Slovenia are the next team to seal a place in the main round at the 2025 IHF Men’s Youth World Championship, with a 43:14 win against Uruguay. Portugal also opened their account and extended their main round chances, with a 38:23 win against Kuwait.

Group A
Portugal vs Kuwait 38:23 (19:13)

Portugal secured their first victory at the IHF Men's Youth World Championship Egypt 2025, injecting new energy into an already competitive and unpredictable Group A ahead of Saturday’s fixtures. While Kuwait produced another spirited start—matching Portugal stride for stride and even taking an early 2:1 lead through their standout player, Abdullatif Salmin—Portugal soon found their rhythm. A series of saves from goalkeeper Bernardo Sousa and incisive play by left back João Lourenço enabled Portugal to gradually assume control, maintaining the upper hand throughout the remainder of the first half.

Despite Portugal’s efforts, Kuwait maintained a narrow margin, keeping the deficit at three goals for much of the opening 18 minutes. The decisive shift occurred in the closing ten minutes before the interval, when Kuwait’s attack began to falter, leading to multiple turnovers. Portugal capitalised on this momentum with two quick scoring runs, extending their lead to six goals at 17:11 and ultimately concluding the first half with a comfortable 19:13 advantage.

The second half began much as the first had ended—with Portugal pressing their advantage. Within the first five minutes, they had widened the gap to nine goals, at 23:14, with all 13 outfield players contributing to the scoreline. Kuwait, stifled by Portugal’s compact 6-0 defensive system, went almost five minutes without scoring. Forced into static, long possessions, their attacking efficiency dropped from 72% to 60%, while Portugal’s rapid counterattacks prevented an even wider lead until later in the match.

Portugal reached a double-digit lead in the 53rd minute, when Alexandre Leite netted his fourth goal, making it 31:21. From that point, the Portuguese side closed out the match with confidence, finishing 38:23. For Kuwait, Abdullatif Salmin and Yosef Madwah were the top scorers, registering six and five goals respectively. João Lourenço’s commanding performance—culminating in nine goals—earned him Player of the Match honours, underlining his importance to Portugal’s squad.

As a result of this victory, Portugal now stand level with Austria on two points, leaving Group A wide open ahead of the decisive final round. Portugal will next face group leaders Sweden, while Austria will meet Kuwait.

Player of the Match: João Lourenço (Portugal)

Group E
Slovenia vs Uruguay 43:14 (23:5)

There was no question about the winner here, as Slovenia continued to prove they are one of the medal candidates at the 2025 IHF Men’s Youth World Championship, sealing their second win in a row and a place in the main round.

Uruguay scored their maiden goal of the match after 12 minutes and six seconds, when Slovenia were already 9:0 up, with right back Mai Marguč having already scored five goals, in fact, the exact number of goals scored by Uruguay in the entire first half.

Slovenia’s goalkeeper, Matevž Mlakar, saved 11 shots for an outstanding 69% saving efficiency, while Marguč dominated the court by finishing the first half with seven goals and improving his stake to the top goal scorer award in the competition.

Uruguay managed to find better sollutions in attack in the second half, when they scored five goals in the first 15 minutes, but it was still Slovenia running the show, with a dominating performance, as by the 45th minute, the European side had a 30:10 lead.

With Marguč finishing the match with nine goals, improving his overall total to 21 goals, Slovenia did not stop until the end, passed the 40-goal mark and dished Uruguay a 29-goal loss, securing their second win in a row, 43:14.

Slovenia’s win meant that the European side is now through to the main round, but will still have to wait for their point tally, as they meet Germany on Saturday, in a crunch clash. Uruguay are eliminated, after their second consecutive loss and will now head to the President’s Cup.

Player of the Match: Matevž Mlakar (Slovenia)