Handball World Cup: DHB is awarded 5th place as a new goal

New goal: DHB wants to win two more World Cup matches.
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The disappointment after losing the quarter-finals to France (28:35) was great. Speaking after the game, national team coach Alfred Gislason said the class difference could be seen after the break with diminished strength, lack of breadth in the squad – and Hendrik Beckler. However, choosing DHB should quickly take the frustration out of their outfit, because the World Cup is far from over for the 2016 European champions.

Germany travels to Stockholm, Sweden, for two placement matches. Since Wednesday night, German fans have known they have to leave Poland to see DHB play in this tournament again. Now the stress of travel began, which captain Johannes Jula & Co. survived in the first six matches of the World Cup. Germany played all those matches in Katowice before moving on to Gdansk for the quarter-finals. A glimpse of the 2025 World Handball Championship, which will be held with the participation of 32 teams in three countries: Denmark, Norway and Croatia.

Things will get serious again for the German team on Friday (3.30pm, live! on Kicker) when the opponents will be Egypt. The African champion failed in the quarter-finals because of Sweden (22:26). “We have to prepare very intensely for Egypt, but I trust the team that they will throw everything,” warned national team coach Gislason after the France match on ZDF.

Fifth place would be a “great result” for Gislason

In any case, Gola declared that the DHB team wanted to “see off the championship in a sensible way.” And he called the fifth place, which is the most possible, “a huge goal for us.” Goalkeeper Andreas Wolf put it more offensively: “Now it’s time to spend and aim for fifth place.”

But to do this, Germany will first have to defeat Egypt, and then, in the final, also defeat the winner of the match between Norway and Hungary. If Team DHB loses their first game, they will still be in seventh place on Sunday at 1pm in Stockholm. If 5th has already appeared, the 3.30pm whistle will be at the same venue. “It would be a great result for us,” Gislason said of his team’s new target, but added: “The team also learned a lot this month.”