Two years ago, the number of teams participating in the World Cup increased from 24 to 32 in the Egyptian Championship. It has opened doors to many countries where handball traditions were not as strong as handball.
So far, the World Cup in Poland and Sweden has been devoid of surprising results, of which there were many at the FIFA World Cup in Qatar. Sweden, led by Glenn Solberg, won on Monday by 35 goals over Uruguay.
TV 2 handball expert Bent Svele thought it was all a failure.
– It’s not good at all. The first week was rather uninteresting. Each group contains one or at most two teams lined with eels. There will be a lot of gravy fights.
Svele points out that it wasn’t until the quarter-finals that the huge level differences were finally overlooked.
– There are matches that are not 100% fun. There will be no tension and the biggest teams won’t have to worry about anything. There are too many weak teams, and there will be a number of main tour “rails” to be crossed.
Olympic questions
Swedish star Jim Gottfredsson thought it was a failed expansion.
– I’m against it. There are a lot of Blueberry Fights. He says that too many matches are played in the group stage where the numbers are too big Aftonbladet.
The background to the expansion of the WC was that the International Handball Federation wanted to spread the sport to larger parts of the world.
They have a dream of turning handball into something more than just a European sport. Because if not, handball will probably be eliminated from the Olympic program, says Svele.
No fans: Bent Svele has no sense of a 32-team squad in the toilet. Photo: Geir Olsen
– Not very attractive for Sweden
In the Norwegian camp, there is little clear stance. Most people see the pros and cons with 32 teams in the WC.
– We have to assume that the level difference is great, but it is an assessment of the teams that will participate, how many, what is the load, whether it is beneficial for everyone, the potential B Championship … It is completely different, says Magnus Appelwijk-Rud.
Göran Johansen sends a small blow to Sweden, which is looking a bit more muted on the new arrangement.
– When IFH’s vision is to make handball bigger, it happens that way. We have very bad countries from a European point of view. Smiling probably not very attractive to a Swede.
And national team manager Jonas Willi is not bombastic in his opinions.
– A great debate for which it is difficult to reach a final answer. Maybe we need to spend some time on this. The Netherlands was a nation that we could not count on a few years ago, but now it has become. He says there are pros and cons.
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