Host nation CRO defeated outgoing champion ESP 10-7 in the gold-medal match in front of an adoring crowd. SRB beat USA 13-11 in penalty shootout after the scores were locked at 9-9 for the bronze medal.
Final Placings
1. CRO
2. ESP
3. SRB
4. USA
5. RUS
6. BRA
7. ITA
8. EGY
9. HUN
10. GRE
11. MLT
12. TUR
13. GER
14. AUS
15. NZL
16. ROU
17. MNE
18. SGP
19. NED
20. GEO
21. CAN
22. POL
23. KAZ
24. PER
25. UKR
26. CHN
27. ISR
28. SLO
29. POR
30. RSA
31. CZE
32. ZIM
33. MEX
34. MAS
35. PUR
36. URU
Awards
Most Valuable Player
Deni Sappe (CRO)
Best Goalkeeper
Alistair Sterrett (USA)
Highest Goal-Scorer
Ryan Chua (SGP) — 31
Media All Star Team
Goalkeeper
Alistair Sterrett (USA)
Centre Forward
Taylor Grayson (USA)
Field Players
Ryan Chua (SGP)
Ante Domazet (CRO)
Adri Lopez (ESP)
Uros Munchan (SRB)
Deni Sappe (CRO)
Overview
The reign of ESP is finished as the host nation came good in front of a packed house, breaking a 6-6 deadlock at the last break by finishing with a withering 4-1 final six minutes. It was the second loss for ESP, having gone down 9-8 to GRE on day two. For CRO it was an unbeaten run with just the one speed bump, that being the 12-11 win over SRB. For CRO it was a big step up after seventh placings at the past two editions.
In the bronze-medal match, SRB turned at 5-3 while USA won the second half 6-4. SRB needed to equalise at 1:12 to force the shootout. SRB was eighth in 2024 and third in 2022. USA was fifth in 2024 and ninth in 2022. In a strange twist, these two nations met in the final of the world U18 championships in Portugal last month and CRO took the crown 21-20 after a penalty shootout. Aden Shin, a scorer today, was a member of that U18 team.
It was a day full of close action and not unexpected results.
Match Reports
Classification 1-2
Match 126. CRO 10 ESP 7 (1-1, 3-3, 2-2, 4-1)
CRO pleased more than 1000 local fans to grab its first U16 world crown in a spectacular finale to a wonderful tournament that featured 126 matches. Ante Domazet (CRO) opened the scoring on penalty for his 11th penalty strike and 22nd goal. Adri Lopez (ESP) gained a short pass to the right-post position on extra for the second goal, nine seconds from the first break. Duje Srzic made it 2-1 for CRO from top left at 5:22 in the second period. Lopez converted extra from top right for his 18th strike. Petar Loncaric scored from the left-hand-catch position for 3-2 at 3:09. Johnny Shinske responded from the top. He scored again at 1:27 to give ESP the 4-3 advantage, rifling the ball in off the right upright from top left. Andrija Bujas converted extra off a cross pass to the left post for 4-4 at 0:16.
Samu Diaz started the second half on extra from top left for his 14th goal and 5-4 to ESP. Domazet put away a penalty goal for his 12th from the stripe to equalise at 5-5. Cesc Aguirre converted extra from the top while CRO was distracted by the coach’s antics on the side of the pool. The 6-6 equaliser came through Patrik Kundid at 1:03 from top left. Despite plenty of chance, the next goal did not come until 3:24 in the final period to Lopez on a massive counter for his 19th goal. Srzic replied on extra at 3:12 from the top on extra. Domazet scored the go-ahead goal at 2:06 from bottom left after a sharp pass for his 24th. ESP had a short saved by Luko Vezilic on his 16th birthday and a turnover, sending CRO’s Deni Sappe on a clear counter to taunt and beat the goalkeeper for 9-7 at 0:50. ESP called a timeout, gained an exclusion and Shinske’s shot was saved by Vezilic. The ball slowly made its way upfield and Kundid took the final shot to score for 10-7 with nine seconds left on the clock. A final ESP lob went over the cage. CRO was world champion.
Match Heroes
Domazet scored three from four to lead his team and claim player-of-the-match accolades. Vezilic made five saves, all in the second half. For ESP, Lopez was best with three goals.
Stats Don’t Lie
CRO made three from eight and ESP four from 10 on extra. CRO nailed two penalty goals; won the steals eight to six and the overall shooting at 45.5 to 36.8 — 22-19.
Classification 3-4
Match 125. SRB 13 USA 11 (2-0, 3-3, 2-3, 2-3)
SRB needed a penalty shootout to shake off the resilient and equally powerful USA combination. USA hit the right post on the first penalty attempt. Left-hander Andrija Cubrilovic gave SRB the opener from the right on deflection at 3:57. Uros Muncan made it 2-0 at 0:37 on penalty — his seventh from the line and 24th overall. The powerful Grayson Taylor turned to score near the left post to get USA on the board. SRB captain Munchan scored his 25th goal from the left-post position on a cross-pass on extra. Marko Abadzic made it 4-1 on a cross pass to the left post. Taylor addressed the imbalance on extra, with an air ball at two metres for 4-2. Dusan Samardzic countered for 5-2 at 1:30 with USA captain Aden Shin — an U18 world silver medallist — converting a penalty foul for his fourth penalty and 22nd of the week for 5-3 before the long break.
