The early games of the main round groups I and II at the Handball World Cup could not have been more different. Switzerland celebrated a clear 37:26 (20:11) success, Austria and North Macedonia split in a dramatic final phase with a 29:29 (14:13) draw.
You could see the joy on Andy Schmid, the Swiss coach, on his face; the clear result was quite surprising. The team won against Tunisia 37:26 (20:11) and can still hope for the quarter-finals. Lenny Rubin (TVB Stuttgart) once again delivered an extremely strong performance. The backcourt left is the linchpin of Schmid’s team in both attack and defense. The best player of the game was, somewhat surprisingly, Nikola Portner (SC Magdeburg), who was able to save 10 of the 28 balls that hit his goal. With the victory, the Swiss national team can continue to dream of the quarter-finals.
Main round group II: Florian Kaiper becomes a tragic hero
The North Macedonians went into the first game of Main Round Group I with just one point and were already under a little pressure against Austria if the World Cup tournament continued. Neither team was able to pull away within the first thirty minutes in the Varaždin Arena (14:13).
Things got really exciting in the final phase. First Filip Kuzmanovski, the tournament’s top scorer before the game (31 goals), missed a seven-meter shot against the Austrian goalkeeper Florian Kaiper, then Lukas Hutecek (TBV Lemgo Lippe) scored five seconds before the end to make it 29:28. Supposedly because Kaiper let Kuzmanovski’s desperation throw slip through his fingers and North Macedonia was able to celebrate a draw (29:29) when the final siren sounded.
Guinea narrowly missed its first World Cup victory in history with a 24:27 (15:11) defeat against Kuwait in the President’s Cup Group I. Places 25-32 will be played in Poreč, Croatia.