Favourites record winning starts at Croatia 2023

Favourites secured easy wins in their first matches at the 2023 IHF Men’s Youth World Championship, with Portugal securing their highest-ever win in the history of the competition (50:24), while Germany navigated through a slow start to open their account with a 37:26 win over Saudi Arabia.

Reigning champions Egypt sealed a 40:32 win over Japan after the Asian side exerted some pressure at the start of the game, with Denmark following suit with a clear 32:21 win over Chile.

• Group A

Portugal vs Rwanda 50:24 (26:5)

The start of the 2023 IHF Men’s Youth World Championship made Portugal look like contenders, as the European side clinched their largest-ever win in the competition by a big margin, beating their previous record of a nine-goal win against Tunisia (34:25) in the Round of 16 at Georgia 2017.

Facing a debutant in Rwanda, Portugal pulled no stops and delivered an excellent attacking performance, taking advantage of the African side’s problems in defence to set new records for themselves in the competition for the highest number of goals in a single match and the largest win.

With left wing Nuno Oliveira and line player José Ferreira in excellent form in the first half, as the two players combined for 13 goals, Portugal used a 5:0 run to start the game to create an unassailable gap, which ballooned throughout the game.

A plethora of turnovers for Rwanda – 15 only in the first half - enabled Portugal to control the game and use devastating fast breaks to improve their footing in the game, as the European side had a 21-goal lead (26:5), after 30 minutes.

With Portugal taking their foot off the pedal, Rwanda scored the same number of goals as they did in the first half in only six minutes and 35 seconds in the second part of the game, but they could hardly limit the damage even in these circumstances.

Eventually, Portugal secured a clear 50:24 win, their largest in history, setting up nicely for another run for the knockout phase after finishing on the seventh place at Georgia 2017 and on the fourth place at North Macedonia 2019.

On the other hand, Rwanda, the runners-up at the 2022 CAHB African Men’s Youth Handball Championship, displayed a better performance in the second half after suffering in their first minutes at the IHF Men’s Youth World Championship, but they can take plenty of positive things after this lopsided loss, in their debut in the world handball flagship competition.

hummel player of the Match: José Ferreira (Portugal)

• Group C

Egypt vs Japan 40:32 (19:16)

Egypt's long wait to defend their IHF Men's Youth World Championship title finally ended as they clearly beat Japan at the Josip Samardžija-Bepo sports hall in Koprivnica.

Their historic title win four years ago this month in North Macedonia laid the marker for a number of future household names to be thrust into the limelight, such as Abdelrahman Mohamed, Hassan Walid and Ahmed Hesham and the new generation wasted no time in setting the standard at Croatia 2023, taking an eight-goal victory.

Led by Zamalek centre back Ziad Hashad, who took the "hummel Player of the Match" award for his performance, the 2022 CAHB African champions did take some time to get going but finally pulled ahead through Hashad in the 21st minute (13:12).

A 4:0 run from the 22-26th minute then opened up a five-goal lead (19:14) just before the break which Japan never quite recovered from.

Early on in the game Japan, who could only finish fourth in their continental championship last year, had looked sharp with five strikes from Kotaro Tachibana helping his side to an 11:8 lead (14th minute). But the Osaka University of Health and Sport Sciences left wing could only score a further three times in the match as Egypt nullified his offensive threat.

With just 10 minutes remaining, Egypt were nine goals ahead (34:25) and on their way to a comfortable opening two points in Europe.

"I feel very satisfied with my players as we started step-by-step and the spirit is set by this match," said Egypt's head coach Wael Aly to ihf.info after the match. "My team had some mistakes but I spoke with my players about these mistakes and we will try to correct them.

"We hope to go very far here – all the way to the end but to do this I need to concentrate as a coach and my players need to concentrate."

Both teams will have very different targets at Croatia 2023 with Egypt looking to medal again and Japan, who only made their event debut at the IHF Men's Youth World Championship in 2013, looking to do better than their ninth place in 2019.

To reach that, the Asian side will have to do reduce the number of turnovers and improve their shooting efficiency of 55% in today’s match.

hummel Player of the Match: Ziad Hashad (Egypt)

• Group E

Denmark vs Chile 32:21 (16:12)

Denmark, who are three-time winners of the IHF Men's Youth World Championship, were seen as favourites in their opening match against Chile, who had never finished above the 16th place in the competition before. And the Europeans began Croatia 2023 with a victory, making a step towards reaching the main round.

The Danes took early control of the game, as a number of Simon Lundorf's saves powered them to a 6:2 lead. However, Chile managed to improve their defence and stabilised the game, and a four-goal gap at half-time (12:16) still gave the South Americans realistic hopes for a comeback.
But it was not to happen, as Denmark looked very focused after the break.

Their defence became very solid, which allowed the Europeans to score from fast breaks time after time. Before the 41st minute, Denmark used a 10:2 run to establish a 26:14 lead, which hardly left any questions about the outcome. 

After that, the Danes slowed down, scoring only six goals in the remaining minutes. However, they hit the 30-goal mark, and as many as 12 their players scored at least once in this game, with Frederik Emil Pedersen becoming the top scorer with six goals. 

hummel Player of the Match: Camilo Hernandez (Chile)

• Group G

Germany vs Saudi Arabia 37:26 (18:13)

Germany and Saudi Arabia had the honour of opening the 10th IHF Men's Youth World Championship in Hall Mario Cvetkovic in Opatija, a city known as the 'Pearl of the Adriatic'. Boosted by the success of their older colleagues, Germany was determined to start with a win and succeeded.

The Germans had a great start to the game, leaving Saudi Arabia goalless until the fifth minute and having reached the four-goal lead moment later (6:2). However, the Asian side made a reasonable effort, and mid-first half with Sajjad Al Fardan's second goal closed the gap to one.

Saudi Arabia struggled to break through Germany's defence and were unable to score from outside the 9-metre line; however, their opponents did not take advantage of it. Only goalkeeper Marc Julian Buchele kept Germany in front as the clock was moving towards the 30 minutes with his five saves.

Left wing Marvin Siemer was a key player for the European side, scoring seven goals in just 35 minutes. Germany managed to hold onto their lead, which reached a high 22:14 and remained at a similar level until the end of the game. Saudi Arabia struggled to keep up with their opponents due to a weak defensive performance, resulting in Germany's first double-digit lead (28:18).

In the last ten minutes of the game, Qasem Alturki was the first name in Saudi Arabia rows, netting altogether six times, while 12 out of 14 field players netted at least once for the only European team of the group. Germany cruised to an easy win on the first day of Croatia 2023, and Saudi Arabia will seek their second-ever win at the IHF Men's Youth World Championship against Argentina and the United States of America in the following days.

hummel Player of the Match: Marvin Siemer (Germany)