Cairo, Egypt, The Qatari national handball team lost to its Egyptian counterpart with a score of 18/21 in the friendly match that brought them together Tuesday in Cairo, in preparation for the 28th Men’s Handball World Championship to be hosted by Poland and Sweden from January 11 to 29, 2023.
The first half ended with Egypt leading 11/7, the two teams are scheduled to meet in a second test match on Thursday.
The two matches are part of a number of trial matches for the Qatari national team in preparation for the World Championship, where it also played two matches with the Tunisian national team last October, and will play two more matches with the Montenegro national team on January 3rd and 5th in Doha.
The draw of the World Championship placed the Qatari national team in Group E, along with the national teams of Germany, Serbia and Algeria, while Group A included Spain, Montenegro, Chile and Iran, Group B France, Poland, Saudi Arabia and Slovenia, Group C Sweden, Brazil, Cape Verde and Uruguay, Group D Iceland, Portugal, Hungary and South Korea, while Group F included Norway, North Macedonia, Argentina and the Netherlands, Group G Egypt, Croatia, Morocco and America, and Group H Denmark, Belgium, Bahrain and Tunisia.
The Qatari national handball team qualified for the 2023 World Championship after topping the ranking of the Group A in the main round of the 20th Asian Men’s Handball Championship held in Saudi Arabia last January, and the Qatari national team was crowned its title for the 5th time in a row after winning the final match against the Bahraini national team with a score of 29/24.
The Qatari national team is participating in the World Championship for the 9th time in its history after Portugal 2003, Tunisia 2005, Germany 2007, Spain 2013, Qatar 2015, France 2017, Germany and Denmark 2019, and Egypt 2021, where it achieved second place in the Qatar 2015 edition as its best result in the history of its participation in the World Cup.
Source: Qatar Olympic Committee
