The anatomy of a shock: Inside Brazil's fabulous win against Norway at the 2025 IHF Men's World Championship
16 Jan. 2025
A penalty saved. Two penalties saved. Then the third one. And just like it, Brazil were in with a fighting chance against co-hosts Norway, in their opener at the 2025 IHF Men’s World Championship. On Norwegian soil, in the Unity Arena in Baerum, Oslo, where the South American side delivered a lesson.
It is not over, until it is really over. Norway were overwhelming favourites to throw off their campaign, where a medal looked in reach, with a win. They started with a 4:0 run, which morphed into a 7:2 lead. Brazil took a team time-out, but it looked like there was little they could do.
Yet they believed in themselves until the end. They played the perfect second half, outscoring Norway 17 goals to 12. Their goalkeepers worked wonders between the posts, with the hummel Player of the Match, Rangel Da Rosa, finishing with 11 saves for a 33% saving efficiency and Mateus Cristian Martins Nascimento adding four more saves, for a 50% efficiency.
“Sure we thought we could win. We have worked a lot. And our goal, when we got out of the locker room, when we talked, was that we win. We knew we had it in us, we have been training for almost a month now, since 26 December,” says Brazil’s left back, Haniel Langaro.
Langaro is one of the most experienced Brazil players on this roster. This is his fourth edition of the IHF Men’s World Championship, having already featured at France 2017, Denmark/Germany 2019 and Egypt 2021. He missed the previous one, due to injury. But he is one of the pillars of a new squad, which features plenty of newcomers and debutants in the world handball flagship competition.
And he threw it off with a bang, scoring Brazil’s first four goals, which proved to be decisive, keeping close enough to Norway to mount a comeback at the end of the first half and then in the second part, where the South American side left the co-hosts dumbfounded, sucking all the air and the energy out of the Unity Arena.
Sure, there was the Brazilian corner, packed in one end stand, who had their flags up, cheered for the whole game and celebrated wildly with their heroes at the end of the match, after Brazil’s outstanding 29:26 win, the first major shock of the 2025 IHF Men’s World Championship.
“Well, in the end, when the game is like this, there are some players who have to take responsibility. Today it was me, tomorrow it will be another one. But this is a team where we are all very important,” added Langaro.
Last Match, Brazil missed out on the chance to feature at the Olympic Games, after finishing third in the Paris 2024 Olympic Qualification Tournament #1, behind Spain and Slovenia. After losing the final of the 2023 Pan American Games against Argentina, that was another blow, sweetened by the win at the 2024 South and Central American Men’s Handball Championship, where Brazil secured the gold medal.
In the end, everybody contributed a bit for Brazil’s win. Langaro had eight goals. Fellow left back Bryan Monte da Silva added six. Da Rosa and Martins Nascimento had some fantastic saves between the posts, denying half a dozen one-on-one situations for Norway. In retrospect, it was the perfect storm, coming at the right time.
The Scandinavian had previously won all the five matches played against Brazil in major international competitions, with the last one coming at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, in August 2021, when they took a 27:24 win. The previous four wins came at the IHF Men’s World Championship, 34:12 in 2005, 39:21 in 2009, 26:25 in 2011 and 39:26 in 2017, with three out of the four wins being in double digits.
From a 13-goal win eight years ago, when Langaro was also featuring on the court, to a three-goal win, the swing was immense and the pendulum rang for Brazil, as they managed their maiden win against Norway, in the best start in history at the IHF Men’s World Championship for the South American side.
“It was our first victory against them in our first World Championship match at home in Norway. But we knew that they were under pressure. We have worked a lot, we have prepared a lot for the games and I think we have enjoyed it,” adds Langaro.
Brazil are no strangers of good starts, having delivered a 29:29 draw against Spain, European champions at that time, at Egypt 2021. However, they have not finished higher than the ninth place at the IHF Men’s World Championship, in 2019, when Langaro was also in the team.
This result unlocks a path to another great outing, provided that the South American side can also register wins against Portugal and the United States of America in the next two matches, as a 100% winning record will see them top of the group and carrying four points into the main round.
“We will try to take advantage of this win. We need to rest. And start from the beginning in the next matches. We are very happy with what we achieved,” concludes Langaro.