Veszprém HC made it two out of two at the 2026 IHF Men’s Club World Championship, opening their group phase tally with a clear win against Al Ahly, 31:23.

GROUP B
Al Ahly (EGY) vs Veszprém HC (HUN) 23:31 (10:17)

In the previous edition, Veszprém beat Al Ahly by an nine-goal margin, and the Hungarian side looked even better on paper this time around, having signed goalkeeper Emil Nielsen from FC Barcelona.

But Nielsen did not start the match, with Mikael Appelgren between the posts, and Veszprém did not really need Nielsen too much, as his Sweden counterpart did more than enough to keep Al Ahly at bay, while Veszprém’s attack did their heavy lifting on their part.

Coach Xavi Pascual made a habit of substituting his players to keep their legs fresh throughout the match and the recipe has worked this time around too, as the Hungarian side rotated as much as possible, while keeping Ivan Martinovic in the stands, as a precaution after an injury suffered yesterday against Sydney Uni.

But that did not impact the final result at all, as the story went more or less the same as in the previous year, with Veszprém taking early control in the match and never looking back, as they had nine different players on the scoresheet.

After the score being deadlocked after seven minutes, Veszprém embarked on a run which saw them open a 10:6 lead, firing from all cylinders in attack, as Al Ahly’s pace slowed down.

With Appelgren saving seven shots in the first half and seven in the second for an overall 37.8% saving efficiency, the Hungarian side managed to boast a seven-goal lead at the break, 17:10, with Pascual’s side easily finding the space behind the opponents’ defence, for easy goals.

While missing several shots, left wing Hugo Descat was still Veszprém’s top scorer, with seven goals, as the Hungarian side’s pace became better and better, with fast throw-offs which saw Al Ahly unable to respond.

By the 44th minute, the gap was 10 goals, 24:14, with Veszprém bringing out all the big guns, as Al Ahly’s only objective was to limit the damage. Mohsen Ramadan and Omar Khaled combined for 10 goals, but the final score saw Veszprém secure a clear win, 31:23, and take the first place in the group. It was almost an identical result with the previous match between the two sides, which finished 31:22 in 2025.

Veszprém completed a part of their challenge to secure a place in the final by winning the group, but their next match against Fuchse Berlin will be the decider. Al Ahly still have to play the German side and Burgan SC, but their hopes of a medal look slimmer and slimmer now, after this performance.

Player of the Match: Mikael Appelgren (Veszprém HC)