Phase 2 part 1 of qualification for the 2023 IHF Men’s World Championship concluded on Sunday, with four other teams progressing to the next phase.

Portugal and Slovenia doubled down on their wins against Switzerland and Italy from three days ago and earned safe passage to the next phase, while Austria also secured their second win against Estonia.

The biggest surprise came as Israel secured the second win against Lithuania, paving their way to a historic 55:49 aggregate win, just 12 months after losing to Lithuania on their run to EHF EURO 2022.