Kosovo, Latvia and Türkiye keep World Championship dreams alive

While Türkiye took a big 22-goal aggregate win (68:46) over Cyprus, the other pairings were closer; Kosovo defeated Great Britain 67:56 on aggregate and Latvia beat Luxembourg 62:53 in their weekend double-header.

• Kosovan centre back Leonard Gegaj was the top scorer of the six games, netting 15 times over 120 minutes
• Türkiye won the first leg of their matches against Cyprus 33:27, but took a much bigger win in the second leg at home — after leading 22:10 at half-time, they eventually won 35:19
• a home crowd of over 1,500 fans was not enough to drive Great Britain to victory in leg 1, with Kosovan goalkeeper Haris Berisha stopping 19 shots (43.2 per cent) as Kosovo won 32:26
• Kosovo went on to claim the ticket to the next stage in the second leg in Prishtina, with the 35:30 result on the night making for an 67:56 aggregate victory
• Latvian goalkeeper Ritvars Putra (15 saves, 44.1 per cent) and 21-year-old left back Janis Pavels Valkovskis were key in their 28:20 first-leg win in Luxemburg
• the second leg between Luxembourg and Latvia was much closer; Latvia edged a 34:33 win with goals from Rauls Serafimovics and Endijs Kusners in the final minute

The three Qualification Europe Phase 1 winners go on to join another 13 nations in Qualification Europe Phase 2, scheduled for March 2026. The third phase of qualification in May 2026 will decide Europe’s line-up for the final tournament in Germany.

A total of 32 teams will take the stage for the 30th edition of the IHF Men’s World Championship.

Photos © Nikollë Quni, Jon Cornish, Türkiye Hentbol Federasyonu