The main round began on Wednesday evening. Then the advance favorites went out and showed the class right away. Among the demonstrations of strength, France’s overrun against Austria stood out – but also Norway’s pulverization of Angola, where Nora Mørk also scored her first goals in the tournament.
On Wednesday afternoon, the long-awaited main round began. Slovenia were pitted against South Korea in a must-win match to keep any real chance of promotion alive.
Then the Slovenians got out and impressed in the first half, which meant that they had a 19-14 lead before the second act. After that, they watched their lead and Ana Gros was rested, among other things, during the second act. Despite this, they were able to hold off and win 31-27, which put pressure on France and Norway ahead of their matches later in the evening.
French force notification
But France, who mixed and gave in the opening group stage, showed that they have warmed up properly. Austria became a real mouthful for Olivier Krumbholz’s team. The half-time score of 25-14 spoke volumes and the game was basically decided right there. In the second half, the lead was extended and the final score was a comfortable 41–27.
Next, the other group favorite, Norway, entered the main round. After a tentative start to the match, Norway pulled away and with the score 20-9 at the break, the match was of course decided. Afterwards, the Norwegians took the opportunity to play out the register in front of the audience in Trondheim. The final score was 37-19, but perhaps most importantly Nora Mørk scored her first three goals in this World Cup.
Spain shaken
In the fourth group, the Czech Republic did the job against Ukraine. Spain then struggled more than expected against Argentina, but after a spurt midway through the second half, they were able to hold on and take a big step towards a place in the quarter-finals.
In the late game, the Netherlands also showed where the cupboard should stand by going out and scoring 18-12 in the first half against Brazil. The second half then became mostly of academic importance where Per Johansson’s team was able to hold off and win 35–27 and thus continue to have a hold on a quarter-final place.
World Cup December 6:
South Korea–Slovenia 27–31 (14–19)
Ukraine–Czech Republic 23–30 (11–15)
France–Austria 41–27 (25–14)
Spain–Argentina 30–23 (12–13)
Netherlands–Brazil 35–27 (18–12)
Norway–Angola 37–19 (20–9)