2023 IHF Men's World Handball Championship

[cygan]

france and spain (group one) have advanced to the quarterfinals of the world cup after their victories yesterday against iran (41-29) and slovenia (31-26)
sweden also made it to the knockout stage after their fifth straight win over iceland (35-30). the group two is much more complicated, however, with portugal, iceland and hungary fighting for second place in the group, which automatically qualifies for the quarterfinals. portugal won against cape verde (35-23), while hungary earned a hard-fought victory over brazil (28-25)



today we continue in the groups 3 and 4.
the highlight will be the game between germany and the netherlands, with the former side being able to qualify, while norway are in the same position when they face qatar.
the complete schedule:

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[Daniel91]

I am not usually commenting on referees but I feel like they really gave a helping hand to Denmark yesterday.  All 50-50 decisins went the way of Denmark as well as couple of big ones when one ref showed a ball for Croatia and another showed 7m plus 2min. That is a real big difference in such close game and it happened twice in the game and both time went on Denmark side.

Our guys really played good yesterday, must say I was a bit surprised and my bet passed with 8 goals to spare so that is something. These are the games when we can make most money. Hopefully bookies will favour the Denmark as much against Egypt.

I didn't want to comment on the referees because I don't want someone who didn't watch the game to think I'm searching for excuses for the draw. But I agree with you. Except for those two situations you mentioned where one referee said the ball was for Croatia and the other ruled a suspension and a penalty, I remember a few more situations where the decisions were just wrong. I understand that referees are also just humans and prone to making a mistake, but yesterday there were a lot of mistakes and after almost every mistake Croatia ended up with a suspension or a penalty against.

But OK... Croatia must go on, beat the last two games with as big a goal difference as they can and hope that other games end favorably for them.

Unfortunately, it is already a custom or a rule that the hosts of handball competitions and world champions always have a slightly privileged position with the referees.
In such uncertain matches as was the match between Denmark and Croatia, each referee's decision can decide the winner and that unfortunately happened.
I think it is very difficult to expect a miracle now, that Egypt will help Croatia or that other results will go our way.
We should try to win at least ninth place, which in some combinations ensures placement in the Olympic Games qualification, which is our ultimate goal now. Another absence from the Olympic Games would be disastrous for Croatian handball.
It's a pity that we didn't play like this against Egypt.

[cygan]

more decisions were made on saturday.
three teams - egypt, germany and norway advanced to the quarterfinals. egypt made it into the top eight teams in the world for the third time in a row.
in group three germany defeated the netherlands 33-26, while norway beat qatar 30-17. both teams now have 8 points and will meet on monday

[slackovic]

Unfortunately, it is already a custom or a rule that the hosts of handball competitions and world champions always have a slightly privileged position with the referees.
In such uncertain matches as was the match between Denmark and Croatia, each referee's decision can decide the winner and that unfortunately happened.
I think it is very difficult to expect a miracle now, that Egypt will help Croatia or that other results will go our way.
We should try to win at least ninth place, which in some combinations ensures placement in the Olympic Games qualification, which is our ultimate goal now. Another absence from the Olympic Games would be disastrous for Croatian handball.
It's a pity that we didn't play like this against Egypt.

Yeah, it really is. But I also don't like this system where a team loses one game and right at the start of the tournament loses almost any chance to advance to the quarter final. I don't think I have seen a system like that in any other sport. Today is probably the last game for Croatia and I really hope they can win it with enough goal difference to finish the World Cup in the ninth place which would take us to the qualification for the Olympic games.

[Sithara007]

The quarter-final lineup looks exciting:

Norway vs Spain: 2.08 vs 1.91
Danmark vs Hungary: 1.04 vs 8.80
Sweden vs Egypt: 1.20 vs 4.70
France vs Germany: 1.39 vs 3.20

Egypt went down against Danmark (and that too by a big margin) so they have lost the momentum. And so far Sweden looks like the best team in the tournament. BTW, the most lop-sided match is going to be Danmark vs Hungary. The Danes have it easy this time.

