The Olympic and European champions were 14-12 down at half-time to the 2008 Olympic silver medallists, but when they brought on Daniel Narcisse, back after injury, in the second half they began to play more fluently.

However the red-carding of another star scorer, Nikola Karabtic, ten minutes from time left them in a tense position.

Two goals ahead with four minutes left, France saw Iceland - who entered the Championships with Saudi Arabia in November following the withdrawal of the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain - draw level, with the late equaliser coming from Robert Gunnarsson.

France are now second in Group C, one point behind Sweden, who earned their third win out of three by defeating Algeria by 27-19.

The African champions were on the back foot from the start as Adidas man-of-the-match Jonas Kallman scored four goals in the opening five minutes.

Sweden top Group C after defeating African champions Algeria 27-19 ©Qatar2015

Another epic draw was played out between Germany - wild card entrants following the decision to exclude the Oceania's representative, Australia - and Denmark, who finished at 30-30.

It was the second shock of these Championships for Denmark, one of four top seeds along with France, Croatia and defending champions Spain, after they were held to a surprise draw by Argentina.

The result leaves Germany a point clear at the top of Group D ahead of Denmark and Poland, who earned their second win of the Championships with a 26-25 win over Russia thanks to a winning goal from Adam Wisniewski 62 seconds from time.

Poland maintained their chances of reaching the knock-out stages at the Qatar 2015 World Handball Championships with a 26-25 win over Russia ©Qatar2015




The Czech Republic were able to welcome back their former World Handball Player of the Year, left back Filip Jicha, after his absence in their two opening games with a stomach upset.

But it could not prevent them losing a third consecutive match in Group C as they went down 24-27 to Egypt, who had followed an inspired victory over Algeria with a narrow three-points defeat by France.

Egypt owed much to a superb display by their 'keeper, the aptly named Karim Handawy, who was man-of-the-match.

But he turned the praise towards the supporters who had thronged the arena.

"The heroes of Egypt today are the people who came to see and support us today," Handawy said.

His team-mate, Mahmoud Radwan, added: "People told us that our fans had already sold all the tickets of this round and every match there is a very huge crowd, so I think we have to do our best to fulfil their needs."

Jicha commented: "The Egyptian keeper was brilliant, I am very weak but also happy that I could play today.

"I am feeling much better now.

"Since I have been here I have spent all my time in my hotel room lying in my bed, I had a high fever and when it went down, a stomach ache, I lost seven kilograms."

Argentina maintained their hopes of getting one of the four qualifying spots from Group D with a 32-20 win over Saudi Arabia.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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