Handball World Cup – Beaten by Egypt, Belgium will not play in the quarter-finals
(Belga) Belgium lost 33-28 (half-time: 22-15) to Egypt, one of the competition’s underdogs, in their fourth World Handball match, the first of the Main Round , Thursday, in Malmö, in group IV. With this defeat, the Red Wolves can no longer hope to qualify for the quarter-finals.
Third in Group H at the end of the first round with a victory and two defeats, the Red Wolves were paid, along with Bahrain and Denmark, into Group IV of the Main Round with the three qualifiers from Group G: Egypt, Croatia and the United States. Points earned against qualified opponents in the Preliminary Round are retained in the Main Round. As a result, Belgium, like the United States, beaten 27-32 by Bahrain earlier in the day, remain stuck at 0 and can give up on qualifying for the quarter-finals. Egypt takes the lead of the group with 6 points. Denmark and Bahrain follow with 4, ahead of Croatia (2). Danes and Croats will face each other in the evening. The top two from each of the four groups advance to the quarter-finals. The Belgians, who are contesting the World Cup for the first time in their history, will play Saturday against Croatia and Monday against the United States. (Belgian)