With an unreal twist in the finish, the handball players of Hungary defeated Croatia 23:22, qualified for the Olympic Games and what is much more important - sent Montenegro to the quarterfinals of the 26th World Championship!
It seemed that nothing would come of the desired scenario, that the "lionesses" would have to beat Sweden in the match that starts at 20.30:XNUMX p.m. in order to reach the knockout stages, because Ivica Obrvan's team was always in the lead.
Tea Pijević was phenomenal between the posts, so the advantage of the "queen of shock" was constantly growing. When after 10 minutes in the 2nd half it was 17:11, it seemed that the victory of Hungary, which was waiting for the chosen ones Bojana Popović, was gone.
Vladimir Golovin's team went on a 4:0 run to reach 19:17.
Six minutes and 10 seconds before the end, Croatia led 22:18, but the Hungarians made a spectacular 5:0 run for a big celebration in their camp, as well as in Montenegro.
Ana Albek reduced, then Katrin Klujber scored three tied goals to equalize (the first two from the seven, the third after grabbing the ball after missing a penalty), to sign the turnaround for Kinga Debreceni-Klivinji with 63 seconds left.
Croatia had a great chance for a draw, which would have won at least the 3rd place in group 1 and a visa for the Olympic qualifications, but Blanka Bode-Biro defended seven-seater Dejana Milosavljević.
After the time-out, the Hungarians spent 37 seconds, leaving the opponents only three, but Ivica Obrvan's team failed to make an action for the zeppelin...
With this victory, Hungary secured the 10th place at the World Championship, thus also the last visa for qualification for the Olympic Games. In April, they will fight for two places in the City of Light at a tournament that will feature Japan, Cameroon and the best selection from the World Cup, which has not yet secured a place in Paris.
These are, for now, France, Norway, Brazil, Angola and South Korea. France and Norway are in the quarter-finals, and in case they win the title, Denmark would go directly to Paris as European vice-champion.
Montenegro, on the other hand, will play for a place in Paris with one selection from the World Cup quarter-finals, but it is not yet known in which tournament - with Argentina and Spain, or with Slovenia and Paraguay.
It is possible that Bojana Popović's team will go directly to Paris, but it must be at least bronze, provided that France defeats Norway in the final.
Bonus video:
