Big win against USA sees Norway through to main round

Norway’s fans in the Unity Arena in Baerum had reasons to cheer, after their team secured a main round spot at the 2025 IHF Men’s World Championship, taking a clear 33:17 win over the United States of America.

GROUP E
United States of America vs Norway 17:33 (7:13)

It was always going to be a battle between David and Goliath in this match, especially as Norway were looking to avenge that painful maiden loss against Brazil, but for the first half, the USA side really pulled off a good performance, going down by only six goals at the interval.

Sure, Norway started their key players, but then Sander Sagosen, Magnus Abelvik Rod or Tobias Grondahl went on the bench, to rest as much as possible before the toughest match on paper in this group, against Portugal.

It was back Simen Ulsted Lyse who started taking responsibility in the first half and he finished the first part with five goals, as Norway took a six-goal lead, 13:7, with a strong defensive performance, but a somehow quite outing in the attacking phase, where they did not have a fast tempo.

In fact, at the end of the match, there was only 10 seconds between the two sides in the average attack duration, with Norway finishing every offensive phase in roughly 28 seconds, but that still enabled the gap to grow bigger and bigger as the match progressed in the second half.

Only one Norway outfield player, experienced right wing Kenneth Bjornsen, who did not feature prominently for the Scandinavian side, failed to score a single goal in the match, as coach Jonas Wille distributed the minutes between the players in excellent fashion, giving everybody a chance on the court.

The stars were undoubtedly the two goalkeepers – Torbjorn Bergerud (12 saves for 55% saving efficiency) and Andre Kristensen (five saves for a 42% saving efficiency), with the two combining for a 51% saving efficiency, which means they saved more than half of the shots they faced.

Eventually, Norway secured a 33:17 win, a morale boost for the match against Portugal, with Lyse being his team’s top scorer, with six goals, followed by right wing Kasper Thorsen Lien, who scored five times.

By contrast, USA turned the ball over too many times – 17 – and their shooting efficiency was a meagre 38%, with wing Jonas Stromberg being the team’s top scorer, with four goals.

Despite having only two points, Norway have secured their safe passage to the main round, as they cannot finish last in the group, irrespective of the result of the last two matches in this phase of the competition.

However, Norway will target the win against Portugal, as they will take the points from that match into the next phase. On the other hand, Brazil face the USA in the last match and can also afford a loss but still progress to the main round.

hummel Player of the Match: Kasper Thorsen Lien (Norway)