Costa lifts Portugal to maiden quarter-finals berth in historic win against Spain

Portugal secured their maiden quarter-finals berth in history at the IHF Men’s World Championship, extending their largest unbeaten run to five matches, with a dominating performance against Spain, 35:29.

MAIN ROUND, GROUP III
Spain vs Portugal 29:35 (16:15)

Spain were battling to stay alive in the competition after their loss against Norway, facing the group leaders, Portugal, which were unbeaten before this match. But in seven official matches between the two sides, Spain had never concede a loss against their neighbours, so we were in for a tough clash.

The first half lived up to its billing, as both Portugal and Spain engaged in a tough battle, with an exciting tactical battleground, as Jordi Ribera deployed an aggressive 5-1 defence early in the match, with Ian Barrufet marking Rui Silva and forcing Portugal to exchange passes in their backcourt deep into the court.

But as Barrufet conceded two early suspensions due to fouls, Ribera was forced to settle into a 6-0 defence, and Portugal thrived, using two 2:0 runs to tie the match and then go ahead, until their attack ran out of steam, with both Francisco Costa and Martim Costa, their top scorers so far in the competition, racking up misses and turnovers.

This enabled Spain to use a 5:0 unanswered run, where Portugal did not score for six minutes and 57 seconds, to take a commanding 12:8 lead. But just like in the match against Norway, two days before, the gap was quickly evaporated, with a 5:1 Portugal run, which saw Spain score a single goal in six minutes and eight seconds, enabling Paulo Pereira’s team to tie the score, 14:14.

However, Spain’s top scorers, Ian Tarrafeta and Imanol Garciandia, had three goals each from 15 shots combined, as “Los Hispanos” missed too many chances, yet Spain were still in the lead at the break, 16:15, after Ferran Sole converted a cross-court in-flight pass from Daniel Dujshebaev.

Spain threw off the second half even better, opening a three-goal lead, but from that moment on, things took a turn. The usual free-flowing attack started to spur more and more, with mistakes piling up, as well as saves from Diogo Rema Marques. But at the other hand, teenager Francisco Costa took over.

Nicked off in the first half due to underperforming, Costa took over and was the core of a Portugal 6:0 run, which turned the match on its head, with the lead changing hands and Paulo Pereira’s side going closer to a quarter-finals berth, their first in history.

Costa scored five of Portugal’s six goals, torching the Spain defence, which went back to a 5-1, but did not deter Portugal too much, with another goal from Costa and one from his brother, Martim, keeping Spain at bay, 24:21, with 13 minutes to go.

But with Spain conceding too many suspensions and forced to play without a goalkeeper to balance the number in attack, Portugal were feeling lucky and had two open-goal shots converted, which formed the backbone of their 4:0 run which proved to be the pivotal moment of the match, from which Spain could not come back from.

A confident Portugal team, with Rema Marques saving 12 shots for a 38% saving efficiency and with Costa signing off with eight goals, jumped to the chances, converting it with a 35:29 win, their fourth in five matches at the 2025 IHF Men’s World Championship, topping the group standings, with seven points.

The win also meant that Portugal are through to the quarter-finals, becoming the fourth team to do so, joining Denmark, France and Germany, their maiden berth for the top-8 phase of the IHF Men’s World Championship.

The first official loss in history against Portugal also sees Spain in dire straits, being close to elimination, which could be official after the match between Sweden and Brazil, with anything but a draw seeing Spain out of contention and stopping their medal streak at the IHF Men’s World Championship.

hummel Player of the Match: Diogo Rema Marques (Portugal)