Egypt's Women's Handball Team Makes History at the World Championship

Egypt's U18 women's handball team has emerged as one of the biggest stories of the 2026 IHF Women's Youth World Championship, finishing top of its preliminary group with three wins from three against a field that included European powerhouse France and European runners-up Croatia.

The achievement marks another milestone for a generation that has steadily risen under head coach Mohamed Abdel Karim, who has transformed the side into one capable of competing with some of the world's strongest youth teams.

Even before arriving at the World Championship, Egypt had shown signs of its potential. The team lifted the international friendly tournament in Romania after defeating Japan and Tunisia while earning a draw against hosts Romania.

Drawn alongside Croatia, France and Fiji, Egypt faced one of the tournament's more challenging groups.

The campaign began with a statement 27-24 victory over Croatia, the reigning European silver medallists. Egypt controlled the contest from the opening minutes, with Juwairiya Abdallah leading the charge with eight goals to earn Player of the Match.

Egypt followed their first victory up with an impressive five-goal win over France, one of handball's most successful nations, never allowing the French side back into contention. Malak Amr was named Player of the Match after scoring six goals.

Egypt rewrote the tournament record books, setting three new World Championship records in an 83-17 victory over Fiji to complete an unbeaten group-stage campaign. Yasmin Hassan earned Player of the Match honours after scoring 10 goals, while Egypt delivered one of the most dominant performances ever seen at the tournament.

Egypt set multiple championship records, including:

- Most goals scored by a team in a single match (83)

- Most goals scored in one half (43)

- Largest winning margin in tournament history (66 goals)

The performance was equally remarkable statistically. Egypt forced 70 turnovers, while all 13 outfield players found the scoresheet in a complete team display.

The team's group-stage campaign was quickly recognized back in Egypt, with Egyptian Handball Federation president Khaled Fathy awarding the squad an immediate financial bonus in recognition of their performances.

Egypt now advances to the main round, where it will face South Korea on August 3rd before taking on Denmark a day later.

With confidence at an all-time high after an unbeaten group-stage run, the young Pharaohs will look to continue their remarkable campaign as they chase a place in the knockout rounds, and potentially the first-ever medal for Egypt in women's handball at this level.

If this group maintains its current trajectory, it may not just be making history, it could redefine the future of Egyptian women's handball.