No, there will be no quarter-finals for Sweden in the championship being played in Germany and the Netherlands. That was clear after Brazil defeated Angola 32–26 earlier on Friday.
After a 27–31 loss to Brazil in the opening round, Sweden only took two points into the intermediate round. And after a 26–39 loss to Norway on Wednesday, the following applied:
Sweden was forced to take full pot against South Korea and Angola, while Brazil was not allowed to take any more points in its two completed matches. But Brazil thus closed the Swedish World Cup door already against Angola.
In the meaningless match against South Korea in Dortmund, Sweden looked to be winning big and led 25–12 at the start of the second half. But in the end, it was a victory by a five-goal margin.
"You're a competitive person, that's why you're here. You know we have a team that can play incredibly good handball. We want to be up there and then of course you're disappointed when you don't do it," says a disappointed Linn Blohm to Aftonbladet .
According to Aftonbladet, this is the first time since 2015 that Sweden has missed the quarterfinals of the World Cup.
On Sunday, Sweden's World Cup final awaits against Angola.
