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IHF Men’s Beach Handball World Championships:
Iran beats Tunisia but misses out on last eight
Iran edged a thrilling opening period 23-22 before sealing the victory with a 19-16 scoreline in the second against the African champion.
Ali Heidarian led the scoring for Iran with 17 points, while Amin Kazemi added 16, though their efforts were not enough to secure a place in the quarterfinals for head coach Mahdi Qashgaei’s side, which finished fifth in the six-team Group I standings.
Entering the tournament on the back of last year’s silver-medal campaign at the Asian Championships, Iran made a losing start in the preliminary round in the Croatian capital, suffering back-to-back 2-1 defeats to Spain and 2024 bronze medalist Portugal.
Qashgaei’s men bounced back by beating the United States in straight periods (25-20, 22-18) to join the two European sides in progressing from Group A to the main round.
More daunting tests awaited Iran in the second phase, as the Asian side lost 2-0 (23-16, 21-16) to Denmark, runner-up in each of the previous two editions, before falling 22-20, 23-22 to 2010 finalist Hungary later on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Hungary defeated Spain 2-0 on Friday to finish top of Group I, while Portugal beat Denmark 2-1 to secure second place.
Spain and Denmark also advanced to the quarterfinals, while Iran will now look to match its ninth-place finish from the 2024 tournament.