The semifinals of the Women’s World Handball Championship will be held on Friday at the Jyske Bank Boxen Arena in Herning. The IHF shows a “super heavyweight showdown” between Denmark and Norway (18:30), while the second match pits France against Sweden (22:00), two teams that defend very well.

Denmark – Norway, a Scandinavian match in the semifinals of the Women’s Handball World Cup

Denmark vs Norway kicks off at 18:30 and can be watched live on Digisport 2 and Prima Sport 2.

The two teams already have a world title (4 for Norway, 1 for Denmark) and together they have won 17 medals in the last 13 editions of the competition.

The two Scandinavian rivals also met in the EC 2022 final, with Norway winning the continental title with a 27-25 win in Ljubljana.

At this year’s World Cup, Norway has the best attack (35 goals per game, Denmark’s 32), the best goalie save percentage (41.3%) and has conceded fewer goals than the opposition (20.8 per game vs. 22).

On paper, Norway appear to be slight favourites, but Denmark will have the support of the crowd and look to balance the balance.

The results of the two teams at the 2023 World Cup:

• Denmark: 25-21 – Serbia, 46-11 – Chile, 39-23 – Romania, 26-27 – Japan, 32-22 – Poland, 30-28 – Germany, 26-24 – Montenegro.

• Norway: 43-11 – Greenland, 45-28 – Austria, 33-23 – South Korea, 37-19 – Angola, 34-21 – Slovenia, 23-24 – France, 30-23 – Holland.

Sweden and France win the Women’s World Handball Championship in a row

The match between Sweden and France starts at 22:00 and can be watched live on Digisport 4 and Prima Sport 4.

These two teams also met in the semi-finals of the 2017 World Cup, and France won (25-23). Sweden then finished 4th, their best result at the event.

France played in the semi-finals six times and won each time. World champions in 2003 and 2017, Team Hexagon won silver in 1999, 2009, 2011 and 2021.

The best attack in France (222 goals, in Sweden – 206), but the least number of goals conceded by the Scandinavians (19.57 per game / instead, Olivier Krumbholz’s team has an average of 24.57 goals conceded per game).

France and Sweden are the only teams at the 2023 World Cup that have won all seven matches played.

The results of the two teams at the 2023 World Cup:

• Sweden: 36-24 – China, 26-18 – Senegal, 22-17 – Croatia, 37-13 – Cameroon, 26-22 – Hungary, 32-25 – Montenegro, 27-20 – Germany.

• France: 30-29 – Angola, 31-22 – Iceland, 31-27 – Slovenia, 41-27 – Austria, 32-22 – South Korea, 24-23 – Norway, 33-22 – Czech Republic.

Women’s World Handball Championship, schedule of semifinals

From 18:30

Denmark – Norway / Digisport 2, Prima Sport 2 – Jyske Bank Boxen (Herning)

From 22:00

Sweden – France / Digisport 4, Prima Sport 4 – Jyske Bank Boxen (Herning).

• The finals (small and large) will take place on December 17 at Jyske Bank Boxen in Herning.

The first ranking matches (5-8 places) will also take place on Friday, and the favorites for the matches against the Czech Republic and Montenegro are Germany and the Netherlands, respectively.

From 12:30 p.m

Germany – Czech Republic / Digisport 2, Prima Sport 1 – Jyske Bank Boxen (Herning)

From 15:30

Montenegro – Netherlands / Digisport 2, Prima Sport 1 – Juske Bank Boxen (Herning).

• The winners will play for 5th place, and the losers will meet in the 7th place match.