When the final whistle sounded after Egypt's quarter-final victory over the People's Republic of China in the Pitești Arena, celebrations erupted on the court. Players embraced, tears flowed and the magnitude of the achievement slowly began to sink in. They could simply not believe their eyes.

Especially after such an emotional roller-coaster, which saw Egypt power ahead throughout the match, until China roared back and had the chance to tie the score with the last attack and push the match in overtime. 

But the last shot was missed and history was made.

For the first time ever, Egypt had secured a place in the semi-finals of the IHF Women's Youth World Championship. In doing so, the African side not only became the first team from their continent to reach the final four of the competition, but also only the second non-European nation to achieve the feat after the Republic of Korea, who did it four times.

But even more remarkably, Egypt have done it in perfect fashion.

Six wins in six matches. The African side has overcome France, Croatia, the Republic of Fiji, the Republic of Korea, Denmark and the People's Republic of China, winning against two former winners of the competition and defeating four teams that had also reached the main round, firmly establishing themselves as the tournament's biggest revelation.

And Egypt did not get here by chance, but by sheer determination and some fantastic performances.

They have the second best attack in the competition, scoring 220 goals in six matches, while on the other side of the ball their goalkeepers are saving almost 13 shots per match, enough for the ninth place in the overall standings.

“It feels amazing. This is the first international tournament where we have achieved something like this, and I'm very proud of my teammates. They have done a great job. But we want more, we're still hungry,” said Egypt’s captain, Merna Abdelnaser.

 

Abdelnaser, a diminutive centre back, only 1.65m tall, has been the driving force of this team, featuring over 200 minutes on the court, averaging over 40 minutes per match.

She has scored 20 goals, alternating shots from the back line with breakthroughs, but she is also one of the top assist providers, with 23 assists, just shy of breaking into the top-10 in this stats category.

But what really makes this team strong is their ability to constantly find new avenues of winning and new players who can carry the load in different matches. Their top scorer is Malak Aboyoussef, who had 27 goals at Romania 2026. Jowaireya Abdallah scored 26 times, while Sondos Abouelazaiem has 24 goals.

In the quarter-final against the People’s Republic of China, line player Zeina Kotb, who has 14 goals throughout the competition, has scored eight times, as Egypt constantly found her near the area.

“We believe in ourselves. We played some friendly matches before the tournament, we did well, and, thank God, we won them. I hope we continue to do well because the semi-final is another very important match,” says Egypt’s captain.

Those friendly matches were also played in Romania, in Pitești, just before the start of the competition, where Egypt finished first, tied on points with Romania, but with a better goal difference, after their wins against Japan (33:26) and Tunisia (28:24) and a draw against the hosts (20:20).

 

But during this edition of the IHF Women’s Youth World Championship, Egypt did much better than expected.

The writing was on the wall after the first match, their opener against Croatia, where they won, 27:24, against the runners-up of last year’s W17 EHF EURO. Then, they secured a place in the main round, with a win against France, 27:24, making it two out of two against European opponents.

The win against Fiji, 83:17, set a new record for the number of goals scored for a team and also for the number of goals scored in a match in the competition, before a pivotal match against the Republic of Korea came in their main round opener.

Egypt were down five goals with four minutes and 26 seconds left and they roared back, scoring six unanswered goals to secure a 28:27 win. Next, a win against Denmark, 23:22, followed, before they beat China again by one goal.

The last three wins have been by a single goal, matches not for the faint of heart, but the Egypt fans have absolutely fallen in love with their heroes, with the coach also reading a message from Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi on the bus which took them back to the hotel after the quarter-final win against China.

“We are very proud. We follow everything on social media, and we can see how excited everyone is. People are going crazy—we've seen all the messages on our pages. It's the first time we've reached the semi-finals, and we want even more,” says Abdelnaser.

 

While Egypt have been to the quarter-finals of the IHF Women’s Youth World Championship once, in 2022, when they ended up seventh, this generation looks even more promising, with a handball IQ which transcends into the realms of a team which can be able to win the competition.

It would be the crowning achievement for a team which has been improving over the last years and which has already secured silverware in the form of the CAHB African Women’s Youth Championship title last year.

And for Abdelnaser, this is even more special.

“My brother was playing at a club, and I went to watch one of his training sessions. It was actually the first handball practice I had ever seen, and I immediately fell in love with the sport. After that, I started training with a group that was older than me. I really loved handball from the beginning, even though I started playing a little later than many others,” says the centre back.

On Friday, the most important match of this players’ careers will follow, a battle with another European side, Spain, the reigning champions in the competition.

Yet Egypt are upbeat.

“We're still hungry, and hopefully we can win the World Championship,” concludes Abdelnaser.