Poland through to President’s Cup final; Algeria win African derby

In the President’s Cup Group I, Algeria opened their account at the 2025 IHF Men’s Handball World Championship by comfortably defeating Guinea 32:23, while Poland proved too strong for Kuwait, taking a 42:32 win, and progressed to the Placement Match 25/26, the final of the President’s Cup.

PRESIDENT’S CUP GROUP I
Algeria vs Guinea 32:23 (14:9)

After four straight defeats, both African sides were looking for their first win at Croatia/Denmark/Norway 2025, and it was the more experienced Algerian team who had the upper hand, handing the debutants from Guinea another defeat.

Guinea led just once during the match, when Sireoumar Diallo put them in front 4:3 in the 11th minute. After that, Algeria took control of the game and slowly but steadily increased their advantage. The Guineans made 19 turnovers during the encounter, and their first-choice goalkeeper Rubens Pierre, who had done so well against Kuwait two days before, was restricted to just a 21% save rate this time.

In contrast, his Algerian counterpart, Khalifa Ghedbane, stood like a wall, as his 16 saves for a 47% saving efficiency contributed to his team’s success a lot. Line player Bastien Khermouche and left player Hishem Daoud also stood out at Algeria, ending the match with seven and six goals respectively.

In the last 10 minutes, the North African side even led by 11 goals twice, 30:19 and 31:20, before Guinea slightly slashed the gap.

The Guineans, who are now certain to finish on the last place in the group, still have two matches at the competition to claim the historic first-ever win at the World Championship, but it will be very hard for them to do it in the next match against Poland on Saturday.

hummel Player of the Match: Khalifa Ghedbane (Algeria)

PRESIDENT’S CUP GROUP I
Poland vs Kuwait 42:32 (21:15)

After missing out on a main round spot, Poland are determined to win the President’s Cup, and so far they have a perfect record in this part of the competition. After defeating Algeria on Tuesday (38:32), the European side proved too strong for Kuwait, this time winning by 10 goals.

Kuwait, which had opened their account at the President’s Cup with a 26:24 win against Guinea two days before, were also determined to claim their second straight win, and they started the game better, taking a 8:5 lead already in the seventh minute.

But when Poland substituted their goalkeeper Kacper Ligarzewski by Adam Morawski, their game improved a lot. Morawski boasted a 36% saving efficiency in this game, and the Europeans took the match under their control, scoring as many as 21 goals before the interval.

In the second half, the European side actually netted just as many times, even despite rotating the squad, as all their 13 outfield players put their names on the scoresheet. Pawel Paterek became the top scorer of the match with nine goals, one more than Kuwait’s Saif Aldawani scored.

As Poland have beaten both Algeria and Kuwait in their first two matches in this phase of the competition, they are already certain to finish top of the group and play in the Placement Match 25/26, which will also serve as the President’s Cup final, while Kuwait will fight for the second position in the group in a direct duel with Algeria on Saturday.

hummel Player of the Match: Adam Morawski (Poland)