Following the completion of the 2018/19 IHF Men’s Trophy regional and continental competitions, eight nations will compete in Pristina, Kosovo, in the Intercontinental Phase which throws-off later today (Wednesday 10 April) and finishes on Sunday (14 April).

There are two competitions taking place – the youth (U19) competition and junior competition (U21).

Both competitions feature two preliminary groups with three teams in each. The top two teams in each group will go straight through to the semi-finals and then the winners of those will play in the final. Teams placed in third position in each group will go directly into the 5/6 placement match.

Group A: Paraguay (PAR), Nigeria (NGR), Chinese Taipei (TPE)

Group B: Kosovo (KOS), Canada (CAN), New Zealand (NZL)

Group A: Kosovo, Nigeria, Chinese Taipei

Group B: United States of America (USA), Paraguay, Australia (AUS)

All games will be livestreamed for free on the IHF website: Click HERE for U19 and HERE for U21.

As reported back in February 2018 the IHF Trophy refreshed from 2018 onwards and – for junior teams only – was upgraded to a qualification event for the IHF Men’s and Women’s Junior World Championships.

In Kosovo, the winners of the junior competition will qualify through to the 2019 IHF Men's Junior World Championship which will be held in Spain. 

Ahead of the opening day, team delegations attended a technical meeting led by the IHF and Kosovo Handball Federation (KHF).

“It's a pleasure to have you here and an honour to organise the IHF Trophy,” said KHF Secretary General Izet Gjinovci. “You are very welcome here and on behalf of the Kosovo Handball Federation I wish you success.”

“We wish you a good competition,” added IHF Representative Frantisek Taborsky in his closing remarks. “We look forward to good matches in the spirit of fair play.”

Following the technical meeting IHF Technical Delegates then held a pre-tournament referee workshop for the five IHF referee couples from four continents who will be whistling in Kosovo: Egypt, Denmark, Brazil, Russia and China.

1400 NZL vs CAN (to be played at the venue 1st of October)

1700 PAR vs TPE (1st of October)

1300 USA vs AUS

1500 KOS vs TPE

1300 KOS vs NZL

1900 TPE vs NGR

1500 AUS vs PAR

1700 TPE vs NGR

1300 NGR vs PAR

1700 CAN vs KOS

1500 PAR vs USA

1900 NGR vs KOS

1300 Semi-Final 1

1300 Placement 5/6 Match (1st of October)

1700 Semi-Final 2

1500 Semi-Final 1

1600 Placement 5/6 Match (1st of October)

1900 Semi-Final 2

1200 3/4 Placement/Bronze Medal Match

1600 1/2 Placement/Gold Medal Match

1400 3/4 Placement/Bronze Medal Match

1800 1/2 Placement/Gold Medal Match