Luanda — Angola finished the African Men's Handball Championship (CAN'2026) in 5th place, after beating Nigeria 25-20 on Friday, and secured a place in the 2027 World Championship.

At halftime, the national team was down by three goals (9-12), in a game marked by balance, and held at the Kigali Pavilion, in Rwanda.

With a more productive second half, the Angolan team tied the game at 16 goals after 42 minutes, and from then on they did not allow themselves to be overtaken, with the scoreboard also registering ties at 17-17 and 18-18 in a space of about 10 minutes.

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Angola overcame Nigeria, which is in sixth place, for the second time in this competition, after having beaten them in the quarterfinals, 27-24.

Filipe Cruz's team thus improves on their eighth-place finish in the previous edition, held in Egypt in 2024.

Even today, Morocco defeated Guinea, 38-37, on penalties, after a 33-goal draw in the 60 regulation minutes, occupying seventh place, while the Guineans were in eighth place.

The CAN ends on Saturday, with the games to define third place, between Cape Verde and Algeria, and the final, Egypt - Tunisia, with the Egyptians being the holders of the trophy.

The top five teams represent the African continent at the World Cup, in January 2027, in Germany, that is, Angola and the four teams that still have one game to play, namely Cape Verde, Algeria, Egypt and Tunisia.

It will be Angola's sixth participation in the men's World Cup, after 2005, in Tunisia, 2007 (Germany), 2017 (France), 2019, in the joint organization between Germany and Denmark, and in 2021 (Egypt). VC/DOJ