For the fourth time in a row and for the 15th time in history, Egypt were crowned champions at the CAHB African Men’s Junior Handball Championship, sweeping their opponents on their way, including a dramatic final against Tunisia, which Egypt won 31:29.

The finalists, plus Angola, Nigeria and Guinea have secured their tickets for the 2027 IHF Men’s Junior World Championship, as the top-5 teams at the 2026 CAHB African Men’s Junior Handball Championship had their spots reserved for next year’s world handball flagship competition.

After the conclusion of the preliminary round, three teams were undefeated – Egypt, Tunisia and Guinea – but the major shock came in the quarter-finals, when Guinea lost the maiden quarter-final against Nigeria, 23:28, despite having the upper hand in their previous matches.

The next three quarter-finals saw the favourites prevail: from Tunisia’s clear 36:20 win against DR Congo and Egypt’s total domination against Libya, 40:15, to Angola’s win against Rwanda, 28:22, setting up two semi-finals which had clear favourites: Tunisia and Egypt – the most decorated teams in the history of the competition.

Indeed, the path towards a final between Egypt and Tunisia was clear and this is exactly what happened, after 60 minutes without a lot of twists and turns and, basically, one-way traffic throughout the whole matches.

Tunisia outplayed Nigeria, 44:23, demonstrating once again their firepower – finishing as the top attack in the competition – while Egypt provided a strong defensive performance, conceding only 10 goals against Angola, in a statement 37:10 win.

And then there was the final, between two teams which renewed their rivalry, after having already played the final two years ago, when Egypt won the final, 29:25. In fact, it was the ninth final between the two sides in this competition and Tunisia started better after 10 minutes, 5:4.

Backed by Ali Ben Naoua, who scored five goals, and Mohamed Raed Haffar, Iyed Chattali and Mahdi Teber, with four goals each, Tunisia maintained a two-goal lead, and even took a three-goal lead with a buzzer beater at the end of the first half, 14:11, putting a lot of pressure on Egypt.

But Egypt did not budge. Goalkeeper Moustafa Bayoumi (13 saves) starting getting better and better. Back Yahya Alkordy added seven goals, while centre back Youssef Laoloua scored six times.

And Egypt came roaring back, with a strong 6:1 run, where Alkordy scored three goals, finally taking back the lead, 19:17, in just eight minutes in the second half. Tunisia never took back the lead, falling behind by four goals, 24:28, with nine minutes to go, basically sealing the deal.

Eventually, Egypt clinched their 15th continental title at this age category with a 31:29 win, staying undefeated and proving their future generations are still talented.

Nigeria finished third, with a 24:19 win against Angola in the bronze-medal match. It was Nigeria’s fifth medal in history and their first bronze since 2018.

Guinea, with wins against DR Congo, 31:21, and 29:28 against Libya ended on the fifth place and secured a place for the 2027 IHF Men’s Junior World Championship, alongside Egypt, Tunisia, Nigeria and Angola.

Nigeria's Saka Muktar was the top scorer of the competition, with 52 goals in six matches, 13 more than Guinea's Gbabo Kpouloumou, and 17 more than Algeria's Seif Eddine Lanani.

The largest number of saves in the competition came from Angola's Delcio Augusto, 57, with Nigeria's Samuel Obabori registering 54 saves and Guinea's Marcel Loua 53.

Photo credit: CAHB