The Swedes recorded a huge win to aid their confidence ahead of the match against the co-hosts Hungary in the second round.
GROUP A
Sweden vs North Macedonia 28:18 (15:7)
- nine different players got on the scoresheet for Sweden in the first half, including the goalkeeper, Johanna Bundsen, while only seven Macedonian players netted during the whole match
- with 10 minutes to go the gap between the sides was 16 goals, but Sweden took their foot off the gas, allowing the Macedonians to take an 8:2 run at the end of the game
- Jovana Kiprijanovska, Sara Ristovska, Marija Jankulovska and Iva Mladenovska finished the match as the joint-top scorers for the Macedonians with three goals each to their names
- the young goalkeeper Jovana Micevska displayed a notable performance between the sticks by making 10 saves and preventing her national team from suffering an even bigger defeat
- Nathalie Hagman scored nine goals, ending as the match's top scorer and was selected as Player of the Match, presented by Grundfos
Lionesses' dark period helps Sweden to big win
Kristijan Grchevski’s squad endured a goalless period from the 20th minute until the 38th minute, which enabled Sweden to fully establish their recognisable fast-paced style of play and build on a huge lead.
The Swedish defence also got stronger with every minute played towards the break, while the Macedonian attack simply could not find the key to unlock their potential. Over that period, the fourth-ranked team from the Paris 2024 Olympic Games went on an 11:0 run, which proved crucial in taking a decent advantage and ultimately, set the tone for the rest of the match to go in Sweden's favour.
Of course it’s always fun to score if it’s an opportunity to throw the ball, I will do it, so it’s really fun to score.
We had a good performance at the start of the match, but after that we made a lot of technical mistakes and we missed a lot of clear situations, and that was a result for the final result.
