Group E: All-European clash to decide first Main Round berth

The second day of Group E in Katowice starts with an exciting clash between Germany and Serbia. The victorious team from this fray will secure the main round spot ahead of the last round of the group phase. If Qatar want to keep the dream alive, they must beat the Atlas Lions.

• 18:00 CET Germany vs Serbia

Two unbeaten teams face each other in a crucial match for the main round. The winning team will secure not only a spot in the next stage, but also important points. Serbia played with ease against Algeria in the first round, with astonishing performances by Bundesliga players Mijajlo Marsenić and goalkeeper Vladimir Cupara.

Germany did not have it that easy at their opening match of the 28th IHF Men's World Championship. Qatar played well and did not falter, and only missed shots in the last ten minutes prevented the 2015 silver medalists from threatening Germany's win.

Despite winning by four-goal at the end, after Juri Knorr and Andreas Wolff capped off their best performances, the Germans will have to step up the game if they want to win over Serbia and be the first team from the group to progress further.

"Germany have players who boosted their confidence, it will be a tough fight, but we are ready. In the video analysis, we focused on the defence of their shots and the actions we saw against Qatar but also in the friendly matches against Iceland", said Serbia's head coach Antoni Gerona to rss.org.rs

Germany's assistant coach Erik Wudtke praised Serbia to handball.net: "Serbia have many players in European competitions, with Champions League and European League experience, plus some top players from the Bundesliga. Individually, Serbia are a really strong team with an incredibly wide roster that offers many opportunities to change. Dejan Milosavljev is an outstanding goalkeeper, Marsenić is a strong line player, but above all, the backcourt line with Lazar Kukić, Petar Đorđić and Jovica Nikolić consists of strong shooters."

Germany and Serbia played against each other eight times, three at the World Championship. As the Germans have the overall advantage, Serbia will try to improve their standings and get their hands on the first World Championship win over the opponents after defeating them by 25:24 at Tunisia 2005.

• 20:30 CET Qatar vs Algeria

In their first face-off, Qatar and Algeria will close the day in Katowice.

Losing the second match in a row might not mean elimination for the two sides, but it will probably mean that they would start the main round with zero points, provided they advance to the next round by beating one of the favourites in the group.

Both Qatar and Algeria started their World Championship path by losing to stronger opponents, and in a direct battle for crucial points, it is all or nothing for the two non-European sides of the group. Judging by their opening matches, we might see another stellar performance from the left wings - Qatari Ahmad Madadi and Algerian Arib Réda were their teams' top scorers.

Qatar have slightly more chance of winning the match, comparing the performances in round one. The 2015 Men's World Championship runners-up were keeping the contest close against Germany up until the 50th minute of the match.

On the other hand, Atlas Lions had a hard time against Slovenia, who thoroughly dominated the match. However, they can bounce back in order to stay in the contest as this would be their first time not progressing from the preliminary round.