Part one of the phase two of European Qualifiers for World Championship which will in 2023 be hosted by Sweden and Poland is now behind us. A lot of our SEHA – Gazprom League not only countries but also players were out there wearing their national team jerseys last week which means it is now time for the recap!

After a 28:26 home win over Belgium, Slovakia did not manage to keep the gap open away from home, allowing Belgium to reach a 31:26 win and book a direct ticket for 2023 WCh group phase. Former Tatran Presov’ right winger Tomas Urban delivered a splendid performance scoring 13 goals in two matches against Belgium. Unfortunately for their fans, this time it wasn’t enough.

North Macedonia on the other hand managed to sail past Romania after a dominant 30:22 win in Skopje and a narrow 24:22 loss in Bucharest. Vardar’s Filip Taleski scored 10 for North Macedonia in the first match. In the final round of the Qualifiers, North Macedonia will face off against Czech Republic.

In other matches, Israel managed to beat Malasinskas-led Lithuania, Portugal sailed past Switzerland, Slovenia knocked Italy out of the competition, Greece was better than Bosnia and Herzegovina and Austria celebrated versus Estonia.

Final round of the Qualifiers is scheduled for mid-April (Apr. 13 – 17):

Greece – Montenegro
Portugal – Netherlands
Czech Republic – NORTH MACEDONIA
Finland – CROATIA
Slovenia – SERBIA
Austria – Iceland
Israel – HUNGARY
Germany – Faroe Islands

Photo credit: Kolektiff Images