The 2026 IHF Women's Youth World Championship in Romania is about to reach its climax on Sunday, 9 August, when Pitești Arena in the city of Pitești will be the venue for the last four encounters.

The two best teams of the competition, Spain and Montenegro, will meet in the final hoping to lift the trophy, and Spain have a chance to defend the title earned at China 2024. Egypt and Denmark, who lost the semi-finals, will fight for the bronze, and we will also see an all-European Placement Match 5/6 between Switzerland and Slovakia and the Placement Match 7/8 between People's Republic of China and Hungary.

Final
18:30 EEST — Spain v Montenegro

Placement Match 3/4
16:00 EEST — Egypt v Denmark

Placement Match 5/6
13:45 EEST — Switzerland v Slovakia

Placement Match 7/8
11:30 EEST — People's Republic of China v Hungary

Spain v Montenegro — 18:30 EEST

Two years ago, Spain won their first-ever title at this age category at China 2024, and now they need just one last step to defend it. For Montenegro, it will be a maiden final at this level, but the Balkan side are also eager to lift the trophy.

After beating Egypt by the narrowest of margins in the semi-final, 27:26, Spain remain the only team in the competition to boast a 100% record, seven wins in seven games. In a dramatic match on Friday, centre back Lucia Calleja led the Spanish attack, scoring six goals and setting up a few more.

Calleja is her team's top scorer at Romania 2026, but she ranks just 32nd in the competition's scoring chart. Notably, two Montenegrin players are above her in that list, with Ivana Savić taking the 12th position with 41 goals, and Andrea Draganić sitting at the 14th place with 40 goals.

Their effort has been instrumental for the Balkan side, who have already made history in the tournament. Montenegro have improved on their best-ever result at the IHF Women's Youth World Championship, which was the fourth place at North Macedonia 2014.

Montenegro won six of their seven matches in the tournament on the way to their maiden final. On Friday, 10 goals from Savić lifted them to a 27:25 victory against Denmark, after the Montenegrins led by six goals at half-time (17:11).

Their only defeat at Romania 2026 took place in the main round — and it was notably against Spain, who won 35:33. The two sides also faced off in the W17 EHF EURO 2025, when Montenegro had the upper hand in a much lower-scoring bronze-medal match, 22:20.

However, now there is a lot more at stake, and both European sides are determined to do their best in the final, looking for a title.

Egypt v Denmark — 16:00 EEST

Just like Spain and Montenegro, these two teams have already met in the main round, when Egypt won in a hard-fought game, 23:22. And now they will face off in a third-place encounter, trying to bounce back from the semi-final losses.

If Egypt win again, they will earn their first-ever medal at the IHF Women's Youth World Championship. The Egyptians have already made history at Romania 2026, becoming the first African team to reach the semi-final. However, they are looking for more after suffering their first defeat in the tournament, 26:27 against Spain in the semi-final, which ended their impressive six-game winning streak.

Denmark are a much more decorated side, as the two-time champions earned seven medals in the nine previous editions of the competition. In both 2022 and 2024, the European team won silver, but at Romania 2026, they failed to reach their third straight final following a 25:27 loss against Montenegro.

Egypt boast the third-best attack in the tournament, with 246 goals under their belt, which is over 35 goals on average. Denmark sit just 18th in that list, but they have the second most efficient defence at the event, with just 150 conceded goals (21.43 on average). So both rivals have their strong sides, which should make their bronze-medal fight entertaining.