Main round of the Handball World Cup
Defending champions too strong: Germany takes a hit
Updated on 01/22/2025 – 08:24 amReading time: 2 minutes
From the start, the DHB selection was behind the Danes. The giant was unstoppable in the second half too.
The German national handball team failed to start the main round of the World Cup. National coach Alfred Gíslason’s team had to admit defeat against defending champions Denmark by a score of 40:30 (18:24). Germany still has reaching the quarter-finals in its own hands. The main round continues on Thursday against Italy, with Tunisia waiting on Saturday.
The best throwers for the DHB selection were Julian Köster and Timo Kastening with six goals each. Denmark confidently leads the main round group 1 with 6:0 points, followed by the DHB selection and Italy (both 4:2). Switzerland is fourth (3:3), the Czech Republic (1:5) and Tunisia (0:6) no longer have a chance of progressing. Only the best two teams in the group of six reach the quarter-finals in Oslo (Norway).
In the new edition of the Olympic final, which was clearly lost 26:39, Gíslason initially relied on David Späth in goal, who had shone against the Czech Republic at the end of the preliminary round. However, Germany had little to counter the Danish attack from the start and were behind by three goals after less than four minutes.
Juri Knorr and his teammates fought with all their might against the Danes’ fast-paced handball. But they couldn’t stop the big World Cup favorite. At 12:7 the home team were ahead by five goals for the first time. At least things went better in attack than in the preliminary round games, in which Germany had shown enormous teething problems.
In addition, the DHB selection in the seven-meter area was significantly improved. Kastening safely converted four of five penalty throws in the first half. But the German players had no access on defense.
When the Danes made it 16:10, Gíslason reacted by changing the goalkeeper. Andreas Wolff came on for Späth, but was largely as unlucky as his teammate. World handball players around Mathias Gidsel repeatedly combined through the German defense. At halftime the game was already decided.
Even after the change, the Danes, cheered on frenetically by their enthusiastic fans, dominated and mercilessly exploited the large gaps in the German defense. The often powerless Wolff repeatedly shrugged his shoulders in disbelief. The DHB team gained hope again at 22:26, but the turnaround was no longer successful. Denmark was simply too strong for that.
The upcoming duel with the Italians, who had previously celebrated their third victory in this final round with a 25:18 win against the Czech Republic, already has the character of a final for Germany. A defeat on Thursday would practically mean the end of the Olympic runner-up in the main round before the final game against Tunisia and thus the premature end of all medal dreams.