Croatia Win Silver Medal at 2018 World Beach Handball Championships

Croatia wins silver in Kazan (Photo: Beach Handball Croatia)

Croatia is the world beach handball runners-up.

Croatia has won the silver medal after being beaten by Brazil in the final of the 2018 IHF Beach Handball World Championships on Sunday in Kazan, Russia.

After eight wins in a row at the tournament, Croatia, who were the reigning world champions, met four-time world champions Brazil in the final. The final was a repeat of the 2016 final which Croatia won.

This time it would be Brazil who would take the honours to win their 5th title with a close-fought 2-0 win.

(Photo: Beach Handball Croatia)

Croatia advanced to final after beating Uruguay, Argentina and Iran in the opening group stages, then Hungary, Spain and Vietnam in the second round before beating Denmark in the quarterfinal and Hungary again in the semi-final.

Croatia beats Hungary (Photo: Beach Handball Croatia)

The IHF Beach Handball World Championships was established in 2004, taking place every two years. The current tournament format involved 16 teams initially competing in four groups of four teams.

(Photo: Beach Handball Croatia)

Teams who took part this year in the World Championships were Russia, Croatia, Qatar, Oman, Iran, Vietnam, Spain, Hungary, Sweden, Australia, Argentina, Brazil, United States, Uruguay, Denmark and New Zealand.