After getting their 2025 IHF Men’s World Championship campaigns off to a winning start, both Croatia and Egypt return to Group H action on Friday (17 January) at the Arena Zagreb.

African champions Egypt take on Bahrain in the first match, while co-hosts Croatia will play the South American powerhouse of Argentina.

The IHF Men's World Championship continues in Varaždin, Croatia, in group D, with a second round that could shape the race for the main round berths. With three teams progressing further and the fourth-placed heading to the Presidents' Cup in Poreč, there is no room for mistakes. After a thrilling opening day, the Netherlands have the upper hand with two points already won, while Hungary, North Macedonia and Guinea prepare to showcase their strengths once again.

Brazil face Portugal in a crunch match in Group E, while the all-European play-off in Group A sees another episode of great handball action in Herning.

GROUP A

• 18:00 CET Czechia vs Poland

The two  teams have never faced off at the IHF Men’s World Championship, but they know each other quite well. Czechia and Poland have met three times at the EHF EURO, with the Czechs winning 25:24 at Sweden 2002, and the Poles celebrating two victories, 33:30 at Norway 2008 and 35:34 at Austria 2010.

Afterwards, the sides also crossed their paths in a number of friendly matches, most recently in April 2018 when they exchanged wins. And now their encounter in Herning will play an important role for both opponents, as the winner will be likely to progress to the main round.

Czechia, who returned to the IHF Men’s World Championship following a 10-year absence, opened the tournament better that their next rivals, as they split points with Switzerland, 17:17, in a low-scoring game dominated by excellent goalkeeping. Czechia’s Tomas Mrkva was among the heroes of the day, as he made 12 saves for a 41% save efficiency.

However, the team coached by Xavi Sabate - who is also at the helm of the Polish club Orlen Wisla Plock - need to improve their shot efficiency, which stood at just 46% on Wednesday. In that respect, Poland did somewhat better in their opening encounter against Germany, converting 62% of their shots, yet it was not enough, as they lost 28:35.

"We played a good game, but did not benefit from it. The result is not favourable, but we have to take all the good things from that match. The guys have to work through it in their heads and start the game against Czechia with fresh minds," said Poland’s coach Marcin Lijewski. 

• 20:30 CET Switzerland vs Germany

The two sides also know each other well, and in official competitions, it is Germany who have a clear advantage over their Swiss rivals, taking wins in eight of 10 mutual encounters. Last year, the team coached by Alfred Gislason beat their neighbours at the EHF EURO 2024 in January (27:14) as well as in the EHF EURO 2026 Qualifiers in November, 35:26.

Seen as the favourites of Group A, Germany lived up to that status in their opening match, claiming a seven-goal win against Poland despite struggling in the first half. Now they hope to take two more points on Friday, and Gislason is looking forward to the next match.

"We will not underestimate any opponents and will do our best to also win the next game. We have beaten Switzerland twice recently, and I hope that on Friday we will play well from the first minutes, and not like against Poland," he said.

Switzerland have their trump cards - in particular, left back Lenny Rubin scored nearly a half of the team’s tally, eight of 17 in the first match, while goalkeeper Nikola Portner stood as a wall against Czechia, saving 14 shots for a 47% save efficiency. 

An exciting goalkeeping duel between Portner and Andreas Wolff can be expected on Friday, but overall, Germany are heading into this match as strong favourites. However, the Swiss coach Andy Schmid is not going to throw out the white flag in advance.

"We can also hurt Germany. We will take out hearts in both hands and take risks so that we can get close enough to trip up Germany. We clearly accept the role of an underdog, but we’ll go into the game offensively and with risk. We’ll need that to be able to stand up to Germany", he said at the press conference on Thursday. 

 

 

 

 

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GROUP D

• 18:30 CET Netherlands vs North Macedonia

The Netherlands opened the competition in style, cruising against debutants Guinea, 40:23. Coach Staffan Olsson's team displayed a fantastic attacking depth with left wing Rutger Ten Velde and goalkeeper Bart Ravensbergen leading the way. The Netherlands used fast breaks and an efficient rotation to dominate the first half and sealed the deal early on.

The Dutch team could seal a main round spot with a win, but they face a stronger opponent, North Macedonia, which will be boosted with confidence after a hard-fought draw against Hungary, where the young North Macedonian side, with only domestic-based players, showed plenty of resilience, with Filip Kuzmanovski leading the way with ten goals.

Their defensive display, along with an experienced Nikola Mitrevski between the posts, will be crucial if they want to slow down the Dutch attack, spearheaded by Luc Steins. However, Kiril Lazarov's team will need to improve their consistency, as they struggled with turnovers and missed chances in key moments of the game.

Whether North Macedonia can pull another strong performance and break the Dutch positive score is to be seen. However, they certainly hope they will perform much better than in their last, and only, clash at the IHF Men’s World Championship. In 2023 in Group F, when the Netherlands won, 34:24.

• 20:00 CET Guinea vs Hungary

Guinea may have lost their debut match to the Netherlands, but they showed signs of promise, especially in the second half, despite the 23:40 defeat. Their head coach, Kevin Decaux, will be looking for another step forward for his team as they face another European team, Hungary. 

Even though their opponent are strong favourites, for Guinea it is important to continue their work and progress. Hungary had a surprising frustrating start, drawing 27:27 with North Macedonia. They started good but struggled defensive-wise, only to find stability when goalkeeper Kristof Palasics came in. Richard Bodo stepped up late in the game, but the Hungarians will need more consistency if they want to avoid any other surprises in this competition.

For Guinea, finding a way past Hungary's defence will be key with having a fulcrum in several players based in France who showed the needed experience for this level. They just need to stay disciplined and make the most of their opportunities.

