For the first time since 2000, Croatian handball players will not participate in the Olympic Games.
The Portuguese handball players qualified for Tokyo by winning the last match of the qualifying tournament in Montpellier, France with 29:28, and Silva scored the winning goal two seconds before the end.
The French still led 28:25 four minutes before the end, but the Portuguese won a place in the Olympic tournament in Tokyo with a final series of 4:0.
Croatia previously defeated Tunisia 30:27, but it needed the Portuguese not to win in order to qualify.
In addition to France and Portugal, Norway and Brazil, as well as Sweden and Germany are going to Tokyo.
Japan as the host, Denmark as the 2019 world champion, Spain as the current European champion, the Egyptians as the African champions, the Pan American champions Argentina, and Bahrain as the winner of the Asian qualifiers secured the appearance earlier.
Bonus video:
