A strong finish, which erased a three-goal lead for the United States of America, saw Poland take a 24:22 win after penalties in the President’s Cup final, finishing on the 25th place in the final standings at the 2025 IHF Men’s World Championship.

PRESIDENT’S CUP FINAL – PLACEMENT MATCH 25/26
Poland vs United States of America 24:22 a.pen. (11:13; 21:21)

The United States of America added more wins in this edition of the President’s Cup – three – than they previously have secured in their entire history of the IHF Men’s World Championship – two – and were determined to show that this progress is meaningful in the President’s Cup final against Poland.

Sure, the opponent was more experienced and the only European side in this phase of the competition, but Poland were still missing a key players –line player Kamil Syprzak – as well as others who did not make the final cut for Croatia/Denmark/Norway 2025 due to injuries. However, Poland had Arkadiusz Moryto back in the squad, but with limited success.

Therefore, this was an opening for the USA, which took advantage of it in the first half, when a 4:0 run early in the match enabled them to take a totally surprising 6:3 lead, as Poland failed to score for 10 minutes and two seconds, with their shooting efficiency plummeting to a meagre 39%.

As every Polish player got some time on the court, turnovers piled for the European side, which had lost the ball more times than the USA team in the first half, being down two goals at the break, 11:13, with USA on the cusp of something special, their second win against an European side in history and a chance to secure the 25th place with their fourth win in this edition of the world handball flagship competition.

One could have foresee an USA collapse in the second half, but as Poland did not manage to narrow the gap by the 43th minute, 18:15, everything was still on the cards, with USA winning the efficiency battle, the turnover battle, as well as having more saves from goalkeeper Pal Merkovszky than the Polish pair of Marcel Jastrzębski and Adam Morawski.

But the final minutes saw a Poland comeback, with a 4:1 run tying the score, 19:19, as the USA team failed to score for 10 minutes and 59 seconds, as a clinical Poland display managed to tilt the balance into the European side’s way, taking the lead after more than 50 minutes, 20:19.

Eventually, the match went to penalties, as both the USA and Poland missed their last attacks and the European side’s experience proved to be crucial, as they converted all the three penalties, while USA failed to score three of the four they had, setting Poland to a 23:21 win.

For sure, the European side will not be happy with the 25th place, while the USA finished with a draw in regular time, which sees them continue their path of ascension.

hummel Player of the Match: Paweł Paterek (Poland)