A strong second-half comeback saw Egypt finish the 2025 IHF Men’s Youth World Championship they hosted on a high, clinching a 33:31 win against Iceland and finishing on the fifth place, while down five goals at the break.
Hungary ended up seventh, with a 42:34 win over depleted Norway in the Placement Match 7/8, with the Scandinavian side ending up eighth.
Placement Match 5/6
Egypt vs Iceland 33:31 (12:17)
There was no pressure, but only desire for Egypt to clinch the fifth place at the 2025 IHF Men’s Youth World Championship, which they were hosting, but the first half of their last match against Iceland showed why Egypt were here and not battling for the medals.
Too many mistakes in attack, highlighted by a meagre 52% shooting efficiency, coupled with some defensive issues, helped Iceland open up a five-goal lead at the break, 17:12, looking increasingly comfortable in the match.
The European side started off strong, with a 5:1 run, prompting a team time-out from Egypt. The lack of sollutions of the bench for the African side, the only non-European team in the top-8 at Egypt 2025, and when the first-team players ran out of steam, the difference was there to be seen.
None of Egypt’s players scored more than two goals himself, while Iceland led by as many as six goals, 16:10, with Dagur Árni Heimisson, Andri Erlingsson and Agust Gudmundsson combining for 11 goals.
But soon after the break, Egypt came back energysed and seriously improved their defence, to limit Iceland to only two goals scored in the first seven minutes of the second part of the match, to cut the gap to a single goal, 18:19, and force a team time-out from Iceland.
Iceland did pull away for some minutes, but Egypt’s comeback had more fuel into it, and with left wing Omar Baraka and centre back Hamza Abdalla running the show, they finally used a 3:0 run to take the lead for the first time in the 47th minute, 26:25.
But Iceland wrestled the lead immediately, as Heimisson made it a mission for himself to help his side, scoring nine goals throughout the match, yet with five minutes left.
Yet Egypt finally proved to be stronger, as goalkeeper Moustafa Bayoumi had a pair of saves late in the match, while Iceland scored only twice in the last nine minutes, to secure a 33:31 win, finishing in the top-5 at the IHF Men’s Youth World Championship for the fifth time in history and for the third consecutive time in a row.
Player of the Match: Omar Baraka (Egypt)
Placement Match 7/8
Norway vs Hungary 34:42 (17:19)
Hungary secured the seventh place at the 2025 IHF Men’s Youth World Championship, ending the competition on a high, with a dominating attacking performance against a depleted Norway, to clinch a 42:34 win.
The two sides combined for 112 shots throughout the match, but Hungary had clearly the better attacking efficiency, with a 81% shooting efficiency throughout the match, while Norway were at 57%, yet still scored 34 goals.
The difference was made, in the end, by the more options which Hungary had on the bench, with 16 players in the squad, four more than Norway, which were also missing their top scorer, left back Vetle Mellestrand Bore.
Without Bore, other players needed to step up and it was line player Alexander Loke Gautestad and centre back Ciljan Sagosen – Heidi Loke’s son and Sander Sagosen’s brother respectively – who stepped up and combined for 18 goals throughout the match.
But Norway were still down two goals at the break, coming back from seven behind, and the Scandinavian side missed a plethora of chances to tie the score, only for Hungary to hover at the two-goal mark throughout most of the second half, before they provided an excellent finish of the match.
In the last 15 minutes, Hungary scored 12 times, led by backs Ádám Horváth-Garaba and Marko Eklemovic, who both had eight goals, using a 6:1 run to finish the match and create an eight-goal lead, 42:34, with Norway finally crushing under their tired legs to concede another loss at Egypt 2025.
Hungary finished seventh, their second-best finish in history at the IHF Men’s Youth World Championship, after the fifth place in 2019, while Norway had their fifth top-10 finish from seven appearances in the competition.
Player of the Match: Ádám Horváth-Garaba (Hungary)