ZAGREB — The Egyptian handball team advanced to the quarter-finals of the 2025 IHF Men’s World Championship after a 31-24 victory over Cape Verde in their final main-round match. The Pharaohs are set to face France in the quarter-finals on Tuesday.
Despite being behind against Cape Verde for long periods in this continental clash, Egypt did enough to get the two points, and with it, became the first team from Zagreb to qualify through to the quarter-finals.
Cape Verde welcomed back first-choice goalkeeper Elico Fernandes to their starting line-up following injury and he immediately made an impact, helping his side secured a four-goal lead (8:4) and force Egypt coach Juan Carlos Pastor to take an early time out for the African champions.
In front of a large contingent of Icelandic fans, willing them on in their similarly-coloured blue kits, Cape Verde once again evidenced their quality on the global stage.
Delcio Pina was the spearhead of a 5-1 defence early on, stopping the Egyptians from getting through, but with a team full of experienced, elite-level players, pushed on by Yahia Omar and Ali Zein, not to mention the nagging and harrying of the Cape Verdean players by Ahmed Nafea, Pastor’s side came back into it and the game was all-square (11:11) in the 26th minute.
Egypt pushed ahead just before the break (13:12), with what can only be said to be an organised chaos of defence, including 3-3, 5-1, 4-2 and whatever it took to disrupt Cape Verde, which they did.
Fernandes ended the half with five saves, and his counterpart, Karim Hendawy six and the tightness of the game continued up to the 37th minute.
But a disastrous period for the side who only made their IHF Men’s World Championship debut in 2021 saw the Cape Verdeans turnover the ball repeatedly, despite shouts of ‘tranquilo’ (calm) from their ranks.
Then up stepped Yahia Omar for Egypt, repeatedly punishing the Cape Verde defence, ending with 11 goals, the best player award and another spot in the global last eight.
And in a nice moment of Fair Play, both teams started shaking hands with 10 seconds left on the game clock, knowing their journeys were going in very different ways.
France made it six out of six at the IHF Men’s World Championship, ending the main round in Varazdin with another clear win, heading to Zagreb for the quarter-finals as the Group II winners.
A series of saves from Remi Desbonnet, including three straight penalty shots, allowed France to go on a new scoring run and establish a 15:10 lead. Just before the halftime break, the gap was reduced to four goals, 18:14, but France were still in the driver’s seat.
France sealed the 32:25 win, with those seven goals being their biggest lead in the game, as they clinched the sixth win in six matches and go full of confidence in the next round.
2025 IHF Men’s World Championship – quarter-finals schedule:
Tuesday, January 28
- Croatia vs Hungary
- France vs Egypt
Wednesday, January 29
- Denmark vs Brazil
- Portugal vs Germany
