IHF Emerging Nations: USA beats Nigeria in third place match

●IHF Trophy Intercontinental: Nigeria finishes second in Kosovo

Nigeria’s Under 23 Men’s Handball team lost to the United States of America 31-28 in the third-place match of the 5th IHF Emerging Nations Championship in Varna, Bulgaria.

Nigeria had played a 31-31 draw against USA in the opening match of the competition and at the time the USA, arguably the most experienced team in the competition, had an 18-12 lead at the break, only to falter and save a draw late in the match, 31:31.

In this third place match, it was pretty much same in the first half with USA taking an early lead and Nigeria somehow managing to hover around, despite their scoring efficiency plummeting throughout the start of the match. USA Goalkeeper Pal Merkovszky also helped the USA build this lead as he made some vital saves.

And in Pristina, Kosovo, Nigeria’s Under 18 Men Handball team finished second at the IHF Trophy’s Intercontinental Phase following a 34-30 loss to Kosovo in the final of the competition on Sunday in Pristina, Kosovo. The winning goals came in the overtime.

The team led by Coach Emeka Nnamani went into this match with determination to avenge an earlier defeat against the host in the preliminary stage but they were limited by a resolute defense of Kosovo and despite scoring vital goals, they settled for 13-13 in the first half.

In the second half of the match, Nigeria improved and even outscoring their host 26-24 with less than three minutes to the end of the match as Christian Foloki and Mustapha Mohammed combined for 13 goals. Sadly, they could not hold on to the lead as the host scored two quick goals as the clock was winding down to force the match into overtime. Kosovo, ably encouraged by their fans won the match 34-30 to be crowned champion of the IHF Trophy’s Intercontinental Phase.

USA finished third, with a 36-34 win in the bronze medal match against Uzbekistan.

Nigeria’s Mustapha Mohammed was the top scorer of the competition, with 43 goals, followed by two Kosovo players, Amar Muqolli (30 goals) and Granit Kadiri (29).

This is the second time that Nigeria will lose in the final; the first in 2019 against Chinese Taipei. They also finished third in the 2023 edition as well. Victory would have qualified Nigeria for the IHF Mens Youth World Championship later in the year.