[Trofo]

The quarter-final lineup looks exciting:

Norway vs Spain: 2.08 vs 1.91
Danmark vs Hungary: 1.04 vs 8.80
Sweden vs Egypt: 1.20 vs 4.70
France vs Germany: 1.39 vs 3.20

Egypt went down against Danmark (and that too by a big margin) so they have lost the momentum. And so far Sweden looks like the best team in the tournament. BTW, the most lop-sided match is going to be Danmark vs Hungary. The Danes have it easy this time.

I have lost a bit of interest for competition since it looks quite organised in a way to get Denmark - Sweden final. Those are two great teams and I really like how Sweden plays but even refs are pulling for them. That goes more for Denmark so far since Sweden did not actually need help. But that is good to take away money from bookies so I am not really complaining.

[Sithara007]

Well.. as of now, a final on 29th between Danmark and Sweden looks like the most probable one. For Danmark, the most probable opponents in semi-finals would be Spain (tough to predict at this point), while Sweden (in case they win the quarter-finals against Egypt) will be taking on France. This time there weren't a lot of upsets. But who knows, there is always a chance of one occurring. And that handicap bet for Egypt actually looks good given the fact that Egypt lost by 5 against Danmark in the previous match.

[slackovic]

I have lost a bit of interest for competition since it looks quite organised in a way to get Denmark - Sweden final. Those are two great teams and I really like how Sweden plays but even refs are pulling for them. That goes more for Denmark so far since Sweden did not actually need help. But that is good to take away money from bookies so I am not really complaining.

I'm not sure if we Denmark - Sweden final is possible. If I'm not mistaken, this schedule says that they will meet in the semi final game. But I agree that it looks like they are getting a push from the referees.

[cygan]

on wednesday the time has come and the quarterfinals will be played. there will be two games each in sweden and poland
of the remaining 8 countries 7 are from europe and 1 from africa...

[Trofo]

I'm not sure if we Denmark - Sweden final is possible. If I'm not mistaken, this schedule says that they will meet in the semi final game. But I agree that it looks like they are getting a push from the referees.

You are right, I forgot they are playing in two countries. If it was the same country you usually group up same part of the draw at same time. This time they have done it opposite and I did not look at the draws, I just checked the matches on Sportsbet to see the odds I can get. Denmark is way too low but Sweden win actually has solid odds. I don't think Egypt can have the answer for that very fast handball Sweden plays.

[casperBGD]

~snip
But I also don't like this system where a team loses one game and right at the start of the tournament loses almost any chance to advance to the quarter final.

agree here, there is a tournament, playing tone of matches, and still one match at the beginning can send you home, with all matches still to play, but you actually know that it is over, because difference between teams is too high to expect anything different from favorites winning the match

lost interest during the competition because of that, basically nothing to play for several matches before the tournament actually ends up

[Sithara007]

I'm not sure if we Denmark - Sweden final is possible. If I'm not mistaken, this schedule says that they will meet in the semi final game. But I agree that it looks like they are getting a push from the referees.

AFAIK, there can be Danmark vs Sweden final. The first semi-final will be between winners of France vs Germany and Sweden vs Egypt. The second one is between winners of Norway vs Spain and Danmark vs Hungary. So in all possibility, the semifinals will be played between France vs Sweden, and Spain vs Danmark. If Sweden and Danmark win their next two matches, then they will meet at the finals. So Trofo is correct, when he said that the tournament schedule is designed in such a way, as to ensure a final between Danmark and Sweden.

[slackovic]

AFAIK, there can be Danmark vs Sweden final. The first semi-final will be between winners of France vs Germany and Sweden vs Egypt. The second one is between winners of Norway vs Spain and Danmark vs Hungary. So in all possibility, the semifinals will be played between France vs Sweden, and Spain vs Danmark. If Sweden and Danmark win their next two matches, then they will meet at the finals. So Trofo is correct, when he said that the tournament schedule is designed in such a way, as to ensure a final between Danmark and Sweden.

Hm... I just checked the official schedule and I think you both are right. Yesterday I checked the schedule on handball23.com website and it showed different game schedule. Now it seems like we will have Denmark vs Sweden in the final game.

