Dominating Spain return to the IHF Women's Junior World Championship

A coveted place for the 2024 IHF Women’s Junior World Championship was on the table, as the Qualification Europe tournament was scheduled in a round-robin format, with five teams taking part between 21 and 26 November in the competition hosted by Vrnjacka Banja, Serbia.

Two of the last three-placed teams at the W19 EHF EURO 2023 – Croatia and hosts Serbia -  plus the winners of each of the W19 EHF Championships 2023, as well as the one of the second-placed teams in the latter competition took part, as Spain, Serbia, the Faroe Islands, Croatia and Italy faced off for a place in the world handball flagship competition.

Hosts Serbia faced an uphill battle from the first day of competition, when they dropped their first match against Italy, 24:25, in a fierce battle, which saw Asia Mangone score eight goals for Italy, which dominated the match throughout the whole 60 minutes.

While Spain rested in the first day and had four matches in a row played, the winners of the W19 EHF Championship 2023 in Lithuania back in July threw off with a splendid win against Serbia, 30:21, basically rendering the hosts’ chances to nil after just two matches.

Therefore, Spain became the big favourites and looked to be in the drivers’ seat as soon as they sealed another 31:25 win against the Faroe Islands, extending their winning streak to two matches.

With Italy dropping their match against Croatia, 29:39, it looked to be a two-horse battle between Croatia and Spain, with everything decided in the mutual battle on Saturday, when Spain controlled the match, 31:25, sealing their berth to the 2024 IHF Women’s Junior World Championship.

Spain also finished off on a high with a 30:21 win against Italy, as Croatia, Serbia and Italy all finished behind “Las Guerreras” in the standings, with four points, separated by the goal difference. Croatia (+15) finished second, Serbia (-6) ended up on the third place, while Italy (-20) was fourth, with the Faroe Islands ending up on the last place, with zero points.

Spain will return to the IHF Women’s Junior World Championship for the first time since 2018, this being their 12th appearance in 22 editions, with their best finish being the fourth place in 2001 and 2008.

Spain’s Ester Somaza Bosch was also the top scorer of the competition, with 27 goals, while the Faroe Islands’ Bjork Franksdottir Joensen ended up on the second place, with 26 goals, followed by Croatia’s Iva Zrilic, with 25 goals.

With their ticket sealed for North Macedonia 2024, Spain became the 28th team to be sure of their place in the competition. 14 other European sides – hosts North Macedonia, plus Czechia, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Sweden and Switzerland – have also qualified, alongside five Asian sides – People’s Republic of China, the Chinese Taipei, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Japan and the Republic of Korea. Five African sides – Algeria, Angola, Egypt, Guinea and Tunisia – plus three South American sides – Argentina, Brazil and Chile – will also take part in the 2024 IHF Women’s Junior World Championship.

The 22nd edition of the IHF Women's Junior World Championship will take place in North Macedonia, between 19 and 30 June 2024.

Photo credit: Lithuanian Handball Federation / EHF