World champion Denmark started the Handball World Championships in Poland and Sweden with an unchallenged victory.
At the start of Group H, the Scandinavians won 43:28 (22:15) against outsiders Belgium.
Meanwhile, Croatia clearly lost against African champions Egypt by 22:31 (12:16).
Denmark, world champions in 2019 and 2021 and top favorites again this year, did not let anything burn in Malmö from the start.
Superstar Mikkel Hansen was the most successful thrower with ten goals in eleven attempts - Pierre Brixhe scored five times for the overwhelmed Belgians.
For handball nation Croatia, on the other hand, the World Cup started with a bitter disappointment.
The team around the former world handball player Domagoj Duvnjak from THW Kiel was surprisingly clearly beaten by strong Egyptians.
Two-time World Cup runners-up Norway around Kiel star Sander Sagosen achieved an unchallenged 39:27 (18:11) win against North Macedonia.
In the duel between the German preliminary round opponents, Serbia beat Algeria 36:27 (16:13).
After a balanced first half, the favored Serbs turned up the heat in the second half and clinched a sovereign victory.
The DHB selection, which won its opening game against Qatar hours earlier 31:27, meets Serbia in the key game on Sunday (6 p.m., in the FAZ live ticker for the handball world championship and on ARD) and on Tuesday against outsiders Algeria (6 p.m.). , in the FAZ live ticker for the Handball World Cup and on ZDF).