Switzerland vs Portugal 28:33 (13:17)
Portugal win 66:54 on aggregate
- Switzerland’s top player, centre back Andy Schmid, who was trying to qualify for his second World Championship, failed to score a goal
- Portugal established a four-game winning streak against Switzerland, their best in the head-to-head history
- in a show of consistency, 12 Portuguese players scored at least one goal, led by right wing Pedro Portela, who scored five times
- Switzerland failed to win their seventh game from their last eight, that one win came in a friendly match against Tunisia
- to progress to their second consecutive edition of the World Championship, Portugal will face an in-form Dutch squad in April
Slovenia vs Italy 28:21 (12:9)
Slovenia win 57:49 on aggregate
- following a tough first leg, Slovenia took a 6:2 run to start this game, fueled by three goals from centre back Dean Bombac, and never looked back
- Italy’s captain, line player Andrea Parisini, scored hist team’s first four goals and was the game’s top scorer, with seven
- Italy scored only nine times in the first half, the worst output in the Qualification Phase of the IHF Men’s World Championship since January 2016, when they also scored nine times against Austria
- Slovenia will now challenge for their fifth World Championship berth in the last six editions, after winning bronze at France 2017
- in phase 2 part 2, Slovenia will face Serbia in a double-header in April
Lithuania vs Israel 25:27 (10:13)
Israel win 55:49 on aggregate
- a 4:0 run that turned the game on its head, inspired by Israel’s top scorers, Yermiyahu Sidi and Nadav Nizri, lifted the guests to a 9:7 lead that they never lost
- Israel’s goalkeeper, Yahav Shamir, put together impressive numbers to stop ten shots for a 45 per cent saving efficiency and lifted his team to the second win in three days against Lithuania
- Lithuania lost two consecutive games in the IHF Men’s World Championship’s Qualification Phase for the first time since June 2014, in a doubleheader against Russia
- Israel progressed to phase 2 part 2 for the second time in a row, gaining a measure of revenge for the loss to Lithuania 12 months ago in EHF EURO 2022 qualification
- to earn their first IHF Men’s World Championship berth, Israel must now overcome Hungary in April
Estonia vs Austria 24:27 (13:14)
Austria win 62:57 on aggregate
- a 5:0 run early in the first half, inspired by three goals from left wing Sebastian Frimmel, lifted Austria to a 5:2 lead that proved to be unassailable
- Frimmel was also the top scorer of the game, with eight goals
- only Portugal scored more goals, 66, in the two games this week than Austria’s 62 over Estonia
- this was Austria’s first away win in this phase of the competition since a 40:27 win against Italy in January 2016
- Austria will face Iceland in hopes of progressing to their third consecutive edition of the World Championship
Phase 2 part 2 will take place between 13 and 17 April 2022 with the following pairings:
Finland vs Croatia
Slovenia vs Serbia
Portugal vs Netherlands
Austria vs Iceland
Greece vs Montenegro
Czech Republic vs North Macedonia
Israel vs Hungary
Germany vs Faroe Islands
Belgium have already qualified as their scheduled opponents Russia have been suspended from the competition.
