Europe’s record vs. the Rest of the World: 28-1-1
Average Match Final Score: 34.2 – 23.1
Average Match Goal Differential: 11.1

Well, it was the World Championships, but if there was ever any question as to where the best Handball is played those numbers tell a very clear story.

The only blemishes on Europe’s record were South Korea’s preliminary round draw vs. Russia and Tunisia’s 11th place classification match win vs. the Czech Republic. And in terms of the other 28 matches only a handful were competitive.

A closer look at the other Continental Federations

[b]Africa[/b]

Record vs. Europe: 1-0-13
Average Match Final Score: 24.9 – 33.5
Average Match Goal Differential: 8.6

Record vs. Rest of the World (non-Europe): 7-0-3
Average Match Final Score: 31.5 – 27.5
Average Match Goal Differential: 4

Tunisia had a very disappointing tournament, but they were the only non-European team to advance to the Main Round. And while they failed to win a match in the Main Round several of their matches were somewhat competitive and their victory against the Czech Republic was the only European loss. Egypt also showed that they can play with the big boys, battling Spain closely and losing a very close match to the Czech Republic that would have send them into the Main Round. Look for Egypt’s leading scorer, 22 year old Ahmed El Ahmar to join Hussein Zaky on some European club in the near future. Aside from Angola’s 3 goal loss to Hungary (in a game which Hungary rested their top players) Angola and Morocco were no match for the European sides, but fared well against the other minnows in the President’s Cup.

[b]Asia[/b]

Record vs. Europe: 0-1-6
Average Match Final Score: 24.9 – 35.9
Average Match Goal Differential: 11

Record vs. Rest of the World (non-Europe) 5-0-6
Average Match Final Score: 29.9 -29.9
Average Match Goal Differential: 0

South Korea showed that they are the class of Asia Handball with their surprising tie vs. Russia and overall 3-1-2 record for the tournament. Having the leading scorer in the German Bundesliga, Kyung Shin Yoon, plus a couple of players playing in Switzerland at Wacker Thun certainly had something to with that. Kuwait and Qatar were less than impressive managing only 1 victory each in the tournament over Greenland and Australia respectively.

[b]Pan America[/b]

Record vs. Europe: 0-0-6
Average Match Final Score: 20.5 – 29.6
Average Match Goal Differential: 9

Record vs. Rest of the World (non- Europe): 4-0-4
Average Match Final Score: 29.3 – 30.5
Average Match Goal Differential: 1.2

In hindsight, Brazil’s performance against Germany and Poland in the preliminary round looks pretty good. The game against Germany was close throughout and they were only trailing by 2 against Poland at halftime. And Germany and Poland later ended up finishing 1st and 2nd while Brazil ended up in 19th. Argentina also played Poland close for a half and came close to beating Ukraine in the President’s Cup. Proving once again, however, that close doesn’t count. These close games makes you wonder though, how Brazil and Argentina would have fared if Bruno Souza and Eric Gull, respectively had played in the tournament. In particular, an experienced professional backcourt player could have made a big difference in crunch time. Greenland only managed 1 win (Australia), but a relatively young team does give them some hope for the future.

[b]Oceania[/b]

Record vs. Europe: 0-0-3
Average Match Final Score: 16-43
Average Match Goal Differential: 27

Record vs. Rest of the World (Non-Europe): 0-0-3
Average Match Final Score: 23.3 – 33.3
Average Match Goal Differential: 10

The luck of the draw didn’t do Australia any favors by placing them in the same group as France, Iceland and Ukraine. Not surprisingly, these matches were not very competitive. More disappointing for Australia had to be their failure to never be in any real contention for a victory in the President’s Cup. Australia’s strategy to place players in Europe to gain experience is a good one, they just need to add a few more talented players to their program.

Match Scores grouped by Continents are in the Extended Post

[b]Pan America vs. Europe[/b]

Greenland 21 Slovenia 35
Argentina 15 Poland 29
Argentina 20 Germany 32
Brazil 23 Poland 31
Brazil 22 Germany 27
Argentina 22 Ukraine 23

[b]Pan America vs. Rest of World[/b]

Greenland 34 Australia 25
Brazil 30 Australia 23
Brazil 36 Morocco 29
Argentina 28 Kuwait 25
Greenland 28 Angola 29
Argentina 31 Korea 38
Greenland 27 Kuwait 39
Greenland 20 Tunisia 36

[b]Asia vs. Europe[/b]

Qatar 18 Spain 41
S Korea 23 Croatia 41
Qatar 23 Czech Rep 37
Kuwait 23 Slovenia 33
Kuwait 23 Ukraine 33
S Korea 32 Norway 34
S Korea 32 Russia 32

[b]Asia vs. Rest of World[/b]

Qatar 36 Australia 22
Korea 32 Morocco 19
Kuwait 39 Greenland 27
Korea 38 Argentina 31
Korea 36 Egypt 30
Kuwait 25 Argentina 28
Kuwait 22 Egypt 26
Qatar 27 Angola 33
Kuwait 23 Tunisia 34
Qatar 24 Egypt 35
Qatar 27 Morocco 44

[b]Africa vs. Europe[/b]

Angola 13 Norway 41
Angola 20 Denmark 39
Morocco 19 Russia 35
Morocco 22 Croatia 35
Egypt 18 Norway 27
Tunisia 31 Poland 40
Tunisia 27 Slovenia 34
Tunisia 28 Germany 35
Tunisia 30 Iceland 36
Egypt 29 Spain 33
Angola 31 Hungary 34
Tunisia 26 France 28
Egypt 30 Czech Rep 31
Tunisia 25 Czech Rep 21

[b]Africa vs. Rest of World [/b]

Morocco 44 Qatar 27
Tunisia 36 Greenland 20
Tunisia 34 Kuwait 23
Egypt 35 Qatar 24
Angola 33 Qatar 27
Egypt 26 Kuwait 22
Angola 29 Greenland 28
Egypt 30 Korea 36
Morocco 29 Brazil 36
Morocco 19 Korea 32

[b]Oceania vs. Europe[/b]

Australia 10 France 47
Australia 20 Iceland 45
Australia 18 Ukraine 37

[b]Oceania vs. Rest of World[/b]

Australia 23 Brazil 30
Australia 25 Greenland 34
Australia 22 Qatar 36