Puerto Rico and the Islamic Republic of Iran head to the Placement Match 9/10, after wins against the hosts, Morocco, and the Republic of Korea, in the fourth day of the 1st IHF Men’s Under-17 World Championship.

PLACEMENT MATCHES 9-12
Morocco vs Puerto Rico 40:44 (16:20)

The hosts were also looking for their maiden win in the competition, as well as Puerto Rico, with the two sides colliding for a place in the top-10 at the 2025 IHF Men’s Under-17 World Championship, with only the winner having the chance to secure a top-10 finish.

With the support of their fans, Morocco were the team which started the match better and looked in control, boasting four-goal leads, 11:7 and 13:9, twice in the first half, as Puerto Rico made too many turnovers.

But when Puerto Rico cleaned up their act and managed to look a bit stronger, the tide started to change. Led by Dylan Andreu and Antwan Garcia, who had 17 goals between them with 15 minutes to go into the match, Puerto Rico turned the match on its head, with a 6:0 unanswered run, with Janiel Robles scoring three times, to wrestle back the lead.

Not only did Puerto Rico not back down, but they also roared stronger, as that 6:0 run was backed up by another 4:0 one, to take them into a fantastic position, leading 20:16, after 30 minutes of the match.

Morocco had a better shooting efficiency in the second half, but lost the turnover battle early in the second half, as Puerto Rico gravitated between four and five goals in the lead, until a 4:0 unanswered run from the hosts, fuelled by three goals from Mohamed Zafri, his first goals into the match, threatened to turn the match on its head.

With 13 minutes left on the clock, Morocco cut the lead to a single goal, 30:31, but that prompted another resurgence from Puerto Rico, which roared back to a 35:31 lead, thanks to goals from Garcia and Andreu.

However, Morocco tried to do everything until the end of the match, but they were severely underhanded by several suspensions, which saw them with only three players on the court at one point. Eventually, Puerto Rico secured a top-10 finish, with a dramatic 44:40 win, with 10 goals scored in the last 10 minutes, as Andreu and Garcia combined for 21 goals.

Player of the Match: Dylan Andreu (Puerto Rico)



Islamic Republic of Iran vs Republic of Korea 30:21 (15:11)

The two sides have met just a month ago at the 2025 AHF Men’s Under-17 Championship and the Islamic Republic of Iran were crowned champions in the final against the Republic of Korea, repeating the win when the two sides faced off in Casablanca at the 1st IHF Men’s Under-17 World Championship.

As the Republic of Korea came with a team full of players born in 2010, the Asian side were underdogs for the fourth consecutive match and that was there to be seen from the start, when Iran took early advantage, despite the two sides failed to score for the first three minutes and 26 seconds.

But the Islamic Republic of Iran quickly bounced back and in the following nine minutes scored nine times, taking a clear 9:2 lead, after Mahdi Moradian scored three of his four goals in the match.

Just like in the previous matches, Korea went down early, but quickly stabilized and managed to claw back into the match, as they provided an excellent comeback in the dying minutes of the first half, to cut the lead to only four goals, 15:11, as their dazzling speed and excellent collective game provided the foundation for the comeback.

Both sides had 22 turnovers in the match and it went down to whomever had the best efficiency and depth and that was the Islamic Republic of Iran. Their goalkeepers – Merhshad Mansouri (15 saves for a 43% saving efficiency) and Hossein Khojasteh (four saves for 80%) combined for an excellent 48% saving efficiency.

And, in turn, that meant that the Republic of Korea’s attacking efficiency plummeted to 33%, which could be seen in the start of the second half, when Iran duly delivered a good performance and started with a 6:1 run, which opened a nine-goal lead, which proved to be unassailable.

Four Iran players scored four goals, as they fuelled the 30:21 win, as the Republic of Korea failed to secure their maiden win, conceding their fourth consecutive loss in the competition, heading to the Placement Matches 11/12.

Player of the Match: Ali Ghayour (Islamic Republic of Iran)