Second-half salvo pushes Denmark past Romania to finish Group A on top

A commanding 9:1 run in the middle of the second half lifted Denmark to an easy win against Romania in the last match of Group A in Rotterdam, with the Scandinavian side now starting the main round with four points.

GROUP A
Denmark vs Romania 39:31 (21:18)

Two years ago, in Herning, at the 2023 IHF Women’s World Championship, Denmark and Romania finished the action in the preliminary round, with the Scandinavian side taking a 16-goal win and heading to the main round with four points.

Would history repeat itself here? For starters, the first half answered the question with a strong statement for Romania, which delivered a good performance, arguably their best overall at the 2025 IHF Women’s World Championship, forcing Denmark to go the extra mile and finally putting some pressure on the bronze medallist of the last two editions of the World Championship.

It proved to be a true shoot-out, with both defences being forced to concede easy goals, with Denmark and Romania combining for 39 goals. A strong start for Romania goalkeeper Elena Șerban, who saved three shots in the first five minutes, looked to set the tone, but after this early salvo, Romania’s goalkeepers failed to register any save until the end of the first half.

And this is also because the defence failed to stop Denmark’s breakthroughs, with Michala Moller, Anne Mette Hansen and Julie Scaglione combining for nine goals in the first 30 minutes.

However, Romania answered via their top scorers in the competition, left back Sorina Grozav and line player Lorena Ostase, who had nine goals between them. Yet they were still down three goals at the break, 21:18, with Denmark boasting a larger shooting efficiency, 71%, to Romania’s 62%.

Not only did Romania cancel that lead in the first three minutes of the second half, they even wrestled the lead from Denmark, with a stunning 4:0 run, which prompted Helle Thomsen to take a team time-out and calm her players.

It was a decision which worked wonders, because from that moment on, Denmark were unassailable. The bronze medallists at the last two World Championship went on a 6:0 run to basically decide the match, backed by some fantastic fast breaks converted by their wings.

But the main reason which made the difference was Anna Kristensen, the Denmark goalkeeper, which improved her overall saving efficiency to 35% after 46 minutes, shutting up shop for almost nine minutes. In the end, Kristensen had 16 saves for a 37% efficiency, a big reason of the Scandinavian's side win.

That 6:0 run was then followed by another 3:0 one, split by a Romania goal, to open up a seven-goal lead for Denmark, 30:23, which basically meant that the match was over, as Romania’s tempo faltered more and more, the decisive factor being Denmark’s clearly superior depth.

Despite Grozav pitching nine goals and jumping to the second place in the top goal scorer standings, Romania were still unable to limit the damage, as Denmark eventually clinched a clear 39:31 win, to confirm their credentials as one of the teams which will fight for a medal.

With their third win in as many matches, Denmark secured the first place in Group A and will start the next phase with four points, becoming an instant candidate for a quarter-finals berth, while Romania are due to start the next phase with two points.

hummel Player of the Match: Helena Elver Hageso (Denmark)