Cancellations make room for two legends: One is called the Swiss Army Knife, the other still holds a World Cup record

Ffootball has for many years had an unfulfilled dream of making a name for itself in the United States, and the large American market not only gets wet eyes at the Fifa headquarters in Zurich, but also 87 kilometers west of Basel, where the International Handball Federation, IHF, holds to.

To boost the Americans’ knowledge of handball and prepare the way for Team USA at the Olympic Games at home in Los Angeles in 2028, IHF President Hassan Moustafa issued a World Cup wildcard to the great power, which in terms of handball is a developing country.

Reality caught up with the American World Cup experiment, because a violent outbreak of corona in the US camp, which included the two young Danes with American passports Jakob Rysgaard Christiansen and Nicolai Weber, provoked a cancellation.

So the American dream is once again put on hold until the next opportunity to promote the sport in the big country emerges. An uncontrollable corona infection in the Czech camp has also meant cancellations from the former world champions, and these cancellations have given way in the final round in Egypt to northern Macedonia and Switzerland.

In terms of level, Northern Macedonia must be considered on a par with the Czech Republic, and although Switzerland is now participating in the World Cup for the first time since 1995, Norway, Austria and France must prepare for more qualified resistance than they would have received from the US.