Some Parisians qualify, some crash out
On Thursday, the 2025 World Championship continued in Croatia, Denmark and Norway. Several Paris Saint-Germain handball players were involved in the action.
Netherlands - France: 28-35
The match between the Netherlands and France had all the makings of a Parisian derby: no fewer than five Rouge et Bleu players were on the court. On the French side were Mathieu Grébille, Elohim Prandi and Luka Karabatic, while for the Netherlands, there were Luc Steins and Dani Baijens. Despite some strong Dutch resistance and some fine individual statistics for our players (3 from 3 for Luc, six goals for Dani), the Oranje came up against the experience of a France side who are perfectly at home at this World Championship. Thanks largely to Elohim's four goals and Luka's single strike, Les Bleus continued their perfect record and officially booked their place in the quarter-finals - even before their final match of the Main Round against Macedonia. The Netherlands, for their part, have been eliminated, but will still have to play a final match against Austria on Saturday.
Poland-Kuwait: 42-32
Already out of the running since the first round, Poland are trying to console themselves with the President's Cup. For the moment, Kamil Syprzak and his team-mates are doing what they have to do to leave the competition on a high note. After their first win against Algeria (38-32), the Poles, without their Parisian pivot, doubled down on Thursday with a win over Kuwait. They are now top of the cup standings and will have the opportunity to confirm their perfect record on Saturday when they face bottom-placed Guinea (zero points).
Denmark - Switzerland: 39-28
Denmark, one of the tournament favourites, once again came up trumps. With Jacob Holm still in the stands and Jannick Green rejoining the squad but not yet on the teamsheet, the Scandinavians continued their perfect run on home soil, comfortably overcoming Switzerland. The Danes were already seven goals ahead at the break (30': 18-11) before winning the match by 11. With a perfect record of four out of four since the start of the competition, Denmark lead Group I and have already qualified for the quarter-finals (even before facing the Czech Republic).
Defending world champions Denmark clinch their quarter-finals spot 🇩🇰💥 In a tight match in Varaždin, 🇭🇺 Hungary take the precious two points 🙌#inspiredbyhandball #CRODENNOR2025 pic.twitter.com/VVfUatJaqB
— International Handball Federation (@ihfhandball) January 23, 2025
The fixtures for Friday 24 January:
- Spain (Ferran Sole Sala) - Portugal, 15:30
- Sweden (Andreas Palicka) - Brazil, 18:00
- Egypt (Yahia Omar) - Slovenia, 20:30
- Chile - Norway (Kent Robin Tonnsen), 20:30
(Credits: IHF)