It was a dominant display from the start by the two-time Olympic gold medallists and they raced into a 3-0 lead inside the first three minutes.

Despite this shaky start, Norway managed to get themselves back into the match and were within two points of their opponents at the halfway stage with the score reading 17-15.

The hosts, however, always looked in control in front of a 12,000-strong crowd at the Arena Zagreb and eventually took the match 32-28.

Manuel Strlek was the pick of the players, finding the back of the net four times for the host team.

Croatia are hoping to win their first European Men’s Handball title having finished third in the last three tournaments.

Current World Champions France were also in good form as they got their main round campaign off to a good start with a 23-17 victory over Sweden, who have a record four European titles to their name.

The 33-year-old Cédric Sorhaindo, part of the French team that won the Olympic gold medal at London 2012 and the silver at Rio 2016 was the pick of the players with five goals for his side.

Croatia and France are currently in the driving seats in Group I of the main round as they occupy the top two spots.

Today also saw the final group stage matches at the 2018 Asian Men’s Handball Championship take place in Suwon, meaning the main and classement round fixtures have now been decided.

Hosts and nine-time champions South Korea recovered from an 8-9 deficit at half-time to come out 21-20 winners against United Arab Emirates at the Suwon Gymnasium.

Yoon Ciyoel and Lee Eunho were in particularly good form with five goals each for South Korea.

They are now due to face Oman in their first match in Group 1 of the main round.

Oman lost 30-23 to Bahrain in their final group match.

Reigning champions Qatar recorded a comfortable 30-20 victory over Saudi Arabia with Anis Zouaoui undoubtedly the star player as his eight goals helped his side get over the line.

Earlier in the day, Iran defeated Japan 37-32 to book their place in the main round.

Japan will also be in the main round after recording a win against Uzbekistan earlier in the tournament.

Elsewhere, Bangladesh continued their miserable campaign with a 41-11 loss to India, meaning they finish bottom of Group C with zero points to their name and enter the classement round

Even after their emphatic win, India will also be in the classement round.

They will be joined by New Zealand and China, who played each other today in a match the Chinese won 31-14.

There were no matches today at the 2018 African Men’s Handball Championship.