Egypt's Handball Team gears up for World Championship debut against Argentina"

CAIRO, January 15, 2025: The Egyptian men's handball team will face Argentina at 7 PM today, Wednesday, marking the Pharaohs' debut in the World Championship co-hosted by Croatia, Denmark, and Norway from January 14 to February 2. Egypt's group includes Croatia, Argentina, and Bahrain.

Under the guidance of Spanish coach Juan Carlos Pastor, the Egyptian team aims to deliver a strong performance against the Tango Dancers at the start of their World Cup journey, signaling a warning to the other teams in Group G.

Egypt's ambassador to Croatia, Ayman Tharwat, welcomed the national handball team ahead of their World Championship campaign. During the meeting, he expressed full support for the team, praising their skills and determination to achieve a distinguished performance that honors Egypt internationally. He urged them to exert maximum effort for positive results in the tournament.

The Egyptian team traveled to Croatia on Sunday from Spain, following their participation in an international friendly tournament, where they lost to Norway but secured victories over Romania and Slovakia.

The Pharaohs' squad for the World Championship includes:

Goalkeepers: Karim Hendawy (Zamalek), Mohamed Aly (Sporting Lisbon, Portugal)

Left Wingers: Ahmed Hesham Sessa (Vojvodina, Serbia), Belal Ibrahim Masoud (Bergischer, Germany)Left Backs: Ali Zein (Dinamo Bucharest, Romania), Ahmed Hesham Dodo (Montpellier, France), Abdelrahman Faisal (Al Ahly)Playmakers: Ahmed Khairy (Al Ahly), Seif Elderaa (Limoges, France), Seif Hany Fox (Al Ahly)Right Backs: Yehia Khaled (Paris Saint-Germain, France), Mohsen Ramadan (Al Ahly)

Right Wingers: Mohamed Sanad (Nîmes, France), Akram Yousry (Zamalek)Pivots: Ibrahim El-Masry (Al Ahly), Ahmed Adel (Al Ahly), Yasser Saif (Al Ahly), Mohamed Tarek (Zamalek)

The championship features 32 teams divided into eight groups of four. The first round is a single round-robin format. The top three teams from each group advance to the main round, creating four groups of six teams each, merging adjacent groups (1 with 2, 3 with 4, etc.). Teams carry forward their points from matches against the two other qualifiers from their initial group.

In the main round, each team plays three matches against the qualifiers from the adjacent group, avoiding repeat matches against teams from their original group. The top two teams from each group advance to the quarterfinals, followed by knockout rounds leading to the semifinals and finals.