The last of the eight groups of the preliminary round at the 2025 IHF Men’s World Championship is likely to see two heavyweights battle it out for top place, with the other two sides facing off for a place in the main round.

Four continents – Asia, Africa, Europe and South America – are represented in Group H at Croatia/Denmark/Norway 2025, with the group being the only one with three sides which have played at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games – Argentina, Croatia and Egypt – underlining its well-balanced nature.

Over the last three editions of the world handball flagship competition, Egypt have made the top-8 every time, qualifying to the quarter-finals for the last two editions, since the format has been tweaked to have eight teams progress to the knock-out phases from the main round.

This time around, the reigning African champions, which also made the quarter-finals at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, are gunning for nothing less, with a fantastic generation aiming for the silverware which evaded them in the past years.

While Egypt will certainly lament the absence of left back Yehia Elderaa, they still have plenty of talent available and will aim to double down on the win recorded against Croatia at the last edition of the IHF Men’s World Championship, when they dominated the European side at Poland/Sweden 2023, 31:22.

However, the previous three meetings between the two sides in the world handball flagship competition were all won by Croatia, 29:23 at Portugal 2003, 24:20 at Spain 2013, and 21:19 at France 2017, when the two teams met in the Round of 16.

However, Egypt hold a positive head-to-head record against Bahrain, with three wins in four matches. The two sides last met at Poland/Sweden 2023, in the main round, when Egypt took a 26:22 win, but also in 2021, at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, when the African side delivered a fantastic performance, clinching a 30:20 win.

Bahrain also lost against Egypt at France 2017, in the preliminary round, 29:31, with their only win against the Pharaohs coming at Sweden 2011, when the two teams met for the first time, with the Asian side clinching a 27:26 win.

Co-hosts Croatia will have plenty to prove on their home court, as the European side are hosting the world handball flagship competition for the second time in history and for the first time since 2009, when they secured the silver medal.

Croatia finished 15th at Egypt 2021 and 9th at Poland/Sweden 2023, having won seven out of the last 12 matches played, but this time around, the pressure will be huge, as there is no room for mistake, especially in such a well-balanced group.

The European side will be cheered in the Arena Zagreb, where they will play all matches -except for a potential final – and will also be motivated by seeing their captain, Domagoj Duvnjak, the player with the largest number of matches and the largest number of goals for Croatia, featuring in his last major international competition for the national team.

While Croatia have a positive balance against Egypt, Argentina and Bahrain in their head-to-head matches, the co-hosts had always seen tough encounters against their South American counterparts. In fact, Argentina won twice against Croatia at the IHF Men’s World Championship, first in 2003 and then 18 years later.

The 30:29 win at Portugal 2003 was arguably one of the biggest, if not the biggest one for Argentina in their history at the IHF Men’s World Championship, kickstarting the appetite for better results. Argentina doubled down to take a fantastic 23:19 win at Egypt 2021, 18 years later, when they denied Croatia the chance to fight for a quarter-finals berth.

The European side secured two big wins, 36:23 at Tunisia 2005 and 36:18 at Sweden 2011, as well as a 27:26 win at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, but there will be no room for mistake now, even if Argentina will not have Pablo and Diego Simonet, who will miss out on the 2023 IHF Men’s World Championship.

Croatia also beat Bahrain four times in four matches, each time by a gap larger than 10 goals. This will be the fourth consecutive edition of the IHF Men’s World Championship where the two sides meet, with Croatia taking a 32:20 win at Denmark/Germany 2019, a 28:18 win at Egypt 2021 and a 43:32 win at Poland/Sweden 2023. 

The other meeting between the two sides came in the Rio 2016 Olympic Qualification Tournament, when Croatia disposed of the Asian side, 33:22.

Argentina and Bahrain also met twice so far in the world handball flagship competition, with Argentina taking two wins, both in the preliminary round of the IHF Men’s World Championship – 26:17 at France 2017 and 24:21 at Egypt 2021. But this time around, the South American side have a team which is less experienced, which could play in Bahrain’s hands.