By Daily Sports Nigeria on January 27, 2026

igeria’s Green Arrows will face defending champions Egypt in a decisive Group I encounter on Tuesday (today) at the African Men’s Handball Championship, with qualification for the semi-finals and a direct ticket to the 2027 IHF Men’s World Championship at stake, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.

Egypt go into the final round of group matches as leaders after winning both of their games, scoring 83 goals and conceding 56 to sit top with four points and a commanding goal difference of plus 27.

Nigeria are second on two points following one win and one defeat, with a goal difference of minus one, level on points with Angola but ahead on goals scored.

Widely regarded as Africa’s most successful handball nation, Egypt have a storied pedigree at global level, having become the first non-European country to reach the semi-finals of the World Championships and the first African side to reach the last four at the Olympic Games.

Their dominance in the group has underlined their status as favourites to progress.

Nigeria enter the match seeking a response after suffering their first defeat of the championship against Angola.

That 27–24 loss ended an impressive run which had seen the Green Arrows top their preliminary group with wins over Algeria, Zambia and hosts Rwanda, raising hopes of a first semi-final appearance since 1998.

Despite the setback, Nigeria remain in contention, and victory over Egypt would represent a historic result, keeping alive their ambitions of returning to the global stage for the first time since the 1999 IHF Men’s World Championship.

Nigeria’s fate, however, may be partly determined before a ball is thrown in their match, with Angola and Algeria meeting earlier in the day.

Algeria are bottom of the group with no points and a goal difference of minus 16, while Angola sit third after a narrow win over Nigeria and a defeat to Egypt.

If Algeria were to defeat Angola, Nigeria would secure progression automatically before facing Egypt, as Algeria would be unable to overturn Nigeria’s superior goal difference unless they won by an exceptional margin.

A victory for Angola, however, would move them above Nigeria on points, leaving the Green Arrows needing a win against Egypt to finish in the top two.

Failure to end the group in the top two would see Nigeria drop into the fifth to eigth place classification matches, with only the winner of that phase progressing to the World Championship in Germany next year.

Source Punch Ng

Posted January 27, 2026

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