[snipie]

Norway and Spain have a very close game today. Both teams are doing good and Norway was able to win until Spain scored a goal in the last minute of the second half thanks to a big mistake by Norwegians. They had the ball and instead of shooting it, they wasted it randomly.. Now the first additional period ended and the second one will start soon.

[Trofo]

Norway and Spain have a very close game today. Both teams are doing good and Norway was able to win until Spain scored a goal in the last minute of the second half thanks to a big mistake by Norwegians. They had the ball and instead of shooting it, they wasted it randomly.. Now the first additional period ended and the second one will start soon.

Very close game but Norway was closer to winning it and they will be gutted if they loose in the end. Spain was always int reach but trailing almost all the time.

Denmark on the other hand won easily as expected. I am also thinking Sweden will have quite easy time against Egypt but other game between France and Germany should be a good one. Will it be German speed or France experience in the end?

[snipie]

Norway and Spain have a very close game today. Both teams are doing good and Norway was able to win until Spain scored a goal in the last minute of the second half thanks to a big mistake by Norwegians. They had the ball and instead of shooting it, they wasted it randomly.. Now the first additional period ended and the second one will start soon.

Very close game but Norway was closer to winning it and they will be gutted if they loose in the end. Spain was always int reach but trailing almost all the time.

Denmark on the other hand won easily as expected. I am also thinking Sweden will have quite easy time against Egypt but other game between France and Germany should be a good one. Will it be German speed or France experience in the end?

Intense game and Spain won at the end. There was many mistakes from professional players here and Norway missed the win since the main time.. The last second mistake to let Spanish players fast score the most important goal cannot be forgivable and they will regret it for years here.
Congratulations to Spain this hard victory and to Denmark their easy win vs Hungary.
The two remaining games will start in 15 minutes.

[Sithara007]

No upsets so far in the quarter-final stage. Teams with better odds won all the 4 matches. As expected, we will have the Spain vs Danmark and France vs Sweden semifinals. And if there are no further upsets, then it will be Danmark vs Sweden final (not that sure about the second semi-final though, France will fancy their chances). This time, the matches were quite predictable and there were hardly any upsets (either at group stage or during the knockout phase). The odds for semi-finals are as follows:

Spain vs Danmark: 5.80 vs 1.13
France vs Sweden: 2.07 vs 1.90

[slackovic]

Denmark is really playing the best of all teams in this championship. They won all games except the one versus Croatia. It is really a shame that Croatia allowed themself a game like the one versus Egypt at the start of the championship.

When I compare this championship with FIFA World Cup in Qatar, I see that there are by far less upsets here than it was in Qatar. I guess that the difference in the quality of the teams participating is much bigger here than in Qatar.

[Trofo]

When I compare this championship with FIFA World Cup in Qatar, I see that there are by far less upsets here than it was in Qatar. I guess that the difference in the quality of the teams participating is much bigger here than in Qatar.

It was partly that in the beginning but not anymore. It is just the nature of the game, it is much easier to pull upset in football than it is in sport like handball. When you have a shot on goal from each team every minute, quality usualy comes out on top while in football you can always park the buss and hope for the best.

There is also nothing similar to red card in football. Here if you get red card you still get your numbers back couple of minutes later while it is almost a game over when it happens in football early enough.

[Sithara007]

Denmark is really playing the best of all teams in this championship. They won all games except the one versus Croatia. It is really a shame that Croatia allowed themself a game like the one versus Egypt at the start of the championship.

When I compare this championship with FIFA World Cup in Qatar, I see that there are by far less upsets here than it was in Qatar. I guess that the difference in the quality of the teams participating is much bigger here than in Qatar.

In terms of quality, there were far more one-sided matches in this tournament when you compare it with FIFA 2022. Although 32 teams took part in the Football World Cup, not even one of them could be considered as walkovers. Even lowest ranking teams such as Cameroon won matches against top teams. On the other hand, in this tournament the lowest ranking teams (such as Saudi Arabia and Uruguay) went down by heavy margins. BTW, both the tournaments (IHF World Cup and the FIFA world cup) had same number of participants (32).