The defending world champions start their mission at Germany 2017 with a highly emotional encounter: three of the Norwegian top stars – Kari Grimsbø, Nora Mørk and Stine Oftedal – will face several teammates of their club side Audi ETO Györ, such as Hungarian handball legend Anita Görbicz. The seven-time EHF EURO champions aim to level-up with Russia and claim their fourth World Championship title after winning the trophy in 1999, 2011 and 2015.

Coach Thorir Hergeirsson has nominated a squad mixed of experienced players and young talents. Goalkeeper Katrine Lunde, who also played for Györ before, is back in the squad with the experience of 265 international matches, while Emilie Christensen will have her international debut in Germany.

Hungary hope that the history of their new coach Kim Rasmussen continues: The Dane had steered Poland to two straight World Championship finals, before he took over the Hungary team, who are eagerly waiting for their first World Championship medal since their third place in 2005. Görbicz is the true leader of the squad, which is mostly a mixture of the two top clubs in Hungary, Györ and FTC Rail Cargo Hungaria. Only Szimonetta Planeta currently plays for a club abroad (Chambray/FRA).

Last weekend Norway and Hungary faced each other at the Møbelringen Cup in Norway, where the reigning world champions claimed a 29:24 victory. In addition, the Scandinavian side beat Korea while their match against Russia ended in a draw. Hungary lost to Russia and defeated Korea.

“In any competition we are going for a medal. This is our mission in Germany,” said Norwegian coach Thorir Hergeirsson. The last time they failed in this mission at a major event was at the 2013 World Championship, when they were eliminated by hosts Serbia in the quarter-final.

Preview on the remaining matches:

Group A in Trier:

Romania open Group A against the underdogs from Paraguay, while Olympic silver medallists France open their Germany 2017 campaign against Slovenia, who end their twelve-year absence from World Championships. The team of Olivier Krumbholz can count on their 2009 IHF Player of the Year Allison Pineau as France’s important left back returned right in time after a severe injury. The third match of the day at Trier is the duel between Angola and Spain. Despite a clear defeat in their final test against France, Angola’s Danish-born coach Morten Soubak is confident to “upset some favourites” in Trier. For him, just as well as for the coach of Spain, Carlos Vizer, it will be the first World Championship match at the helm of his team.

Group B in Bietigheim-Bissingen:

Prior to the match of the day, the Czechs are favoured to win against Pan American runners-up Argentina. “It would be a miracle, if we could proceed to the eighth-finals, facing five European teams,” Argentine coach Eduardo Peruchena said before the start. Poland face a big challenge in their opener against 2014 EHF EURO bronze medallists Sweden. “We have a young team in transition”, says Poland coach Leszek Krowicki. His side will have a major support from the stands, as team captain Karolina Kudlacz-Gloc plays for SG Bietigheim.

Group C in Oldenburg:

The duel of the 2012 EURO champions Montenegro with their new Swedish coach Per Eriksson against the record Olympic champions Denmark is the highlight on day 1 in Oldenburg. With the return of top stars such as Katarina Bulatovic and Jovanka Radicevic, Montenegro have much more experience and will challenge Denmark, who are out for another semi-final after they finished fourth at the 2016 EHF EURO. Besides the European clash, fans can look forward to two intercontinental encounters in Group C as Olympic champions Russia face Tunisia and 2016 Olympic hosts Brazil meet 2020 Olympic hosts Japan.

Group D in Leipzig:

After the clear German win against Cameroon in the opening match on Friday, two European-Asian duels will conclude round 1 in Leipzig. While the star players of the Serbia team are expected to lead their team to a win against China, Korea are somewhat of a dark horse. After some disappointing results on the World Championship and Olympic stage, the Asian champions are building up a new team to return to the top and even though they face a tough challenge they will give their all against the favourites, 2016 EHF EURO and 2015 World Championship silver medallists Netherlands.