Down four goals in the 39th minute, Great Britain mounted a spirited comeback against favourites United States of America, shocking the American side, 29:25,  to reach the final of the IHF Men’s Emerging Nations for the first time in history.

SEMI-FINALS
United States of America vs Great Britain 25:29 (14:13)

The high pace of the match in the first minutes was obvious, with both sides aiming to keep their attacks as fast as possible, with seven goals scored in the first five minutes. And it was Great Britain which started the match better, surprising their opponents with some excellent breakthroughs.

Great Britain’s attack was not a one-trick-pony, despite Francisco Pereira scoring 23 goals in the first three matches, with the European side’s top scorer finding the net only once in that span. Yet Great Britain were still ahead, 5:2, leaving the USA searching for answers.

They found them soon enough and it was left wing Lukas Hansen leading the charge, as their top scorers, Drew Donlin and Amar Amitovic, combining for only three goals in the first half. But Hansen was relentless and was part of a 6:1 USA run, which turned the match on its head.

Donlin, Amitovic and Hansen each chimed in with goals to see USA take an 8:6 lead after 12 minutes, with goalkeeper Pal Merkovszky also registering four of his eight saves in the first half in that span.

But, somehow, the goals started to dry up. The rhythm was lowered by both sides, the goals were found harder and harder, and Great Britain turned the tide again, with a 4:1 run, which saw both Pereira and Oliver Tyler score one goal, as the two had seven goals between them in the first half.

Yet USA had the larger expeirience and were sharper in the end of the first half, when Hansen scored twice to launch a 4:0 unanswered run, which tilted the balance into the American side’s corner, leading by the slightest of margins, 14:13, at the break.

USA started the second half better and were looking comfortably ahead, with a four-goal lead, 19:15, after 39 minutes. But then something snapped. For 11 minutes and five seconds, the American team failed to score one goal, enabling their opponents to turn the tide again, with a 5:0 unanswered run.

Louis Christy and Pereira scored three goals between them to help Great Britain open a one-goal lead, 20:19, a lead which grew to two goals, 25:23, when there were less than five minutes on the clock, as the two goalkeepers – USA’s Merkovszky and Great Britain’s Kylian Ferrier each had 16 saves at that point.

In the end, the USA could not mount a comeback and conceded the 25:29 loss, a fantastic achievement for the British side, which took part for the fifth time at the IHF Men’s Emerging Nations Championship, with their previous best result being a fourth place.

Therefore, the only two teams which have played in every edition of the IHF Men’s Emerging Nations Championship, Bulgaria and Great Britain, have secured a medal and will fight for the trophy on Sunday. It will be the third meeting between the two sides in 2025,  with a 27:27 draw registered in the EHF EURO 2028 Qualification Phase in January and a 35:22 win for Bulgaria in the preliminary round at the 2025 IHF Men’s Emerging Nations Championship.

On the other hand, USA and Nigeria will collide for the bronze, with the two sides having already met in the preliminary round, in a 31:31 draw.

Player of the Match: Kylian Ferrier (Great Britain)