Despite losing against Slovakia, 27:32, Switzerland secured a quarter-finals berth at the 2026 IHF Women's Youth World Championship, with both sides progressing to the next phase of the competition.

Egypt clinched the first place in Group I of the main round with a dramatic 23:22 win against Denmark, extending their winning streak to five matches in the competition.

Main Round Group I
Egypt vs Denmark 23:22 (11:11)

Both teams had secured their quarter-final berths the day before, and in their mutual encounter it was Egypt who took a narrow win. The African team claimed their fifth straight victory at Romania 2026 and finished top of the group, ending Denmark’s winning run.

The entire match was extremely hard-fought, and Denmark's 5:3 lead was the only two-goal margin during the opening half. However, it did not take long for Egypt to equalise at 5:5 before the teams continued to go hand in hand.

Egypt's goalkeeper Jaydaa Salama boasted a 42% save efficiency in the first half, and her team scored five goals from fast breaks during that period. Denmark had a 52% shooting efficiency and, at 11:11, they missed a chance to take the lead just before halftime, as Viola Clausen's shot was saved by Salama.

Mille Spellerberg stepped up for Denmark after the restart, and her two consecutive goals helped the Europeans create another two-goal gap, 16:14. But Malak Aboyoussef cancelled it out with her two goals, helping Egypt draw level before the game returned to the familiar pattern of trading goals.

Aboyoussef was on fire, scoring six of her eight goals in the second half, and as the African team switched to a seven-against-six attack, they earned their first two-goal lead of the game, 20:18 in the 53rd minute.

Spellerberg also finished the game with eight goals, and her effort helped Denmark restore parity — but at a crucial moment, her 7m shot was saved by Salama, who ended the match with 15 saves and a 43% save rate.

With one minute to go, Egypt led 23:21, and then both sides missed their shots before Marie Pedersen scored the last goal of the game — which, however, could not deny Egypt's win.

Player of the Match: Mille Spellerberg (Denmark)

Main Round Group IV
Slovakia vs Switzerland 32:27 (18:14)

Switzerland entered the match as the Main Round Group IV leaders and made the stronger start, opening up a 2:0 lead. Slovakia responded with their first goal in the second minute, before a spell of solid defending from both sides kept the scoreboard unchanged until the sixth minute.

The contest remained a nip-and-tuck affair for much of the opening half, with neither side able to pull away. That changed around the 15th minute when Slovakia, inspired by Liliana Gogová and Lucia Valentová, found another gear. The hosts first opened a two-goal cushion before stretching it to four just a few minutes later — their biggest lead of the half — and carried that advantage into the break.

Switzerland struggled to make their quick attacks pay off, often rushing their possessions, while Lauryn Mierzwa was the only player consistently finding solutions in attack. The left back scored half of Switzerland's first-half goals, but it was not enough to prevent Slovakia from taking an 18:14 lead into halftime.

Switzerland briefly threatened to get back into the contest after the restart by reducing the deficit, but their hopes quickly faded. Between the 38th and 45th minutes, Slovakia tightened their defence and, backed by a string of saves from Ema Augustínová, who at one stage had stopped seven of 15 shots, pulled away to a commanding 24:17 lead.

Nora Emmenegger eventually ended Switzerland's scoring drought, but the damage had already been done. The Swiss came closest at 27:23 in the 51st minute and later switched to seven-against-six in a final attempt to mount a comeback, but Slovakia comfortably saw out the match to claim a 32:27 victory.

The result sent both Slovakia and Switzerland through to the quarter-finals, ending Slovenia's hopes of reaching the last eight. The three sides ended in a tie, with two points each, but then Switzerland and Slovenia had the same goal difference, -2, with the next tiebreaker, the number of goals scored, deciding the outcome. Switzerland had 58 goals, six more than Slovenia, therefore finished second in the group. Lauryn Mierzwa finished as Switzerland's top scorer with 14 goals, while Liliana Gogová led Slovakia with nine.

Player of the Match: Lauryn Mierzwa (Switzerland)