Egypt’s national junior handball team made history by beating Germany 32-28 in the U-19 World Cup final held in Macedonia, the first ever non-European team to win the title.
The team reached the final against Germany after defeating Portugal 41-36 in the semi-finals, becoming the first Arab and African team to reach the finals for the junior handball tournament.
The Egyptian team is also the second team outside of Europe to successfully reach the final, coming in after South Korea which booked a seat in the 2005 World Cup final.
The team members and managers will be honored in Egypt after their return from Macedonia.
Chairman of the Handball Federation board Hisham Nasr expressed happiness and pride at the U-19 team’s achievement, adding that the federation spares no effort in encouraging young generations to grow into strong senior teams in the future and players who can compete internationally.
Egypt’s national U-21 team won the world title in 1993 when the tournament was held in Cairo. Egypt is the first non-European team to achieve first rank in the U-21 World Championship since 2009, when Brazil managed to do so.
Egypt also came in second behind France on the list for teams with the greatest numbers of goals scored after scoring 188 goals in the first round.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
