The shock of the handball world! The semi-finalist of the last edition suffered one of the most shameful failures in the HISTORY of the national team
Article by David Istrate – Published on Wednesday, 03 December 2025 23:18 / Updated on Wednesday, 03 December 2025 23:19
Norway – Sweden, considered a derby of the main phase of the Women's Handball World Championship, did not live up to expectations. Norway dominated the game from start to finish, led to a huge margin and prevailed 39-26.
Both Norway and Sweden played in the semi-finals of the previous edition of the World Championship. Norway were beaten in the final by France 31-28 to take silver, while Sweden lost to Denmark 28-27 to miss out on the bronze medals.
Norway, 13-goal win against Sweden at the World Cup
Two years later, Ole Gjekstad's women continue to dominate, while their opponents look unlikely to rise to the level shown in 2023. After losing to Brazil 31-27, Sweden were hoping for an encouraging performance against Norway.
But the world vice-champions managed an excellent performance, they dominated the Swedes from the start and scored 24 goals in the first half. After the break, Norway took their foot off the accelerator slightly, but continued to increase their lead.
Sweden took advantage in the last minutes of certain mistakes of the opponent and the insistence of playing 8 against 7 and scored some goals in the empty net. Therefore, the final score was 39-26 for Norway.
The leaders of the winner were Ingvild Bakkerud (6 goals), Henny Reistad (6), Stine Skogrand (4) and Kristine Breistol (4).
On the other side, Linn Blohm (5 goals), Clara Lerby (5) and Tyra Axner (4) stood out.
The legendary Katrine Lunde, awarded by Narcisa Lecușanu, her former teammate
The legendary gatekeeper Katrine Lunde, with 11 saves and a percentage of 50%, was named “player of the match” and received this award from the Romanian Narcisa Lecușanu, her former colleague from Viborg HK.
For Sweden, the failure with Norway was one of the most drastic in history. On December 13, 2001, 14 years ago, the Swedes lost in the “quarters” of the World Cup with Yugoslavia, with a difference of 14 goals: 32-18.
Sweden still have South Korea and Angola to play, while Norway will face the Czech Republic and Brazil.
