Fight for group victory
32 teams started the Women’s Handball World Cup with high hopes. Eight of them are still left fighting for the World Cup crown, but also for the medals. Very pleasing: The German handball ladies are also still in the game. On Sunday, the main round will be about the group victory in the match against Denmark.
Denmark leads the ranking in this main round group ahead of Germany, but only because the Danes have the better goal difference. Both teams have not shown any weaknesses so far and have 8:0 points on their account. So the direct duel is no longer about who will advance, but only about who will enter the quarter-finals as group winner and group runner-up.
Germany need a win to secure their place in the sun. For the team from Denmark, a draw is already enough. Overall, however, it probably doesn’t matter much who finishes first and second. The opponents are definitely Spain and Brazil, who have an identical constellation in their group before the last matchday.
The Danish team is considered the favourite in this last group match by the bookmakers tested. However, the German women have shown that they are currently very strong on the road. Therefore, in the duel between Denmark and Germany, the prediction of the bookmakers goes a little too clearly in the direction of the Danish handball team.
Denmark – Statistics & current form
For the Danish team, the World Championship is the highlight of the year. The three-time Olympic champions were not involved in Tokyo in the summer and therefore the focus went towards the World Cup early on. The results so far definitely prove coach Jesper Jensen right, as the Danes are rushing through the title matches up to this point.
Strong winning streak
Not only have they won all five of their matches at the World Cup so far. In total, the team from Denmark has eleven wins in a row under its belt. Among others, they have already beaten the strong Spaniards twice this year. Therefore, it looks as if the betting in the match between Denmark and Germany should go to a Danish victory.
The Danish women are not only extremely strong offensively. Statistically, the two goalkeepers Althea Reinhardt and Sandra Toft are among the best in the tournament. Reinhardt has a rate of over 50 % of saved shots, Toft is only just below this mark. Especially in the knockout games it will depend on these two ladies.
On Friday, the Danes had to deal with the team from the Czech Republic. After initial problems, Denmark gave their opponents no chance, especially in the second period. In the end, they had a clear 29:14 victory. However, Jesper Jensen had to deal with one piece of bad news at this tournament. Mila Reij suffered a serious knee injury and had to be replaced by Michala Möller.
The Denmark squad:
Goal: Toft, Kristensen, Reinhart
Back: Petersen, Hansen, Haugsted, Jörgensen, Höjlund, Möller, Tranborg, Burgaard
Left wing: Nolsöe, Friis
Right wing: Böhme, Östergaard
Circle: Heindahl, Iversen
Coach: Jensen
Germany – Statistics & current form
It was clear in the run-up to the World Cup that the German team has great qualities, but the winning streak of the German ladies comes as a bit of a surprise. In the five World Cup matches so far with five victories, there have only been short phases of weakness. All in all, the German team has delivered an outstanding World Cup.
Make-less World Cup
Now it’s time to get rewarded as well. However, the match against the Danes may well be used to try out a few more things and further hone the routines. Whether they play Brazil or Spain in the quarter-finals probably doesn’t matter that much. However, even before the group final between Denmark and Germany, we dare to predict that Henk Groener’s team will be able to make it to the semifinals.
On Friday, the German women showed another very mature performance. The Asian champions from South Korea were considered quite dangerous in advance, but even against the Asians there were only ten minutes in which things did not go so well. After Germany had taken an early 5:1 lead, South Korea managed to level the match again.
Before the break, however, the DHB ladies pulled away again and delivered an outstanding second half in the 37:28 victory. Once again, captain Alina Grijseels was in the best of moods and scored eight goals, as did Emily Bölk. The two goalkeepers Dinah Eckerle and Katharina Filter were also very strong.
The Germany squad:
Goal: Eckerle, Filter
Back: Grijseels, Petersen, Zschocke, Smits, Bölk, Kalf, Stolle
Left Wing: Lauenroth, Stockschläder
Right wing: Maidhof, Berger
Circle: Schmelzer, Antl, Schulze
Coach: Groener
Denmark – Germany Direct Comparison / H2H-Balance
Since the 2002 World Cup, the Danish and German women have faced each other in a total of twelve international matches. In direct comparison, the team from Denmark has done better during this period. After victories, however, the score is only 6:4 for the Danish selection. The other two matches ended in a draw.
In recent years, both teams have always alternated with victories. The last encounter was at the 2019 World Cup in Japan. In the preliminary round, Germany won a close match 26:25 and advanced to the main round together with Denmark, but then it was already over for both teams.
Denmark – Germany tip
Denmark and Germany have won all five of their World Cup matches so far. This suggests that the direct duel on Sunday will be on an equal footing. The Danes were clearly more hungry for goals against the same opponents. A draw on Sunday will be enough for them to win the group. We think that the points could well be shared.
However, we see the Danish team slightly ahead. That’s why we’re also inclined to bet on a Danish win in the duel between Denmark and Germany.
We think it is possible that this match will be open for a long time and that the four goalkeepers will ensure that fewer goals than usual will be scored. However, we think that Jesper Jensen’s team will score more goals. We have therefore decided to play the betting odds on a Danish handicap win (-2.5) between Denmark and Germany.
