After the first two rounds, which took place in Denmark, Sweden and Norway, this final round will take place in Trondheim, Norway, and Herning, Denmark, at Jyske Bank Boxen, where the semi-finals and the final will be held.

Perhaps the best match so far came on Sunday between two of the biggest medal contenders, Norway (current world and European champions) and France (gold medallists at the last Olympic Games). 

Battling for top spot in Group II, the Scandinavians suffered their first defeat of the tournament 24-23 to France 24-23 in front of almost 7,000 fans, with Estelle Nze Minko scoring six goals.

First up for France on Tuesday (17:30) in Trondheim is the Czech Republic, who sit second in Group IV after a three-way tie with Brazil and Spain and despite losing their last game against the 'Verdeamarelha' (27-30).

Norway, who suffered their first defeat of the 2023 tournament, will face Group IV's top qualifiers, the Netherlands (winners four years ago), in front of more than 8,000 fans at the Trondheim Spektrum.

The quarter-finals will be completed this Wednesday in the impressive Jyske Bank Boxen. Sweden, top of Group I and one of the sensations with the best goalkeeper in the tournament (Irma Schjött), will play at 17.30 against Germany (second in Group II), who lost their first game against Denmark 28-30 on Monday.

The Danes will go through to the quarter-finals as the best team in Group III, and their rivals will be Montenegro, perhaps the biggest surprise of the tournament after finishing second in Group I when Croatia and Hungary were the favourites.

Brazil, Hungary, Slovenia, Romania and Spain are also out, although the Guerreras have qualified for the Olympic Qualifying Tournaments to be held in April. 

The tournament's top scorer so far is Romania's Eliza Buceschi (47 goals), but she is already out and could be overtaken by Czech Republic's Marketa Jerebkova (46). Senegal's Soukeina Sagna is already out of the running on 40, as are Austria's Katarina Pandza on 39 and South Korea's Woo But-na on 35. 

The Czechs Charlotte Cholevova and Veronika Mala are still in contention on 35, as is perhaps the main contender to finish the tournament at the top of the leaderboard, Norway's Camilla Herrem.