January 17, 2025 – Croatia convincingly defeated Argentina in the second game of the World Men’s Handball Championship at the Zagreb Arena, achieving its second victory in this competition.
After beating Bahrain 36:22 in the first round of Group H, Croatia defeated Argentina 33:18 tonight at the Zagreb Arena. Egypt and Croatia will meet on Sunday to decide the top team in the group.
Croatia started the game slowly. After seven minutes, Argentina led 4:3. Fortunately, it didn’t take long for Croatia to find their game. Their defense played much better, led by the brilliant Dominik Kuzmanović in goal. With a 6:0 run, Croatia took its first serious lead of 9:4. At that moment, Marin Šipić was brilliant, scoring exactly half of those six goals. Luka Cindrić directed the attack.
Cindrić entered the game earlier than expected due to Domagoj Duvnjak’s left calf injury. The Croatia captain left the court assisted by a physiotherapist. Unfortunately, he went to the locker room in tears.
Argentina scored in the 17th minute for 10:6, and then Croatia had another 6:0 run. For the first time in the game, Croatia had a double-digit lead. They went into halftime leading 18:7. Dominik Kuzmanović stood out with 9 saves. Filip Glavaš, Ivan Martinović and Marin Šipić scored four goals each, and Luka Cindrić had three assists.
Argentina took advantage of Croatia’s somewhat slower start to the second half, and with a 3:0 series, they reduced the deficit to -8. This was a wake-up call for Croatia.
Croatia ultimately celebrated 33:18 and took first place in the standings before the decisive duel for first place against Egypt. They were led to victory by the brilliant Kuzmanović, who was named the player of the match for the second time in a row, recording 13 saves. Glavaš and Šipić were the top scorers with five goals each. Ramiro Martinez scored three goals for Argentina.
Croatia and Egypt will play for first place in the group on Sunday at 20:30. Argentina and Bahrain will play for third place on the same day at 18:00, the last place that leads to the second phase.