Egypt made history by reaching the semi-finals of the 2026 Women’s Youth World Championship after beating China 30:29 in Romania.
This is a massive achievement for Egyptian handball, making Egypt one of the very few non-European teams to ever reach the top four in this competition.
The match started tight, with both teams defending hard. With the score tied at 7:7, Egypt took advantage of China’s mistakes and went on a fast 4:0 run to lead 11:7. Thanks to strong team play and solid defence, Egypt stayed ahead and went into halftime leading by four goals.
China fought back strongly in the second half and managed to equalise at 26:26 with just four minutes left.
However, Egypt stayed calm under pressure. They quickly took back control of the game, scoring key goals to regain a 30:27 lead with standard time almost up.
In the final seconds, China scored again to make it 30:29 and launched one last attempt to force extra time. Egyptian goalkeeper Jaydaa Salama made an incredible final save to secure the victory, locking in Egypt’s historic place in the semi-finals.
