Meanwhile, Olympic and European champions France, favourites to claim the title, are joint top of Group C with Sweden after a testing 28-24 win over an Egypt team, which had defeated the African champions Algeria two days earlier.

Playing in the Lusail Multipurpose Hall, where International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach had watched the hosts beat Chile a day earlier, the Germans were desperate to maintain momentum after their opening win over the team who had defeated them in the playoffs for this Championship, Poland.

"This was one step in the right direction, but it means nothing if we don't beat Russia," German right wing Patrick Groetzki said after their first match.

At half-time it looked as if Germany were about to take a step back as they trailed 13-9.

Uwe Gensheimer contributed nine goals for Germany, earning the adidas man-of-the-match title ©Getty Images


"The coach told us that we should continue playing with courage and that nothing had been decided yet," said Germany's left back, Paul Drux.

A much improved German side drew level at 14-14 after four minutes of the second half, and took the lead for the first time after 41 minutes.

But the Germans had to sweat in the final couple of minutes after Russia, 27-24 down with three and a half minutes left, scored two further goals in quick succession.

Uwe Gensheimer contributed nine goals for Germany, earning the adidas man-of-the-match award, while Timur Dibirov and Konstantin Igropulo joint top-scored for Russia with six goals.

Nikola Karabatić top-scored for France with six goals as they did enough to stay just ahead of their highly-motivated opponents, for whom Mohamed Amer was top scorer with five goals.

Poland recovered from their opening upset by securing a dramatic 24-23 win over Argentina, who had earlier shocked Denmark, runners-up in the last two World Championships, with a goal 20 seconds from time which earned them a 24-24 draw.

Poland on the attack in their 24-23 win over Argentina today at the Qatar World Handball Championships ©Qatar2015

"This group is the toughest," said Polish coach Michael Biegler before the match.

"We are absolutely aware of the threat this Argentine team poses.

"If you tie with Denmark, you have the ability to beat all the remaining teams in the group."

His caution proved justified as Argentina pushed his men to the end, with Federico Pizarro joining Diego Simonet and his brother Sebastian as joint top scorer through a fifth goal scored with just nine seconds remaining.

Sweden maintained their 100 per cent record with a 36-22 win over a Czech Republic side still without its former International Handball Federation Player of the Year, Filip Jicha, who has had a stomach problem.

Algeria suffered further disappointment after their opening defeat by Egypt as they were beaten 32-24 by Iceland, the 2008 Olympic silver medallists.

Denmark restored some of their equilibrium after the Argentina upset with a 38-18 win over Saudi Arabia.

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