi-final at the IHF Men’s Junior World Championship, Iceland will return to this phase of the competition after a nail-biting 32:28 win against Portugal in one of the most balanced games at Germany/Greece 2023.
 
Quarter-final 2

• Iceland vs Portugal 32:28 (12:14)

 
Portugal controlled the game in the first half, with the runners-up of the M20 EHF EURO 2022 last summer delivering a good game against Iceland, even if from that excellent team they were missing two key players, the Mota da Costa brothers, who were not retained in the squad for this competition.
 
But with the help of an immense Diogo Rema Marques, who saved eight shots for a 44% saving efficiency, Portugal took control of the game, as the attack had plenty of help from back Vasco Costa and wing Pedro Oliveira, who combined for nine goals between them.
 
Even the start of the second half looked good for Portugal, who opened up a three-goal lead at 18:15 after 35 minutes, but from that moment on, Iceland woke up and the team, which had lacked impetus and momentum, was starting to really get going.
 
First, they used a 4:0 run to turn the game on its head, taking their first lead of the match, 19:18, after 40 minutes, with the help of towering left back Thorsteinn Leó Gunnarsson, one of the tallest players at Germany/Greece 2023 with a height of 2.05m.
 
Gunnarsson, who had already scored four goals in the first half and played only on the attack for Iceland, was absolutely unstoppable, scoring at free will, with his excellent shots being a bit too much for the brave Marques. Sooner rather than later, Iceland found themselves in the driver’s seat in the game, keeping Portugal at bay and building a three-goal lead, 30:27, with four minutes to go, as Iceland’s left back finished the game with 11 goals.
 
Goalkeeper Brynjar Vignir Sigurjónsson also contributed to the development, saving seven shots for a 37% saving efficiency, but five of them were in one-on-one situations, including two on fast breaks, where Portugal could have cut the gap and applied serious pressure on Iceland.
 
With the 32:28 win, Iceland qualified for the IHF Men’s Junior World Championship semi-finals for the first time since 1993, creating their best-ever winning streak in the competition with six wins in a row.
 
Unfortunately for Portugal, their second loss in the competition also prevented them from fighting for a medal, missing out on back-to-back semi-finals after they ended up on the fourth place at Spain 2019.
 
hummel Player of the Match: Thorsteinn Leó Gunnarsson (Iceland)