Group A: Spain start with all-European duel against Montenegro

The two European sides in Group A will face off on Thursday, while Chile are scheduled to meet the Islamic Republic of Iran. 

• 18:00 CET Chile vs Islamic Republic of Iran 

This encounter might be pivotal for both rivals in their fight for the main round berth. As it looks now, the winning side will have a good chance of going through.

Chile boast more experience at this level, heading into their seventh straight World Championship. However, the South American team have never reached the main round, and their best result was the 16th place at Germany/Denmark 2019.

Last year, Chile earned bronze at the 2022 South and Central American Championship, which secured them a spot at Poland/Sweden 2023. And now the team coached by Aitor Etxaburu hope to do a good job at the tournament. 

The Islamic Republic of Iran have only participated in one World Championship so far, at Qatar 2015, where they finished 21st. The Asian team claimed two wins then, and notably one of them was against Chile in the 21–24 Placement Round (32:31).

Last week, Iran took the third place at the four-team friendly tournament in Katowice, losing against Poland (27:32) and Belgium (31:35) and defeating Morocco (29:28). Despite having just one foreign-based player in their roster – centre back Pouya Norouzinejad from German club VfL Eintracht Hagen – the team coached by the experienced Montenegrin Veselin Vujović hopes to be competitive. 

• 20:30 CET Spain vs Montenegro 

While the women's teams of Spain and Montenegro have met numerous times at major tournaments, including the World Championship, their men's teams will face each other in a competitive match for the first time.
Spain, who are seen as clear favourites in Group A, boast a lot of experience at this level, as they have not missed a single edition of the World Championship since 1974. "Los Hispanos" have been quite consistent in recent years, winning three medals since 2011 – gold in 2013 and bronze in 2011 and 2021.

Now the team coached by Jordi Ribera is aiming high again, even though they are missing a key player, Aleix Gómez, who is injured. Spain showed their quality in a recent friendly tournament in Benidorm, where they defeated Argentina, Bahrain and Romania with an overall +37 goal difference.

In the absence of Gómez, Spain have just one player from their domestic league, FC Barcelona's goalkeeper Gonzalo Pérez de Vargas. In turn, Montenegro completely rely on foreign-based players.

Compared to their rivals, the Balkan team have little experience at this level. Their only participation in the World Championship dates back to 2013, when Montenegro claimed just one win in seven matches to finish 22nd.

Zoran Roganović, who took part in the tournament as a player, is now the team's head coach. Under him, Montenegro achieved their best-ever result at the EHF EURO, the 11th place in 2022, and they hope to build on that success.

"Our team has so many great individuals and enormous potential, but it needs to be translated into quality. I believe that we can make another step forward compared to last January," Roganović said.