Group A: Vujovic to face his Montenegrin compatriots

Islamic Republic of Iran, who opened the tournament with a win, hope to make another impressive performance against Montenegro, while Spain will be heavily favoured against Chile. 

• 18:00 CET: Montenegro vs Islamic Republic of Iran

Iran's coach Veselin Vujović will be in the spotlight in this match, as the experienced Montenegrin will face the national team of his home country.

The Asian side has already made history at the 28th Men's IHF World Championship, earning a hard-fought 25:24 win against Chile in their opening encounter. It was their first victory at the preliminary stage of the competition, which gave the Iranians a good chance of securing a main round berth.

"It was a really tough match from the start. I have no explanation for how we won it, but our goalkeeper was incredible," Vujović said after the match. 

Indeed, Mohammad Siavoshishahenayat played a crucial role in Iran's win, stopping 17 balls for a 43% save rate. If he shows similar heroics against Montenegro, the Asian team will have a chance to snatch some points from their European rivals on Saturday.

However, Montenegro are seen as the favourites in this match. Their opening defeat against Spain (25:30) was hardly surprising, but in the next encounter, the team coached by Zoran Roganović are expected to do better. 

"We have a tough match ahead of us. The stakes are high. We have two days to recover from the opening defeat, because each loss leaves scars, but now the focus is on the next match," Roganović said. 

• 20:30 CET: Spain vs Chile

The Spaniards are considered strong group favourites, so their five-goal opening win in a European clash against Montenegro was hardly surprising. Interestingly, it was the first competitive match between the two teams.

Spain and Chile met more often in the past and the Spaniards were dominant, as they proved too strong for their South American rivals in a friendly match in January 2013 (40:17) as well as at the World Championship in Qatar two years later (37:16).

Now the Spaniards, aiming to go far in the current competition, are expected to win again. In turn, Chile's one-goal defeat against the Islamic Republic of Iran was quite painful for the South Americans, whose chances of progressing to the main round have become noticeably smaller.

Interestingly, Chile are coached by the Spanish coach Aitor Etxaburu, who took over from his fellow countryman Mateo Garralda last year. Eight "La Roja" players represent Spanish clubs, while in the current Spain squad only goalkeeper Gonzalo Pérez de Vargas plays his club handball at home, at FC Barcelona.

It will be very difficult for Chile to take their first points in the competition on Saturday, but nothing should be taken for granted before the start of the match.