However, Hungary will be extremely motivated to get their first win in a clear and convincing win to come a step closer to the main round, or even seal it. This will be the first time ever these two teams meet in their history.

GROUP E

• 18:00 CET Portugal vs Brazil

Portugal did not lose against Brazil in their previous meetings, clinching the first meeting, 18:26, in the preliminary round at the 1997 IHF Men’s World Championship, and drawing the second one, two years ago, at Poland/Sweden 2023, 28:28, in a fiery match, one of the fiercest battles in the last decade in the world handball flagship competition.

There will be no shortage of drama in this match, with Brazil taking a 29:26 win in the first match against Norway, arguably the biggest shock so far at Croatia/Denmark/Norway 2025, with a strong performance against the co-hosts improving Brazil’s chances of finishing in the top-10 when the competition is over.

For Portugal, a win here would cement their position for a place in the main round, especially as Norway face the USA later, after the European side clinched a 30:21 win in their opener, with Martim Costa scoring seven goals against the USA, as Portugal’s top scorer.

“We will try to take advantage of this win. We need to rest. And start from the beginning in the next matches. We are very happy with what we achieved,” said Brazil’s left back, Haniel Langaro, after the win against Norway.

The winner will secure a place in the main round, confirming their safe passing to the next stage of the competition.

• 20:30 CET Norway vs United States of America 

“We have used our mistake quota in this competition,” said a visibly frustrated Sander Sagosen, after Norway’s loss against Brazil in the opener in the Unity Arena in Baerum, Oslo.

Co-hosting the IHF Men’s World Championship for the first time in history should have been a milestone for Norway, but it quickly turned into a nightmare second half against the South American champions, with the Scandinavian side now facing must-win matches if they are to go to the quarter-finals.

A match against the USA is likely to provided the much-needed cushion for Norway to get back on the right track, but they will need to sort out things in attack, where they missed four penalties and three fast breaks, as their attacking efficiency dropped to 58%.

The USA are still looking for their maiden win in the competition, but it was always going to be a tough proposition to deliver a good performance in this group, with three clearly better sides opposing Robert Hedin’s team. As the USA lost in friendly matches against France and Sweden last year, they will be huge underdogs, albeit their performance in the opener against Portugal, 21:30, was an encouraging one.

GROUP H

• 18:00 CET Bahrain vs Egypt

“I was pretty satisfied with our 6:0 defence and we managed to come back,” said Kristjansson to ihf.info about the positives he could take from their 36:22 (17:8) opening day loss against Croatia.

“Also, we gave some minutes to the young players. We have many, many young players in the squad and we are trying to give them experience to improve them and make them ready for the next Asian Championship – these minutes for the young guys are important.”

And for the Alzaimoor family, it was a particularly tough defeat. First, 26-year-old Abdulla Alzaimoor saw his attempted shot on 20 minutes pulled back by Zvonimir Srna in the Croatian defence with the resultant cry in anguish from the Bahrain left back evidence of a potentially serious shoulder injury. Then, five minutes into the second half, his younger brother Mujtaba, reaching down for the ball in attack, was hit in the face by Marin Sipic while attempting to steal.

This saw the 24-year-old centre back carried off the court with Kristjansson later telling ihf.info that he had gone to hospital for a check and tests on his jaw. With the seriousness of both injuries’ unknown at the time of writing, the Icelandic coach could have some difficult squad and tactical changes to make ahead of another tough test, this time against Egypt.

Despite keeping their European opponents relatively quiet for the first 10 minutes, Bahrain could not make their attack work against a home nation who restricted Kristjansson’s side to just five goals in 22 minutes.

The Bahraini’s will need a defence like that of their own against Egypt, who defeated Argentina 39:25 in their opener. The match saw three red cards for the South Americans who could not get past the African defence, led by goalkeeper Mohamed Aly, who recorded a 41% save rate in the first half.

His performance allowed coach Juan Carlos Pastor to rotate his squad, with 13 of the 14 outfield players scoring at least once each, but the Spanish coach was not fully satisfied.

“We need to continue to improve in the future, but this is the first match,” said Pastor after the victory. “The ball must go faster in attack”.

The two sides last met in an IHF Men’s World Championship at Poland/Sweden 2023, with Egypt taking a 26:22 main round victory, following on from their France 2017 31:29 preliminary round win. A 30:20 Olympic Games win was sandwiched in-between (Tokyo 2020) with Bahrain recording a solitary win, in the preliminary round at the 2011 IHF Men’s World Championship (27:26).

• 20:30 CET Croatia vs Argentina

“For a lot of players, it is their first competition, their first world championship,” explained Argentina coach Rodolfo Jung after their 39:25 opening day loss to Egypt. “We are working for the future, but this is not an excuse.”

Three red cards did not help their cause against the African champions as the South American side – featuring a squad of just 16 – showed an improved second half performance, albeit against a fully-rotated Egyptian side.

Their next opponents, Croatia, looked impressive against Bahrain in the first game, locking up their defence led by a hummel player of the match performance from goalkeeper Dominik Kuzmanovic and scoring with ease in attack in a 36:22 (17:8) victory.

Croatia coach Dagur Sigurdsson rotated his side entirely, handing competitive debuts to Josip Simic and Ivano Pavlovic, and they will be a formidable opponent for Jung and his players.

This will be the fifth IHF Men’s World Championship meeting between the two teams, with the balance of the previous four split. Argentina took a 30:29 preliminary round win in 2003, but more recently – and impressively, at Egypt 2021 they defeated their European opponents 23:19 in the main round. In between those Croatia took two wins, in 2005 (36:23) and 2011 (36:18).

More recently, Croatia edged Argentina 27:26 at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in the preliminary round, a disappointing campaign for both sides as they finished bottom of their group and did not progress.