
Hungary overcome slow start to defeat Qatar and reach quarter-finals
January 25, 2025
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January 26, 2025France made it six out of six at the IHF Men’s World Championship, ending the main round in Varaždin with another clear win, heading to Zagreb for the quarter-finals as the Group II winners.
MAIN ROUND GROUP II
France vs North Macedonia 32:25 (18:14)
Kiril Lazarov’s team had to watch Hungary celebrate their victory against Qatar earlier on and secure a spot in the quarter-finals, effectively ending the European side’s hopes before their game against France even began. However, despite knowing they were out of the race, they were determined to close their 2025 IHF Men’s World Championship campaign with a strong performance against title favourites France.
They made their intentions clear from the start and took the lead early, but France quickly responded, with Nedim Remili finishing off a two-goal run to put the European champions ahead, 5:4. France tightened up their defence, leading also a red card for left wing Dylan Nahi. Playing with a man down allowed France’s opponents to level the score at 9:9, much to the delight of their fans in Varaždin.
However, France soon asserted their dominance even though it was obvious they were not playing at their full strength, saving ounces of energy for the knockout phase. A series of saves from Rémi Desbonnet, including three straight penalty shots, allowed France to go on a new scoring run and establish a 15:10 lead. Just before the halftime break, the gap was reduced to four goals, 18:14, but France were still in the driver’s seat.
In those first 30 minutes on both sides, two players stood out — Nedim Remili and Dika Mem scored 11 combined out of France’s 18 goals, while Marko Mitev and Filip Kuzmanovski delivered almost equally impressive performances, netting nine of their team’s 14 goals. The two pair of players remained their team’s top scorers after the final buzzer, too.
The gap between the two teams remained in the second half. France extended their lead to six goals (21:15), while Lazarov stared rotating his squad, giving more minutes to players who hadn’t seen much action prior to the last match, including young goalkeeper Ivan Galevski, only 20 years old, who just finished his first-ever match for his national team with two saves.
France sealed the 32:25 win, with those seven goals being their biggest lead in the game, as they clinched the sixth win in six matches and go full of confidence in the next round. Their opponents finished fourth in the group and will likely end up on the 15th place in the final standings, an uptick of 12 places from the 27th place at Poland/Sweden 2023.
hummel Player of the Match: Marko Mitev (North Macedonia)