IHF Men’s Beach Handball World Championships:
Iran finishes ninth after shootout win over France
Iran secured a consolation ninth-place finish at the IHF Men’s Beach Handball World Championships after defeating France in a shootout in the classification playoff in Zagreb on Sunday.
Head coach Mahdi Qashqaeirad’s side won the first period 24-21 before the European team bounced back to claim the second 23-15 and force the contest into a shootout, which Iran won 7-6.
Iran’s Ali Heidarian scored a game-high 15 points, while teammates Ali Pirzadeh (13) and Amin Kazemi (10) also reached double figures.
Horace Quintin led the scoring for tournament debutant France with 12 points, while Marius Inocencio and Paco Nichelatti added nine and eight, respectively.
The result marked Iran’s fifth victory in nine matches and concluded the country’s fourth appearance at the global showpiece since making its debut in 2008. Iran’s best finish remains eighth place, achieved in the 2022 edition.
Entering the tournament on the back of last year’s silver-medal finish at the Asian Championships, Iran made a losing start in the preliminary round, suffering back-to-back 2-1 defeats to Spain and 2024 bronze medalist Portugal.
More daunting tests awaited Iran in the main round, as the Asian side lost 2-0 to Denmark, runner-up in each of the previous two editions, before falling 22-20, 23-22 to 2010 finalist Hungary later on Thursday.
A 2-0 victory over Tunisia saw Iran finish fifth in Main Round Group I before the team defeated Puerto Rico and Tunisia again – both by 2-1 scorelines – to book its place in Sunday’s playoff against France.
Germany defeated Brazil 2-0 in the final later on Sunday to win the title, while Argentina beat two-time defending champion Croatia in a shootout to claim the bronze medal.