The last two games of the 2018 IHF Men's Beach Handball World Championship in Kazan, Russia saw Brazil beat title holders Croatia 2:0 to regain the title they last won in 2014.
Hungary finally ended their run of fourth-placed finishes in major competitions after they beat first-timers Sweden 2:0 in the bronze medal match.
2018 IHF Men’s Beach Handball World Championship
Sunday 29 July
Final/Gold: Brazil vs Croatia 2:0 (19:18) (22:20)
Two Joao Paulo Sousa strikes - one each at the end of each period - ensured that Brazil took their fifth world championship, taking the crown for the 2016 winners Croatia, who had beaten them in that final two years ago.
It took a Croatia mistake to hand them the opportunity to win this game as the game entered the golden goal period, Matej Semren found himself in possession but could only shoot onto the crossbar and after some careful build-up, managed by Kazan 2018 MVP Bruno Oliveira, Sousa was set free to smash home and win the title.
3/4 Place Bronze: Sweden vs Hungary 0:2 (12:18) (16:17)
Fourth at the Men's EHF EURO 2015, fourth at the IHF Men's World Championship in 2016 on home sand in Budapest, fourth at the 2017 Men's EHF EURO in Croatia and 2017 World Games in Poland.
Now, the Hungarian men's team can boast a bronze medal, ending a run of four major competitions where they fell just short of the podium.
They did it by beating Sweden, in their first-ever final in their debut world championship, by six points in a relatively calm first period and then by a single point in the second, after Bence Zakics received the hand-off and slotted home for a solitary point in the last 10 seconds. Attila Kun top-scored in the match with six strikes from seven, scoring 12 points.