Cape Verde vs Iceland Prediction & Betting Tips - Handball World Championship

Prediction published on 17/01/2023, 06:53  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 17/01/2023 at 08:59 in Handball World Championship Predictions

The main round of the 2023 Men's World Handball Championships begins on Wednesday. In Group II, Iceland take on Cape Verde with both teams looking to close the gap on the top two. Teams carry through to the main round points earned against fellow qualifiers. That's left Iceland on two points and Cape Verde without any. At the start of this group (from which the top two go into the quarter finals), Iceland are third just behind Portugal (also on two points), while Cape Verde are bottom of the group. The other countries in this group are Sweden (top on four points) and also on two points, Hungary and Brazil. Iceland qualified from Group D of the preliminary round with two wins over Portugal and South Korea but losing to Hungary. This is the third world championships in a row in which Iceland have reached the main round. They'll hope to finish higher than the 20th place they ended up in two years ago. After this match they play Sweden and Brazil, having already played Hungary. 

Cape Verde are in the main round of the Men's World Handball championship for the first time. It's only the second time they've qualified for the finals. In 2021, they finished in bottom place overall but had a good excuse for that. Most of their matches were awarded to the opposition as a COVID-19 outbreak left them unable to field a team. There have been no such problems this time around and they qualified from Group C. Cape Verde beat Uruguay in their opening match but then lost to Sweden and Brazil. With Uruguay finishing bottom of the group, no points have been carried forward to this main round. After this match, they take on Portugal and Hungary and look likely to finish bottom of the group. Back Iceland to win this on a -6 goals handicap.