Kuwait’s Salmeen makes a goal attempt against Qatar during the Handball World Championship.

ZAGREB, Jan 19: Kuwait bids farewell to the 29th edition of the 2025 Handball World Championship, which is being held in Croatia, Denmark, and Norway and will conclude on February 2nd. The team suffered its third consecutive loss in the preliminary round of Group 3, losing to Qatar 22-25.

The "Blues" had previously lost their first two group matches—against Austria 26-37 and France 19-43—leaving them in last place in Group 3. With this result, Kuwait has been eliminated from the race for a qualification spot in the main round. The team will now focus on improving its world ranking through the remaining matches.

Despite the loss, the Kuwaiti team showed resilience throughout the match, with the goal difference and performance levels remaining close. The first half ended with Qatar leading 11-7.

The tournament, which spans across three host countries—Croatia, Norway, and Denmark—has seen Kuwait struggle in the competition. The team suffered heavy losses against Austria (37-26) and France (43-19), the 2024 European champion and second-place finisher in the previous World Cup edition. In other Group C action, France triumphed 35-27.

Meanwhile, in another Arab match, Tunisia claimed a narrow 26-25 victory over Algeria in Group B. Tunisia secured its first win in the tournament, after two previous defeats.

In Group B, Denmark defeated Italy with a dominant 39-20 shoreline.

In Group F, Spain triumphed over Japan 39-20, while Sweden defeated Chile 42-30.

Group G saw Slovenia beat Cape Verde 36-24, and Iceland dominated Cuba with a 40-19 victory.

By Khaled Al-Enezi

Al-Seyassah/Arab Times Staff