The Hungarian men’s handball national team advanced undefeated with the maximum two points to the semi-finals of the European Championship, which is also an Olympic qualification tournament, by defeating Iceland 33–25 in the final round of the group stage on Tuesday in Munich.
Having previously secured victories against Montenegro with a score of 26–24 on Friday and Serbia with a score of 28–27 on Sunday, this marks Hungary’s
first continental tournament where the national team progressed from the group stage with three wins.
In the upcoming semi-finals in Cologne, they will face Austria on Thursday, Croatia on Saturday, the host Germany on Monday, and the Olympic titleholder France on Wednesday. The top two teams in the group advance to the finals, while the third-placed teams compete for fifth place.
Last year at the World Men’s Handball Championship, Iceland led Hungary even 25–19 at one point, but the Hungarian team nevertheless managed to win by 30–28. This time, Hungary confidently led practically throughout the match and there was no comeback for Iceland, as goalkeeper Kristóf Palasics made outstanding saves, keeping a clean sheet for eight minutes (26–18).
Kristóf Palasics, named the best player of the match, contributed to the success with 11 saves. On the opposing side, Viktor Gísli Hallgrímsson had nine saves, Björgvin Páll Gústavsson had two and Viggó Kristjánsson had seven.
After the 45th encounter between the two teams, Hungary holds a record of 26 victories, three draws, and 16 defeats.
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Sources: Hungarian Conservative/MTI
