Portugal finish atop, all three European sides with two points to Gothenburg

What a match it was. Portugal had a blistering start, backed up by Miguel Ferreira between the posts, leaving no hope for Hungary. The outstanding performance by the Portuguese produced an interesting outcome for group D as Portugal finished atop, Iceland second and Hungary third, with all three teams taking two points into the main round.

Group D

Portugal vs Hungary 27:20 (16:9)

What a turbulent start for Hungary! After only 48 seconds of the match, important defensive player Adrián Sipos received a direct red card, completely shaking up the Hungarian squad. Three clear shots were stopped by Miguel Ferreira, keeping the score at zero seven minutes in.

Chema Rodríguez's team scored their first goal with the help of Bence Bánhidi. Portugal had an open highway to gain a significant lead but did not take advantage of Hungary's slow start. Two turnovers and three saves by Márton Székely soon saw Hungary back in the game.

However, one team cannot reduce the deficit if the opponents build a wall in front of their goal. And it really felt like that. 12 minutes into the match, Ferreira had an 'out of this world' performance, stopping seven out of eight Hungarian attempts and allowing his team to set 6:1. At the end, Ferreira was the "hummel Player of the match" for a reason, stopping 15 Hungarian shots at a 45% save efficiency.

Hungary had to call for a time-out to reconsider and coach Rodríguez told his players to calm down and be more aggressive in the defence. But nothing seemed to work for the Hungarians, forcing Rodríguez to call for the second time-out in five minutes.

During that time, 18-year-old Francisco Costa propelled Portugal to a 10:2 lead. Hungary got their momentum with two quick goals and stunning anticipation of Székely, who stole the ball at the centre, preventing another Portuguese fast break. Hungary had to wait a couple more minutes for everything to sit properly and soon saw a 3-0 goal run, cutting the lead to 7:13.

When you start the second half with a double shot stopped from seven meters, you can tell it is going downside for your team, as Portugal restored an eight-goal lead with a nice goal from Miguel Martins.

Hungary never completely faltered, but they could not prevent Portugal from winning. The Portuguese side thoroughly dominated the second half and the only one on the Hungarian side who was able to stop them was Székely, who had 12 saves at a 32% save efficiency.

Székely was the one preventing the match from hitting a double-digit difference, especially in the last ten minutes of the match, as Portugal cruised to a seven-goal win (27:20). Hungary's top scorer Richárd Bodó had a five-goal outing, while Francisco Costa shone with six goals and Leonel Fernandes with five for Portugal.

Portugal and Hungary join Iceland in the main round Group II in Gothenburg, where they will meet Sweden, Brazil and Cape Verde.

hummel Player of the Match: Miguel Ferreira (Portugal)