Nadine Szoellosi-Schatzl tries to score against Sweden's goalkeeper Johanna Bundsen. GETTY IMAGES

The Stade Pierre Mauroy, which hosted the basketball group stage, is the venue where the handball medals will be decided. The women's tournament has seen three Scandinavian teams qualify for the semi-finals, in addition to the hosts.

The semi-finals of the women's tournament will take place on Thursday. At 16:30 local time, Sweden and France will face each other at 16:30 local time followed by the second semi-final between Norway and Denmark at 21:30. The Norwegians won 27-18 when the two sides met in the group stage.

The quarter-finals of the men's tournament will be played on Wednesday. Spain and Egypt will open the day playing each other at 09.30 before Germany takes on the host nation France at 13:30. 

Denmark then faces Sweden at 17:30 and perhaps the most exciting match will round up the day at 21:30 when Norway play Slovenia.



Denmark beats the Netherlands

An even match between Denmark and the Netherlands was to be expected. The two teams had performed very well in the first round, each only losing once.

The Netherlands started very solidly, particularly their goalkeeper Yara Ten Holte but Denmark's players were patient. There was the whole game to play and they waited for their moment to come. They found it in the final minutes of the first half and the first minutes of the second half. 

Althea Reinhardt was a wall in the Danish goal, saving 17 shots in total by the end of the game while at the other end, Anne Mette Hansen scored all 6 of her chances on goal.

Those six goals by Anne Mette Hansen, along with another six from Emma Friis helped the Danes overcome the Netherlands 29-25 but it was Reinhardt who was key for Denmark, with 41% of shots saved. 

Bo van Wetering and Dione Housheer were the top scorers for the Netherlands with seven goals each.



The Danes' semi-final opponents will be Norway. They had the easiest match of the quarter-finals. Brazil was expected to be the weakest team of the eight qualified teams, and it was clear once the game had begun.

After 15 minutes of play, the score was already 10-3. Brazil made an effort to try to close the gap but to no avail. At half-time, the score was 16-8, and the start of the second half showed that there was a big difference. In the end, 32-15.



France suffer against Germany

The second match of the day had clear favourites in the hosts. France, the Olympic champion in Tokyo 2020, is the only team to have completed the first phase by winning every match. And Germany only managed one win, but it was so clear (41-22 to Slovenia), that they were in a three-way tie with the Slovenians and South Korea, who could go through to the quarter-finals.

The match started with a lot of sloppiness. The first seven minutes saw only one goal. France came into action with a very choral attack, where several players found goals and made a dangerous difference of 9-3 with 15 minutes played.

Germany reacted with three quick goals and the game entered a dynamic in which France was in control, but without such a big lead. At half-time, they went in with a three-goal lead that kept the game open (13-10).

The second half started with two goals from France's Laura Flippes that threatened the Germans again, but they managed a 0-5 lead that tied the game (15-15) with 20 minutes to go. France rallied and got back into the lead. Emily Boelk was doing her best to keep her team in the game, but Estelle Nze Minko popped up to score one goal and assist on another and France was on the verge of victory, 25-21 with less than four minutes to play.



Germany did not give up. With goals from Antje Doell and Xenia Smits they looked for a miracle. They were losing 25-23 and there was only one minute left. In the next play, another goal by Flippes sealed the match. Tamara Horacek was France's top scorer with seven goals. The same as Germany's Boelk. Laura Glauser's 36% saves for France were also vital for the hosts, who will meet Sweden in the semi-finals.

Hungary dream, but fall in extra time to Sweden

The third quarter-final featured another Scandinavian team. Sweden was the favourite, but Hungary should never be underestimated when it comes to handball and the match was a demonstration of will and quality to reach the semi-finals.

Sweden tried to start strong and got some advantages of three and even four goals. Hungary responded by always staying in the game. The score was even more equal in the second half, with many moments with the score level or with only one goal difference for either team.



With just under three minutes to go, Petra Simon equalised for Hungary. The score would not change until the final seconds. After a time-out, Hungary attacked and Petra Vamos rose to score what could have been the winning goal. There were 15 seconds left. Sweden took a time-out. They made a quick attack and Nina Koppang scored the equaliser with five seconds to go. Extra time.

Two five-minute halves to decide who would advance to the semi-finals. And then came the heroine of the match, Swedish goalkeeper Johanna Bundsen. Thanks to her saves, the Hungarians did not manage to score a goal in the first half of extra time. Sweden's goals at the start of the second period sealed the match. 32-36 was the final score, with 42% of saves by Bundsen and Koppan as the top scorer with seven goals. The 11 goals scored by Hungary's Katrin Klujber were of no use.