ISL

Two of the teams that will be making their debuts at the IHF Women’s Youth World Championship – Algeria and Iceland – were allocated to Group A during the draw, and, thus, they will both be eyeing their first win ever in the competition.

This will be the first major tournament for Iceland women’s youth national team, therefore it will be interesting to see how they cope at this level, with the added pressure and lack of experience, after the European side were awarded a Wild Card for North Macedonia 2022.

The last time the team measured up their forces with European teams, Iceland managed to finish second in the Qualification Tournament for the W17 EHF EURO 2023 – a round-robin tournament featuring Serbia, Slovenia and Slovakia.

Iceland secured crucial wins against Slovenia (24:21) and Slovakia (29:26) but were totally outplayed by Serbia, conceding a 20:31 loss, which will surely have influenced the preparation for this tournament.

In the last two friendly matches played before travelling to North Macedonia, during a training camp in June, Iceland beat the Faroe Islands twice, 27:24 and 31:29, underlining once again their attacking potential.


Key players: Lilja Ágústsdóttir (left wing), Elín Kara Thorkelsdóttir (centre back), Elísa Elíasdóttir (line player)

Qualification for North Macedonia 2022: Wild Card

History in tournament: Debutants

Group at North Macedonia 2022: Group A (Montenegro, Sweden, Algeria, Iceland)