This Monday, Portugal will face Hungary, in Kristianstad, Sweden, at 8:30 p.m. local time (7:00 p.m. in Lisbon), in the final match of Group D of the Handball World Cup, in which they are forced to win to pass with points to the next phase.
Portugal remains in the second position of the group, with two points, referring to the victory over South Korea (32-24), led by former national coach Rolando Freitas, along with Iceland, while Hungary, already classified, leads, with four
The top three ranked teams in the group advance to the main round (main stage), with the points accumulated between them but not counted against the last ranked, which is South Korea.
If Iceland beat South Korea, confirming the last place in the group for the Asian team, Portugal has to score with Hungary to avoid reaching the main round to nil and thus prevent the Magyar team from taking four.
The last day of Group D, which should mark the return to the bench of coach Paulo Pereira, after serving two games of suspension, could dictate -in the event of a Portuguese victory- that Hungary, Iceland and Portugal go to the regular phase, all with two points.
Portugal is playing in the handball World Cup for the fifth time, after appearances in 1997, 2001, 2003, when it hosted the competition, and 2021.
Hungary’s best result of its 22 appearances is second place achieved in 1986.
Source: TSF
