Romania were the surprise winners of the match against Iceland in the opener of the 2025 IHF Men’s World Championship in Arena Katowice, taking a 29:24 win against the Nordic side, while Austria, Spain and Portugal also registered wins in Kielce, Plock and Sosnowiec.

GROUP B
Austria vs Argentina 29:23 (12:13)

Austria marked their return to the IHF Men's Junior World Championship after 28 years with an impressive victory over Argentina, fueled by a dominant second-half performance.

Argentina, appearing in their 13th consecutive edition of the tournament and champions of the 2024 South and Central American Men’s Junior Championship, started strong. Led by the dynamic Juan Federico Gull—who both scored and created chances—the South Americans controlled the early proceedings, taking a 5:3 lead by the ninth minute.

Despite Austria managing to level the score several times in the first half, including at 10:10 in the 24th minute thanks to a quick double from Florian Budde, Argentina responded with a three-goal burst to open up their first three-goal cushion at 13:10. While Austria reduced the deficit before halftime, Argentina still held a narrow 13:12 lead at the break—even though their goalkeeper Lautaro Rodriguez had yet to make a save in the first 30 minutes.

Rodriguez improved slightly in the second half, finishing the match with six saves. However, it was Austria’s Leon Theodor Bergmann who stole the spotlight. The goalkeeper recorded an outstanding 43% save rate, stopping 16 shots and proving instrumental in Austria’s comeback.

Austria took their first lead of the game at 15:14 in the 35th minute and never looked back. Capitalizing on Argentina's mounting errors and fatigue, they went on a decisive 5:0 run between the 43rd and 49th minutes to build a commanding 23:16 lead.

Although Argentina rallied late and managed to reduce the gap to 25:22, their hopes of a comeback were dashed when Bergmann denied Santiago Laborde’s shot with three minutes remaining. Austria scored on the resulting counterattack to restore a four-goal cushion and seal the win.

With this result, Austria take an important step toward the main round, while Argentina will need to regroup quickly.

hummel Player of the Match: Leon Theodor Bergmann (Austria)

GROUP D
Portugal vs Algeria 33:21 (18:11)

Portugal opened their 2025 IHF Men's Junior World Championship campaign with a commanding performance against Algeria, securing a 33:21 win at the start of Group D in Arena Sosnowiec.

Right from the start, it was clear Portugal had both the experience and physical edge over Algeria. Their  intensity on both ends of the court paid off, as they propelled to a four-goal lead within the first ten minutes., holding Algeria goalless for six minutes.

Algeria found a brief spark through goalkeeper Salim Mezaza, who brought fresh energy with six saves in quick succession. His efforts helped cut the deficit to 8:5 and gave Algeria a glimmer of hope that momentum could shift their way.

However, the good run was short-lived. Portugal reinforced their 6-0 defence, forced Algeria into mistakes and capitalised with fast-break goals, pulling ahead to 14:7. The gap held steady until the break, as Portugal showcased impressive teamwork — ten out of 14 field players scored at least once with Gabriel Cavalcanti and Joao Lourenco leading the charge.

The rhythm did not change after the break. Portugal remained firmly in control, steadily increasing their lead to double digits (27:17) midway through the second half. Algeria tried their best to keep up, but apart from line player Adel Gumeida, few were up to the task. Gumeida showed determination and efficiency, netting 11 times, including five goals from the seven-metre line.

Portugal, on the other hand, kept rotating their squad and they comfortably closed out the game winning by 33:21. They opened their campaign with a victory for the fourth time at this level and set the tone for what is to come. Their top scorer was Gabriel Conceiçao who scored six times, while Joao Magalhaes earned the Player of the Match award with five.
On Thursday, Portugal will look to build on their strong start as they face Canada, while Algeria will aim to bounce back and claim their first win against Croatia.

Player of the Match: Joao Magalhaes (Portugal)

GROUP F
Iceland vs Romania 25:29 (12:15)

Back at the IHF Men’s Junior World Championship after a 10-year wait, Romania were outsiders against Iceland, which looked to have a fantastic generation, after sealing the bronze medal two years ago, at Germany/Greece 2023.

Nevertheless, Romania had some aces upon their sleeve, chief of which was centre back Daniel Stanciuc, one of the players to watch at the 2025 IHF Men’s Junior World Championship, but their start was far from optimistic, as Iceland took an early 4:1 lead, with some fast breaks converted by left wing Össur Haraldsson.

Soon enough, Romania started to bounce back, with Stanciuc working his magic on the centre back position, while goalkeeper Marian Sîrghie boosting up his save tally. A 3:0 run between the 19th and the 25th minutes was responsible for Romania taking the first lead and they entered the break with a three-goal lead, 15:12.

While Iceland try to bounce back, they failed to do that, only cutting the gap to two goals, 15:13, in the start of the second half. By the 43rd minute, Stanciuc had nine goals, while Sîrghie boasted a 43% saving efficiency, with 12 saves, to help Romania take a 21:16 lead, which prompted Iceland to use a seven-on-six attack, as their pivot play had already been impressive.

Yet Iceland were not giving up and taking Stanciuc in a man-to-man defence put a dent in Romania’s ambitions, with a three-goal lead for Adrian Petrea’s side, 24:21, with seven minutes to go, as the Romania coach took a team time-out to try something new and used a seven-on-six attack to counter Iceland’s defensive change.

That worked out wonders and Romania secured their maiden win in 10 years at the IHF Men’s Junior World Championship, 29:25, as Stanciuc finished the match with 11 goals and Sîrghie, the Player of the Match, had 15 saves.

Player of the Match: Marian Sîrghie (Romania)

GROUP H
Spain vs Bahrain 40:19 (21:12)

Title favourites Spain confirmed their credentials in a pitch perfect match against Bahrain, as their opener at Poland 2025 ended with a big win against the Asian side, with all but two players scoring at least one goal for the “Hispanos”.

Bahrain took the lead for the first and the last time after six minutes, 3:2, but then Spain were unstoppable, as Djordje Cikusa Jelicic had four goals until the 15th minute, when the European side led already by five goals, 10:5.

As Spain’s lead grew to nine goals at the break, it was the signal for Spain’s coach, Javier Fernandez Lopez, that he can rest his players and rotate them as much as possible, especially as Petar Cikusa Jelicic was not between the players who featured on the court.

With a 74% shooting efficiency throughout the match, Spain controlled the second half and nearly matched up their output from the first half, putting 40 goals past Bahrain, as they gear up for their decisive meeting against Egypt in the last day of the preliminary round.

Player of the Match: Victor Romero Holguin (Spain)