Paraguay won against Cyprus for the second time in five days, 37:28, to seal the fifth place in the final standings of the 2025 IHF Men’s Emerging Nations Championship, while the Republic of Moldova delivered Azerbaijan their fifth loss in a row, 29:28, to end up on the seventh place in the final standings, in the first two matches of the last day at Bulgaria 2025.

PLACEMENT MATCH 5/6
Paraguay vs Cyprus 37:28 (17:16)

Without a lot of experience in their squad, it was clear that Cyprus were going to take a step back from their previous performance at the IHF Men’s Emerging Nations Championship, when they ended as runners-up, conceding a loss in the final against Cuba.

This time around, the European side conceded three losses in the preliminary round, but bounced back with a win against the Republic of Moldova and a win against Paraguay would have seen them, paradoxically, in the fifth place.

However, Cyprus had previously lost against Paraguay in the preliminary round, 23:30, in a total collapse in the second half, but here, they started better, with a 5:2 run, which morphed into an 8:4 lead after only 11 minutes.

This was the best passage of play for Cyprus, which started fading after the 15th minute, enabling paraguay, who had Santiago Talavera Ortiz and Cesar Caceres Cristaldo in fine form. By the end of the first half, Paraguay led 17:16, and had all the momentum.

Cyprus’ woes were especially visible in defence, where their goalkeepers failed to provide the needed saves to keep their team close. In fact, Andreas Papalambrianou had three goals – all scored as Paraguay emptied their goal for an extra attacking player - and only four saves by the 38th minute.

Three 3:0 unanswered runs early in the second half saw Paraguay open a six-goal lead with 16 minutes to go in the match, 27:21, as the South American side were cruising to another win, their third in the competition, and a fifth place, at their debut at the IHF Men’s Emerging Nations Championship.

As Cyprus tried to mount a comeback, they failed to really close up Paraguay, with Talavera Ortiz finishing with eight goals, the same number of goals scored by Jorge Rojas Gutierrez, while the European side’s top scorer was Christos Hadjipetrou with six goals.

Rojas Gutierrez has jumped on the provisional third place in the top goal scorer standings, with 30 goals, and is all but sure of finishing in the top five goal scorers at the end of the competition.

Paraguay’s third win in the competition, 37:28, saw the South American side finish on the fifth place in the final standings, an encouraging sign for the rookies, while Cyprus ended up sixth, with a win and four losses in five matches.

Player of the Match: Santiago Talavera Ortiz (Paraguay)

PLACEMENT MATCH 7/8
Azerbaijan vs Republic of Moldova 28:29 (14:20)

Four days ago, Azerbaijan and the Republic of Moldova met in the preliminary round of the 2025 IHF Men’s Emerging Nations Championship and Moldova controlled the match from start to finish, leading by six goals at the break and taking a 33:21 win after the final whistle.

With both sides aiming to avoid finishing on the last place here, the rematch was more balanced, despite Moldova entering the break with another six-goal lead, but this time with a higher paced match, 20:14.

Azerbaijan had a nine-match losing streak entering the encounter against the Republic of Moldova, winning only twice in the last 11 matches, and they pressed their opponents until the end, but eventually conceded yet another loss, their tenth in a row.

After 33 minutes, the Republic of Moldova had a seven-goal lead, 21:14, as goalkeeper Ion Saharnean delivered a great performance, with 17 saves and a 39% saving efficiency plus two goals scored in the match, but Azerbaijan were relentless and in the end they made it hard for Moldova.

Seven goals from Maharram Mammadli and Sabir Nazaraliyev each powered Azerbaijan to a fantastic 8:0 run, which they used to take the lead, 22:21, as Moldova failed to score for 12 minutes and two seconds.

But the Republic of Moldova bounced back thanks to nine goals from the Player of the Match, Victor Ledeniov, who hit two of them in quick succession to hand Moldova the lead. 

In the end, Moldova used a 3:1 and a 3:0 runs to break free and seal a 29:28 win, with Azerbaijan’s last two goals only cutting the gap to a single goal, as they prevented their opponents to score in the last two minutes and 55 seconds of the match.

The Republic of Moldova finished seventh, with two wins in five matches – both against Azerbaijan, while their opponents ended up on the last place in the competition for the second time in a row, after finishing 12th in the previous edition.

Player of the Match: Victor Ledeniov (Republic of Moldova)