The World Cup reaches the quarterfinals with three emerging teams threatening the historical ones

The 2025 World Cup today enters the quarterfinal phase with surprises and uncertainty that certify a world cycle change: three emerging selections in handball, Portugal, Brazil and Egypt, have sneaked into among the eight best in the world, Leaving historical European places such as Spain, Sweden, Norway, Iceland or Slovenia, all of them medalists.

It is a new world handball hierarchy in which the three surprises have shone for their fresh game, with great speed and a wide variety of tactical resources. A good sample of the development of this sport in such uncommon coordinates.

For the fourth time in the 29 editions of the World Championship, two non -European teams have reached the quarterfinals: in 1999 Cuba and Egypt did it; In 2003 they were Egypt and Korea; and in 2021, Egypt and Qatar (directed by Valero Rivera, who fell with the Denmark World Champion in penalties).

The Quarter Table

Croatia-Hungary, France-Gipto, Denmark-Brasil and Portugal-Germany

The quarterfinal picture opens this Tuesday with the two meetings that are played at the Zagreb headquarters: a Croatia-Hungary (18.00), with the favorite balcanics, who play at home for something, pushed by 15,200 throats in the sand Zagreb; and a spicy France-Egipto (21.00), in which Juan Carlos Pastor, coach of the Africans, will try to give the capital surprise to one of the favorites to gold.

“Let’s see … We have reached the quarterfinals with important players injured, despite a rare and directed raffle, we have won Slovenia and Croatia …”, tells this newspaper the coach of Valladolid, who already took Egypt to Egypt Finals in the recent Olympic Tournament in Paris (lost in the extension against Spain, 29-28). “This is fantastic for handball, it is very good that selections such as Portugal, Brazil or Egypt arrive, to open the handball worldwide,” says Pastor, who was the architect of the first world gold in Spain (2005).

The second day of the quarter, on Wednesday in Oslo, it will bring two attractive meetings between two revelation teams and two European classics: Denmark-Brazil (17.30) and Portugal-Germany (20.30).

You can carefully walk the almighty Danish selection, the great world gold candidate (looks for the consecutive room), despite having a team, starting with the goal with the immeasurable Emil Nielsen. In front you will have one of the selections that deploy best game, and that has grown more in recent years. He already won the Norwegian hosts in the first phase of groups, and then Sweden already Spain in the main phase, to go to rooms as seconds.

With players such as the Blaugrana Thigus Petrus, the central da Silva Barros del Guadalajara, the right end Hackbarth of the Cuenca, or the exblaugrana side Haniel Langaro (now in the dynamo Bucharesti), the Brazilians are a threatening, very diverse group, with a distant shot and speed, which can put Denmark in trouble.

The last clash that aimed the fourth place for the semifinals is an interesting Portugal-Germany, an unpublished duel to these world championship spheres. The Lusos, directed brilliantly by Paulo Pereira, are the great revelation of the tournament: they ended up first in the group stage after loading to Brazil and Norway, and were first in the main phase after defeating Spain and drawing with Sweden.

The team stands out, in addition to the Luis Frade Blaugrana pivot, the Kiko and Martim Costa brothers, both sides of Sporting. A revealing fact: 15 of the 18 players come from teams from the Portuguese League, with a majority of Sporting and Porto, which are playing a great role in Europe.