A further eleven nations secured themselves a place on the World Cup participation list. Iceland and Portugal ran though as expected but Spain survived a scare towards and Italy concluded a two-part surprise.
More than two and a half decades ago Italy blossomed quickly with two championships in a row. Much more experienced North Macedonia couldn’t stop the return to the international scene.
Umberto Bronzo and Simone Mengan joined forces with eight goals each and Italy took control of the away game with the confidence from their six goals leading margin.
Iceland shone against Estonia, while Austria, Czech Republic, Poland and Portugal had no problems regarding the total standing.
There were much tighter affairs, including Spain’s narrow pass with 54–53 versus Serbia. Dejan Milosavljev was tough to beat and stopped many attempts as Serbia lead overall but the final minutes turned to Spain’s advantage with Daniel Dujshebaev and Ferran Sole in focus.
Netherlands was pushed by Greece but saved some power for a comeback on home ground. North Macedonia overturned a seven goal-deficit with 34–26 when Zharko Peshevski proved unstoppable with pivot attempts. The hopes of a first world cup for Faroe Islands was crushed and North Macedonia can prepare for their eight straight tournament.
World Cup play-off
Austria–Georgia 37–31 (21–17)
Austria advance with 64–56
Estonia–Iceland 24–37 (13–18)
Iceland advance with 87–49
Netherlands–Greece 31–25 (16–10)
Netherlands advance with 58–56
Switzerland–Slovenia 33–34 (12–14)
Slovenia advance after penalties, 60–60 on aggregate
Czech Republic–Romania 29–20 (15–9)
Czech Republic advance with 59–51
Bosnia&Hercegovina–Portugal 26–26 (13–17)
Portugal advance with 55-45
Serbia–Spain 25–22 (15–11)
Spain advance with 54–53
Hungary–Lithuania 36–23 (17–10)
Hungary advance with 69–49
Montenegro–Italy 32–34 (13–17)
Italy advance with 66–58
Slovakia–Poland 25–33 (12–15)
Poland advance with 61–54
North Macedonia–Faroe Islands 34–26 (19–15)
North Macedonia advance with 61–60