DAY 3
Matchday 3 Group A (Men’s): 9:15 – INDIA 20 – 44 POLAND
Last group match for India and Poland. Poland is already confirmed as the second in the group and has not pushed its players. India played more freely than in other matches and managed to score 20 goals. The match itself had little to it. Poland controlled the match and conserved their energy, thinking about Friday’s Semifinals.

Matchday 3 Group A (Men’s): 11:30 – SPAIN 33 – 17 POLAND
An entertaining and hard-fought match because despite the result, Brazil stood their ground at all times and put on a show with several goals scored on the fly. Brazil always plays with a very enjoyable style, and Spain, as always, was very secure and strong in all their actions. Today wasn’t Spain’s most brilliant match, but they continue to move steadily toward their goal of winning the Championship.

Matchday 3 Group B (Men’s): 13:45 – FRANCE 20 – 22 CZECHIA
Following the Spain-Poland match on Sunday, this was the most contested and hard-fought game between the two teams. With high motivation and excessive aggression in some actions, they were playing to advance as either first or second in the group. The first half was in favor of France, with a score of 9-4 in the 20th minute of the first half, and they reached halftime with a French lead of 12-8. The second half belonged to Czechia, who increased the pace of the game and gradually took control. By the 40th minute of the match, the score was tied at 16-16. From there until the end, there were endless interruptions, with a wet floor and exclusions and protests from both teams, making it seem like the end would never come. But it did, and Czechia was much more precise than France in those crucial final moments of the match. The semifinals are set for Friday: Spain vs. France and Poland vs. Czechia.

Matchday 3 Group B (Women’s): 16:00 – CHILE 21 – 36 CZECHIA
The match was very evenly matched at the start, with Chile countering the momentum of Czechia to reach a tie at 11 in the 23rd minute of the first half. From that point on, Czechia started to run and broke the game wide open. The second half allowed all the players to participate and for the teams to continue to adapt. Czechia is waiting for Poland to beat the Netherlands in order to advance as second. If Poland loses to the Netherlands, there will be a three-way tie in Group B.

Matchday 3 Group A (Women’s): 18:15 – FRANCE 27 – 27 SPAIN
A thrilling handball match at Argüelles. Spain started dominating the game with a 1-6 lead, but after France’s timeout, the scoreboard quickly showed 6-7. Spain tried attacking with 7 against 6 due to individual defense on our player number 8, Álvarez, but it didn’t go as well as expected. France settled into the game and took the lead, mainly thanks to the outstanding performance of their goalkeeper, number 13, Cantin M., who frustrated Spain’s right-wing players. The halftime score was 13-9 for France.
The second half was quite the opposite, starting with a lot of balance, and Spain quickly equalized the score at 18. From there, Spain dominated with a very fluid attack and took a 20-24 lead with 12 minutes left. France sought solutions and found them again in their goalkeeper number 13. The game became so tight that it ended in a 27-27 draw. With this result, Spain advances as the group leader, and France as the second. At the end of the match, there was confusion on the court because both teams thought they were second. But with the 27-27 draw, Spain advances as the group leader and France as second.

Matchday 3 Group B (Women’s): 20:30 – POLAND 33 – 33 NETHERLANDS
Last match of the group stage, Poland needed to score to pass as the group leader and play the semi-finals against France, and that’s what happened. The match was dominated by Poland, and the Netherlands fought until the 60th minute but could only compete in the second half. Outstanding performance by Poland’s Sobecka (number 36) with 10 goals and by the Netherlands’ Mol (number 11). A frenetic match like all the Netherlands’ games, running for 60 minutes, but they couldn’t win to force a triple tie at 4 points with Poland and Czechia. Therefore, they finished third in the group and will play for fifth place against Chile and India.
