Iran's beach handball team finishes ninth at World Championship with win over France

Tehran - BORNA - Iran's national beach handball team faced France today at 12:30 PM in their last match of the 2026 World Championship in Croatia and emerged victorious.

Iran's beach handball players won the first period 24-21, but the second period ended 23-15 in favor of France, forcing the match into a shootout. The shootout went back and forth until Iran's players managed to win 7-6, securing a 2-1 victory overall.

In the group stage, Iran defeated the United States but lost to Spain and Portugal, advancing to the second round. In the second round, Ghasghaei's squad lost to Denmark and Hungary but beat Tunisia, losing their chance to reach the top eight. They then went on to defeat Puerto Rico, Tunisia, and France, securing the best result among second-place teams and finishing ninth.

The Iranian squad consisted of Amin Kazemi, Fahim Arabzadeh, Matin Goldan, Ali Heydarian, Arad Hosseini, Hossein Heydarian, Parsa Dehghani, Ali Pirzadeh Ahvazi, Mehdi Heydarianpour, and Alireza Alipour. The coaching staff included Mehdi Ghasghaeirad as head coach, Seyed Hassan Eftekhari as technical director, Gholamhossein Nikoui as team manager, and Mohammad Mahmoudiani as physiotherapist.

End Article