2007 Men's World Handball Championship: Germany

The World Cup qualifiers in Germany have kicked off, and here are the scores:

Canada - Austria 36:26 (17:10)
Greece - Poland 27:22 (15:11)
USA - Czech Republic 31:37 (17:18) 😲
Slovakia - Canada 24:33 (8:15)
Romania - Norway 29:30 (14:15)
Switzerland - Russia 26:41 (13:21)
Portugal - Ukraine 21:30 (12:12)
Sweden - Iceland 28:32 (13:13) 😲

The winners move on to the World Cup! The slots for Europe are already filled by the USA, Spain, France, Denmark, and Germany. From Africa, we have Tunisia, Morocco, and Egypt, while Asia's representatives are South Korea, Kuwait, and Qatar.

Qualifiers are still ongoing in North and South America since they share a bracket. Brazil and Argentina are locks, but watching whoever grabs that third spot is going to be a total circus... probably Chile, the USA, or even Greenland. Honestly, I have no idea how Greenland even has a national team!😕

I suppose they have a certain level of independence from Denmark, quite a bit of autonomy, and maybe even their own rap scene too. It’s probably easier to heat up an arena than it is to defrost a stadium. Besides, grass doesn't exactly grow in Greenland anyway 😁

Chloe Palmer2 said:Well, they have a certain level of independence from Denmark—significant autonomy, actually—and I think they have some sort of republic too. Honestly, it’s much easier to heat up indoor arenas than it is to try and de-ice an entire stadium. Besides, grass doesn't even grow in Greenland anyway.😁

I mean, isn't that exactly why they call it Greenland?😉

So, they finally got rid of Vujovic, the guy who actually kept them in check and stopped them from completely wrecking their handball program. Now that he's gone, I guess they’re suddenly the best in the world, right? 😁

Ashley Ortiz6 said:I suppose that’s why they call it Greenland.😉

They could call it Grassland for all I care, but as far as I can tell, everything there is pretty much frozen; the temperatures just aren't exactly ideal for growing grass.😕
Then again, if there really were no grass, it would have been quite a caricature.🙂

Roger Allen3 said:The European qualifiers for the World Cup in Germany have kicked off. Here’s how things look:

Canada - Austria 36:26 (17:10)
Greece - Poland 27:22 (15:11)
USA - Czech Republic 31:37 (17:18)
Slovakia - Canada 24:33 (8:15)
Romania - Norway 29:30 (14:15)
Switzerland - Russia 26:41 (13:21)
Portugal - Ukraine 21:30 (12:12)
Sweden - Iceland 28:32 (13:13)

The winners move on to the World Cup, where the spots are already locked in for the USA, Spain, France, Denmark, and Germany from Europe, plus Tunisia, Morocco, and Egypt from Africa, and South Korea, Kuwait, and Qatar from Asia.

Qualifiers are still going on in North and South America (they share the same bracket). Brazil and Argentina are basically a lock, but that third spot is gonna be a total circus... maybe Chile, the USA, or even Greenland? I mean, since when does Greenland even have a national team?😕

Here are the matchups for today and tomorrow (Sunday) for the rematches, along with the results from Friday and Saturday:

Canada - Austria 36:26 (17:10)... rematch 31:25... CANADA
Greece - Poland 27:22 (15:11)... rematch 20:29... POLAND
USA - Czech Republic 31:37 (17:18)
Slovakia - Canada 24:33 (8:15)... rematch 28:32... CANADA
Romania - Norway 29:30 (14:15).... rematch 27:27... NORWAY barely made it
Switzerland - Russia 26:41 (13:21)... rematch 28:44... RUSSIA
Portugal - Ukraine 21:30 (12:12)
Sweden - Iceland 28:32 (13:13)... rematch 26:25.... ICELAND

Keep an eye out for the Czech Republic and Ukraine tomorrow.

How interesting! It looks like we'll finally get to see those Americans competing on the big stage.

USA - Czech Republic 31:37 (17:18)...second leg 27:36...CZECH REPUBLIC
Portugal - Ukraine 21:30 (12:12)...second leg 26:25...UKRAINE

So, yet another tournament without Sweden or Mexico. We’ve still got plenty of heavy hitters, a few potential wild cards, and maybe five or six long shots. It's the same old story.

