France Edge Egypt in Thrilling Quarterfinal Match at Handball World Cup

France reached the Handball World Cup semifinals after Luca Karabatic scored a dramatic last-second goal to secure a 34-33 win over Egypt.

A thrilling quarterfinal match at the Handball World Cup saw France edge out Egypt 34-33, thanks to a last-gasp finish from Luca Karabatic with less than a second left on the clock. This dramatic win secured France's spot in the semifinals, leaving the Egyptians heartbroken.

In the final seconds of the match, Egypt's Yahia Omar appeared to have forced extra time with an equalizing goal. However, 36-year-old Karabatic had other plans. He quickly reacted to the equalizer, sprinted to the center line, and sent the ball into an empty Egyptian goal just 0.10 seconds before time expired.

The referees reviewed the final goal on video, and the footage confirmed that the ball had crossed the goal line before time ran out. This thrilling conclusion sealed France's seventh victory at the World Cup, and Guillaume Gille's team now finds itself in the last four of a major championship, poised to contend for another medal.

France started the game strongly, but Egypt soon found their footing and equalized at 5-5 after initially trailing 4-1. The two teams then engaged in a back-and-forth battle throughout the first half, with France eventually regaining momentum and taking a four-goal lead into halftime.

In the second half, France extended their advantage to five goals early on, but Egypt refused to give up. The Egyptians fought back, forcing France to adjust their tactics and employ a seven-on-six attack for most of the second half. This change in strategy allowed France to maintain pressure on the Egyptian defense.

🤾🏻 Egypt is eliminated in the quarter-finals of the Handball World Cup against France. ❌🇫🇷

The French scored the winning goal with 0.02 seconds left in the match… 😩

Once again, a cruel scenario for this generation. 🇪🇬

pic.twitter.com/hz5Adh5QNn

— Onze Masr 🇪🇬🇬🇧 (@Onzemasr_EN) January 28, 2025

As the clock ticked down, the intensity of the match increased. With just over a minute remaining, Hesham leveled the score at 32-32 with a long-distance shot. However, Nedim Remili quickly restored France's lead with 30 seconds left. In a stunning turn of events, Yahia Omar equalized again with just three seconds remaining, but France's goalkeeper Desbonnet swiftly gathered the ball and initiated a restart. Desbonnet's quick thinking allowed Luca Karabatic to score the winning goal, securing France's semifinal spot against Croatia on Thursday.