Germany crushed Italy for a long time, the French celebrated again in Varaždin

French handball players secured a place in the quarterfinals of this year’s World Championship as winners of Group 2 of the second round in Varadin, thanks to a 35-28 (19-13) victory against of the Netherlands on Thursday. Such as Mem i Melvyn Richardson they led France with seven goals each, while Dani Baijens with six i Lars Kooy with five goals were the most effective in the Netherlands.

The French justified their role as favorites in the duel against the Dutch, with an excellent end to the first half, which they closed with a 7-3 series.

France thus remained 100% at this World Cup, achieved five victories in five appearances and with eight points secured the first place in group 2 before the end of the competition in the second round. The Netherlands is still second with four points, the same number as North Macedonia, which beat Qatar 39-34 earlier on Thursday. However, the opportunity to jump to second place, which also leads to the quarterfinals before the last round, will be available. Mađarska i Austria which will play in the last match on Thursday at 8:30 p.m. Before that meeting, both Hungary and Austria have three points each. It is at the bottom of the group Train no points

France will thus play in the quarter-finals on Tuesday against the second-placed team from Group 4, in which Croatia is also playing.

A big step towards the quarterfinals was also made by Njemačka in group 1 in Herning thanks to a 34-27 (15-13) victory against a direct competitor of Italy. Goalkeeper Andreas Wolff excelled again with 18 saves, and he stood out in particular in the key separation of Germany from the 32nd to the 39th minute. In that period, Wolff “locked” his door, and Germany increased the advantage from 16-14 to 20-14. By the end of the match, the Italians were no longer able to get close.

He led the German shooters Timo Kastening with six goals, while Leo Prantner scored eight for Italy.

Germany is second in the ranking with six points, the same number as the leader Denmark, who will play against Switzerland later on Thursday, while Italy is third with eighty four points. Switzerland and Czech Republic are also in that group with three points each, while Tunisia is last with no points.