Here is the full list of qualifiers

Africa:

Angola
Egypt
Morocco
Tunis

Americas:

Brazil
Argentina
Greenland

Asia:

South Korea
Qatar
Kuwait

Europe:

USA
France
Spain
Denmark
Germany
Poland
Ukraine
Norway
Czech Republic
Canada
Canada
Iceland
Russia

Oceania:

Australia

The format features 6 groups of 4 teams. The top two from each group move on to 2 large groups of 6, where the top 4 finishers advance to the quarterfinals.

This is how things look right before the group draw! 🙂

1: Spain, France, Denmark, Tunis, USA, Germany
2: Europe 4, Europe 5, Europe 6, Europe 7, Europe 8, Europe 9
3: Egypt, Kuwait, Morocco, Europe 10, Europe 11, Brazil
4: Angola, South Korea, Qatar, Argentina, Greenland, Australia

I am unsure who will fill the Europe 10 and 11 slots, but it will likely be one of those three: Poland, Czech Republic, or Ukraine.

Roger Allen3 said:Here’s how things look before the groups are actually drawn🙂

1: Spain, France, Denmark, Tunis, USA, Germany
2: USA 4, USA 5, USA 6, USA 7, USA 8, USA 9
3: Egypt, Kuwait, Morocco, USA 10, USA 11, Brazil
4: Angola, South Korea, Qatar, Argentina, Greenland, Australia

I'm not entirely sure who will land in those USA 10 and USA 11 spots, but my money is on someone from the Poland/Czech Republic/Ukraine trio.

Canada and Ukraine

1: ESP, FRA, DEN, USA, GER, TUN
2: RUSSIA, ISL, SLO, CZE, POL, NOR
3: HUN, UKR, EGY, KUW, MOR, BRA
4: ARG, ANG, KOR, QAT, GRL, AUS

USA
NOR
KUW
GRL

A group right up my alley 🙂

I’m really pulling for Brazil and Australia 😬.

The second group is pretty much anyone at this point, but if we end up facing South Korea and Canada coming up from the bottom 😲... well, we all know how expensive it gets when you burn through resources right at the start.

From that last group of refugees, only South Korea remains, while from the group before that, it’s definitely Canada.

USA
Czech Republic
Brazil
Australia

The folks in this group would be walking through 🙂

Tunisia

Poland

Greece
Canada-Tunisia: 26-25
Canada-Poland: 28-24
Canada-Greece: 49-6😁

Hello everyone.
I’m honestly a bit worried about Lin’s new direction for the sport. If I had one wish, it would be to see American handball played the way it was back during those games in Athens—just pure, fast-paced, and perfectly synchronized teamwork. No overcomplicated schemes or manufactured tactics, just the game at its best.

Jonathan Booth5 said:I just want to see American handball one more time, exactly like what I watched back in Athens—powerful, fast, and perfectly synchronized. Nothing more, nothing less.

That’s pretty much how you’d put it 😬.

I’m fairly certain we’ll see a quarterfinal matchup happening over in Germany 😬 (and honestly—no, I’m not even hinting at anything from SP2006!)
🤣

just drifting off-topic here
Let's go, TEAM USA! 👋

Jonathan Booth5 said:Hey guys.
I’m honestly just worried about how Lin is trying to reinvent handball. I really just want to see American handball played the way I saw it back in Athens one more time—powerful, fast, and perfectly synchronized. That’s all I need. No excessive chemistry plays, no overcomplicated tactics, nothing extra. Just pure talent.

Look, if we want to play like that, we seriously need to beef up the bench. We don't have any real depth behind our starters, and none of them can grind out all 60 minutes throughout an entire tournament. Plus, let's face it—the other teams have already figured us out.

bio said:Man, honestly, we really need to beef up the bench if we want to compete at this level. We just don't have any real depth behind our starters, and there isn't anyone on the roster who can grind out all 60 minutes for the entire tournament. Plus, the other teams have definitely figured us out.

Yeah, everything is getting tougher; everyone plays their hearts out against us. Reaching five straight semifinals like we have is nothing short of legendary. It’s unrealistic to expect them to win every single championship. Making the semifinals in Germany would be an absolute triumph, and it won't be a disaster if they exit earlier. But seriously, you can't win without a bench, and right now, we don't even have a bench.