It was the last group match of the President's Cup and both teams, who were tied on two points, hoped to win it.
North Macedonia, the only European team at the consolation competition, had a big advantage against Morocco and finished second in Group II following a victory.
President's Cup Group II
North Macedonia vs Morocco 40:25 (18:12)
North Macedonia and Tunisia, who claimed their first victories at Poland/Sweden 2023 in their opening matches at the President's Cup, will face off on Saturday. The winner of their clash will have a good chance to finish first in Group II.
The other encounter will be a North African derby, as the geographic neighbours Algeria and Morocco, who have lost all their games at the championship so far, will try to end their negative runs.
North Macedonia, who became the only European team to proceed to the President’s Cup, started the consolation tournament with their biggest-ever victory at the World Championship. The team coached by the legendary Kiril Lazarov proved too strong for Algeria, winning by 15 goals.
President’s Cup Group II
Algeria vs North Macedonia 25:40 (11:19)
Kiril Lazarov’s North Macedonia led for just 96 seconds against Argentina in this do-or-die clash to decide the third and final side through from preliminary group F into the main round of the 2023 IHF Men’s World Championship.
The Europeans knew that only a win would do, but they faced a Diego Simonet-led South American side who were inspired to their biggest-ever victory in an IHF Men’s World Championship against European opposition, winning by nine goals (35:26). He later called the match “our World Championship final”.