Egypt reach Under-18 World Championship quarter-finals after Denmark win

Egypt’s women’s youth handball team have secured a place in the quarter-finals of the Under-18 World Championship after Denmark beat France 21-19 on Monday.

The result confirmed that Egypt and Denmark will advance from their group, with both teams now guaranteed a place in the last eight of the tournament in Romania.

Egypt had moved closer to qualification earlier in the day with a dramatic 28-27 victory over South Korea in their opening main-round match.

Mariam Amr scored the decisive goal in the final second to give Egypt a crucial win in a match that remained closely contested throughout. Malak Amr also played a central role in the victory, scoring five goals for the Egyptian side.

Malak Amr had previously been named player of the match in Egypt’s fixture against France during the preliminary round.

Egypt will complete the main round on Tuesday when they face Denmark at 11:45am. The match will decide which team finishes top of the group, although both sides have already secured their quarter-final places.

The first two teams in the group qualify for the quarter-finals. Egypt will face the team that qualifies from the group containing Hungary, China, Sweden and Romania.

Egypt’s strongest performance in the Under-18 Women’s World Championship came in the 2022 edition in North Macedonia, when they finished seventh.

Egypt squad

The Egypt squad for the tournament is:

Goalkeepers: Jana Ahmed, Jidaa Salama, Retag Mohamed

Left wings: Gowairia Tamer, Mai Sherif

Left backs: Judy Metwally, Sondos Essam, Farah Farag

Centre backs: Mirna Ashraf, Reem Ehab, Yasmine Hassan

Right backs: Malak Amr, Mariam Salah, Habiba Mahmoud

Right wings: Malak Khamis, Farida Abou El Magd

Pivots: Zeina Amr, Zeina Mahmoud