Portugal’s national men’s handball team are now assured of passage into the final phase of the World Cup taking place in in Sweden and Poland, after Iceland on Monday beat South Korea 38-25 in the penultimate Group D match, despite Portugal still having to play Hungary, who are already qualified.
Iceland, who in their opening group match had beaten Portugal 30-26, quickly achieved a lead of 9-3, with a partial 6-0 and another 3-0. South Korea, who are coached by former Portugal national coach Rolando Freitas, and who in their second group match lost to Portugal, 32-24, reached the interval down 19-13 and then saw Iceland increase their lead at the beginning of the second half.
With goalkeeper Viktor Hallgrimsson the outstanding player, with an efficiency rate above 40%, Iceland kept South Korea at bay, with a lead of as much as 16 goals at one point (35-19), before ending the match 38-25, in front of thousands of fans.
South Korea end their group phase in fourth position, having lost all three matches, and will play the President’s Cup in Plock to define the last eight positions of the World Cup finals, which runs until 29 January.
