BAERUM, Norway — Reigning Olympic champions Denmark solidified their dominance in men’s handball by securing a record fourth consecutive world title, defeating Croatia 32-26 in Norway, at the IHF Men’s World Championship.
Earlier, the bronze-medal match reached a dramatic conclusion as France beat Portugal 35-34 to claim a record-extending 13th World Championships medal.
A packed Unity Arena in Bærum witnessed another exceptional performance from the Scandinavian side, which has not lost a match in the world handball flagship competition since 2017.
On a snowy, cold day in Bærum, Croatia and Denmark faced off in the perfect setting for the final of the 2025 IHF Men’s World Championship. However, the usually quiet and frosty Unity Arena – following Norway’s early exit – was anything but, erupting with energy.
With 12,500 spectators filling the arena, it transformed into a sea of red and white, as both finalists shared the same colors. The question remained: Would Croatia secure their first world title in 22 years, since 2003? Or would Denmark, the machine-like side with an impressive 36-match unbeaten streak, continue their dominance over the past eight years?
The 2025 IHF World Men’s Handball Championship pitted two of the tournament co-hosts against each other, with Denmark living up to their favourites tag.
On the back of Mathias Gidsel’s 10 goals from 11 attempts, the Danes extended their unbeaten run at the World Championship to 37 matches with their last defeat coming in January 2017. They now join Sweden and Romania in second place on the all-time list behind six-time winners France.
Denmark went into an early 4-1 lead, but Tin Lucin cut the advantage to one with just over 10 minutes left in the first half. The 2003 champions almost levelled but Denmark goalie Emil Nielsen denied Josip Sipic. And Croatia’s hopes of regaining the title were dealt a hammer blow when Marko Mamic was red-carded for a reckless tackle on Rasmus Lauge.
Capitalising on their one-man advantage for two minutes, Denmark opened up a four-point lead and took a 16-12 lead into half-time.
Early in the second half, Denmark doubled the gap to eight as they threatened to run away with the match. And Gidsel, who would be named MVP for the third consecutive major tournament, made it a 10-goal game with 20 minutes left on the clock.
Croatia fought back valiantly, scoring three times without reply to reduce the deficit to five points (28-23) with just over six minutes remaining. But indisicipline cost them again as Zvonimir Srna received a second yellow card followed by a red card.
Denmark stayed clear and, in a show of respect in the closing seconds, allowed Croatia captain and 2013 IHF Player of the Year Domagoj Duvnjak an open goal to mark his retirement from international handball.
In their first major tournament since the retirement of the great Mikkel Hansen, Denmark showed that they are still very much the team to beat.
By the 46th minute, the vocal Croatia fans were reduced to silence. There was nothing them or their team could do to prevent a loss.
Such was Denmark’s pitch perfect performance, even if there were some mishaps along the way. Just as in the previous matches, Denmark proved that they when they want, they accelerate and then it’s gone.
