Montenegro opened the 26th IHF Women's World Championship with a clear win, defeating Cameroon by 14 goals, 25:11.

Group B
Montenegro vs Cameroon 25:11 (13:2)

The opening Group B match was also the first encounter of the tournament staged in Sweden – to be more precise, in Helsingborg. 

Both teams won medals at their respective continental championships last year – Montenegro earned bronze at the Women's EHF EURO 2022, while Cameroon became runners-up at the 2022 CAHB African Women's Handball Championship, but the European side was expected to secure a win, which they totally did. 

That said, Montenegro were heavily favoured to win this game, and they lived up to expectations. The Europeans were fully dominant on the court since the opening minute and were up 9:0 before Laeticia Ateba Engadi finally scored Cameroon's first goal in the match, after more than 24 minutes. Montenegro went on to enjoy a 11-goal lead at half-time, 13:2, which left no doubts about the outcome.

In fact, it was the third lowest number of goals scored by a team in history at the IHF Women's World Championship in the first half, with the record being set by Paraguay against Spain, 0 goals, in 2013, while the USA also scored a single goal against Hungary in 1982.

While Montenegro's goalkeepers Marta Batinovic – who was named the hummel Player of the Match - and Marina Rajcic did a good job, making 11 and seven saves respectively, their attack did not look perfect. Probably, the Europeans were missing Jovanka Radicevic and Djurdjina Jaukovic, who made a big impact at the EHF EURO last year, but are not in the team now, with Radicevic retiring from international handball, while Jaukovic is out due to an injury.

Besides, Cameroon goalkeepers Isabelle Mbel Bediang and Marie-Paule Balana also did pretty well, restricting Montenegro to 25 goals throughout the game and a 57% shot efficiency. While 10 players of the European team found their names on the scoresheet, their top scorer Ivona Pavicevic netted just five times. 

Attacking inconsistency may play a negative role against stronger rivals later on, but so far, it did not stop the Europeans from clinching a victory – although Cameroon's attack progressed as the match went on, they had no realistic chance for a comeback, as Montenegro secured a clear 25:11 win, conceding the lowest number of goals in history in a match at the world handball flagship competition. 

hummel Player of the Match: Marta Batinovic, Montenegro