Eissa hopes to reach semis in 2021

CAIRO – 28 January 2019: Egypt's Eslam Eissa has emerged from the shadows to be one of the national team's biggest stars during their participation at the 2019 IHF World Championship.

Eissa and his teammates have done a massive achievement and finished the tournament among the best eight teams in the world.

“We are the only non European team among the top eight teams in the world. It is a great achievement for us which I did not expect,” Eissa told Filgoal on Sunday.

The World Cup draw put Egypt in Group D alongside Sweden, Hungary, Qatar, Argentina and Angola.
The Egyptian team lost their first two games to Sweden and Qatar but they bounced back with two victories over Argentina and Angola; they ended their game against Hungary with a draw to finish third and reach the second round.

Egypt managed to reach the second round for the first time since their best ever achievement when they won the fourth place in 2001.

At the second round, Egypt lost to Norway and Denmark and defeated Arab rivals, Tunisia, to end the second round group at the fourth position; the team faced Spain to decide the seventh placed and lost 36-31 to end the competition at the eighth place.

Eissa added, “It is a massive step for us and I hope to achieve an advanced position at 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo and reach the semi final in 2021 World Cup at home.”

Egypt will host the 2021 IHF World Cup for the second time after 1999 when Egypt finished sixth.