The first two games of the preliminary round has led to ten teams qualifying for the Main round. Six more spots remain to play for in the Saturday matches.
The host nation, Egypt are among the title contenders having beaten Korea (46–27) and Bahrain (36–28) so far. The Main round is also included in the schedule of Japan, France, Norway, Iceland, Slovenia, Hungary, Switzerland, Serbia and Spain, according to the IHF summary.
Three European nations compete in group A, while Sweden currently lead on points but Portugal and Austria can change the standings. Having tied with Saudi Arabia, Brazil face the group leader Iceland. Saudi Arabia has two points and 23 goals to catch up, but Guinea is less of an opposition beforehand.
In group E the same conditions rule. Germany starts their game against Slovenia two points and 30 goals better than Faroe Island, who finish off against Uruguay.
The final competitor for top 16 comes from group H. Tunisia, Czechia (2p) and USA (0p) are all in the mix, on paper Czechia should have an advantage meeting USA in the last round.