Record attacking outing seals first place for Portugal in Group III

In a high-scoring match, Portugal delivered their fifth win in six tries at the 2025 IHF Men’s World Championship, 46:28, against Chile, securing the first place in Group III and setting up a showdown against Germany in the quarter-finals.

MAIN ROUND – GROUP III
Portugal vs Chile 46:28 (22:17)

For Portugal the maths were easy: do not lose against Chile and they were on the first place at the end of the group, as they held the tie-breaker against Brazil, which they won against in the preliminary round, 30:26.

With the tickets to the knockout phase already secured, Portugal eyed the win for multiple reasons – both to stay undefeated in the competition, as well as avoiding a showdown with title holders Denmark, which won Group I.

Yet Chile would not back down easily, as their last match at this edition of the IHF Men’s World Championship – their first where they clinched a main round berth – was a good way of showing they belonged here.

And for more than 40 minutes, they really delivered an excellent performance, going tit-for-tat against Portugal, in a high-scoring match, which eventually produced 74 goals. However, that forced Portugal’s coach, Paulo Pereira, to use his starters throughout the first 50 minutes, as Portugal needed to win the match.

By the 25th minute, the gap was minuscule, 17:15, as Chile really matched Portugal’s attacking output. But in the end, the depth and experience of the European team was decisive, with all but one outfield player scoring at least one goal, as line player Luis Frade did not enter the court for one second.

Once again, the Costa brothers – Francisco and Martim – shone, with some fantastic goals, as they topped the scoring charts for Portugal, with nine and six goals respectively, while goalkeeper Diogo Rema Marques also had eight saves for a 33% saving efficiency.

The pivotal moment of the match came after a Portugal team time-out, with Pereira asking for more passion from his team, after only five minutes in the second half, when Portugal only had a three-goal lead, 25:22.

Between the 42nd and the 51st minutes, Portugal went on a 10:0 spree, never conceding a goal, but scoring 10, including an in-flight for Costa, who was then pulled off the court for a well-deserved rest, after improving his overall tally at the 2025 IHF Men’s World Championship to 36 goals.

Eventually, Portugal secured a 46:28 win, the one in which they scored the largest number of goals in history at the IHF Men’s World Championship, beating the previous record, set against Australia, 42 goals, in 2003, when they hosted the competition. 

Portugal’s 13 goal was also their 1000th at the IHF Men’s World Championship, scored by Martim Costa, and this win also secures Portugal the first place in the group, setting up a clash against Germany on Wednesday, in the Unity Arena in Baerum.

Chile, where Erwin Feuchtmann scored eight goals, to improve his tally to 40 goals in this competition, finished sixth in the group, and will end up on either 23rd and 24th, depenind on what Cape Verde do in their last match.

hummel Player of the Match: Francisco Costa (Portugal)