The last day of the 2026 IHF Men’s Club World Championship will see the champion crowned, but also schedules a mouthwatering encounter between Egyptian giants Zamalek Club and Al Ahly in the bronze-medal match.

• 21:00 – Final: FC Barcelona vs Veszprém HC
• 18:30 – Bronze Medal Match: Zamalek Club vs Al Ahly
• 16:00 – Placement Match 5/6: E.C. Pinheiros vs Füchse Berlin 
• 13:30 – Placement Match 7/8: Montada vs Burgan SC

A new winner will be crowned at the IHF Men’s Club World Championship when the 19th edition concludes on Thursday, 1 October, in the New Administrative Capital Hall in Egypt.

And it will be a rematch between the last edition’s finalists, FC Barcelona and Veszprém HC, which provided a highly entertaining last act in 2025, with Barcelona being crowned champions after a dramatic 31:30 win.

The last four finals of the IHF Men’s Club World Championship finished after overtime, and the writing is on the wall here too, with the two sides knowing each other very well.

In fact, Barcelona and Veszprém have featured against each other in the previous two editions of the IHF Men’s Club World Championship. Both times, the matches ended in overtime, with Barca taking last edition’s final and Veszprém winning the 2024 semi-final, 39:34.

This time around, both Barcelona and Veszprém have won all their matches, but the Hungarian side had their share of challenges in the competition.

As a team which received a wild card, Veszprém played one more extra match, in the Preliminary Qualification, beating Sydney Uni, 45:19. They also had to face Füchse Berlin in the Group Phase, a match where the Hungarian side was down most of the match, only to come from behind and take a 34:33 win.

Moreover, Barcelona won all their matches so far in double digits – 44:33 against Pinheiros, 39:29 against Zamalek Club and 51:15 against Montada – resting their key players in each match, with Dika Mem, Timothey N’Guessan, Blaz Janc, Ludovic Fabregas or Luis Frade not playing a part in the last match against Montada, being well rested for the final.

The two sides are also the best attacks in the competition – Barcelona are averaging 44.6 goals per match, while Veszprém scored 38.5 goals per match – while the Hungarian side also conceded the lowest number of goals so far, 22.5 per match.

Veszprém also has the top goal scorer of the competition in their ranks, left wing Hugo Descat, with 25 goals, but Barcelona’s left wings Dani Fernandez (19 goals) and Ian Barrufet (16 goals) are also threats in this ranking.

But one of the storylines is also Veszprém’s goalkeeper, Emil Nielsen, moving this summer from Barcelona to the Hungarian side, after singlehandedly lifting Barca to the title last season, when he saved 27 shots in the final.

So far, Barcelona, the team with the largest number of titles at the IHF Men’s Club World Championship, have played the final eight times – winning six and losing only two, against SC Magdeburg in 2021 and 2022.

Veszprém, by contrast, lost two of the three finals they played, in 2015 against Fuchse Berlin and in the previous edition, against Barcelona.

The match card in the final day of the 19th IHF Men’s Club World Championship has four encounters, with all the remaining teams featuring once. And while Burgan SC and Montada are looking for the maiden win in history in the competition, the eyes will surely be on the Egyptian clash between Zamalek Club and Al Ahly.

The two Egyptian powerhouses will meet for the first time in this competition, rekindling their rivalry on home soil, with two passionate fanbases ready to cheer for their favourites in a do-or-die situation.

The winner of the tie will be on the podium, and both Zamalek (in 2010) and Al Ahly (in 2007 and 2024) were there. 

And while Al Ahly have the experience of veteran players, Zamalek’s youth exuberance can create issues, with the latter side providing their best outing at the IHF Men’s Club World Championship since 2012, when they finished fourth.