Petar Frenc pushed it out to 6-3 at the start of the third quarter with a bouncer from the right wing. Coleman converted extra to narrow it to 6-4 from the left-post position. Maksim Kreckovic had his penalty shot swatted away by USA goalkeeper Alistair Sterrett. Channing Wigo — son of four-time Olympian Wolf Wigo —sent in an extra-man goal from very deep left with a bounce for 6-4. Taylor equalised at 1:17 from the top left. Cubrilovic gave SRB the edge off his left hand for the 7-6 lead at the last break. Taylor broke free at two metres to accept the cross pass for 7-7 early in the final period. Cubrilovic again spoilt USA’s party with a shot from the top right. Taylor responded with a flip over his head as the goalkeeper came out for 8-8 at 3:55. Coleman drove down the right to take the first lead for USA at 3:01. Cubrilovic scored from his favourite position for 9-9 at 1:12. USA took a timeout at 0:25 and the resulting shot from Shin hit the crossbar, and the rebound shot hit the goalkeeper, sending the match to penalties.
In the shootout, both teams missed their second shots, both scored their third shots; USA missed its fourth and Blagoje Lale scored the fourth SRB shot for victory.
Match Heroes
Cubrilovic was SRB’s best with four goals to finish the week with 13. Taylor made five goals for 15 in total and goalkeeper Sterrett proved why he is the best in Zagreb with seven saves.
Stats Don’t Lie
SRB made one from two on extra and stopped three from six. On penalties, both missed one of two chances. On steals, USA made three to two. On overall shots, SRB lost to USA 39.1 to 42.9 but had two more shots.
Classification 11-12
121. MLT 8 TUR 6 (2-2, 1-2, 4-1, 1-1)
MLT made a huge step up from 17th in 2024 and TUR did much better than 17th. Kemalcan Onur opened on extra with Giulio Massa equalising. There was a swap at the end of the period and Onur pushed TUR ahead on counter at 1:54 in the second period. Jake Simpson was in a trade with Cevdet Terliksiz, which left TUR 4-3 ahead at halftime. Luca Schiavone and Nathan Spiteri scored in quick succession to wrest the lead from TUR. Benjamin Lewis and Cagan Kir, with his 16th strike for TUR, swapped goals with Simpson, taking it to 7-5 on extra. By the end of the third period. Massa and Efe Ilik, for his 15th, took it to 8-6 by 1:10, the final score.
Match Heroes
Simpson (17 goals), Massa and Schiavone scored twice each for MLT while Onur was the only double scorer for TUR.
Stats Don’t Lie
MLT converted four from five on extra and TUR two from four. MLT scored the only penalty goal; won the steals five to one and the shots 33.3 to 218.6 per cent.
Classification 13-14
Match 120. GER 10 AUS 5 (1-0, 3-2, 2-0, 4-3)
GER was 12th last time and 13th this time while AUS slipped four positions on 2024. It was GER all the way with stronger centre-forward play and bigger men shooting harder outside and more often. The towering Basil Blanc began proceedings at 1:40 in the first quarter after a series of blocks and misses. Blanc calmly received and turned at centre forward with four Aussies surrounding him, to score the only goal of the period. Nico Khokhobashvili shot cross cage from the left wing at 4:36 in the second period for 2-0. Aussie Jack Putter had his penalty attempt saved and it was not until 3:11 that the first AUS goal came via the athletic Nate Kell at centre forward for his seventh tournament strike. Blanc intercepted a lazy back pass to the goalkeeper and put on an aerial display for his second and 3-1 at 2:40. Thomas Gamble turned a ball into goal from the right-post position on extra for 3-2 at 1:21.With the clock ticking to halftime, Georg Metzler accepted a pass from the corner to the point position and scored on the buzzer for 4-2 heading into the long break. Blanc started the second half, accepting an air ball at centre, turning and scoring for 5-2. A series of counters reaped nothing except GER received a penalty shot, which was smacked back to halfway by goalkeeper Jacob Hebden. Metzler converted the easiest of extra goals from right catch at 1:47 for 6-2. An Aussie timeout failed to get a goal but did earn a penalty foul, with Phoenix Irvine finding the right post and not being able to secure the ball before the last break. Blanc opened the final quarter, kicking clear of his defender to accept a cross pass at centre forward to drag down the ball into goal for 7-2 at 4:58 for his 13th in Zagreb. GER gained a penalty shot on counter and Khokhobashvili converted for 8-2. Irvine responded into the top left from left-hand catch but with only 3:36 on the clock, GER was in the box seat. Jonas Seidel drilled one from top left for his 20th and Reef Potter replied at 1:22 for 9-4, dragging down a cross pass at centre forward. Blanc drew a penalty foul and Philipp Matziou converted for 10-4 for his first goal just before the last minute of his tournament. GER called a timeout at 0:43 and the subsequent shot hit the upright. AUS secured a counter goal to Luka Trbojevic Cabrera with eight seconds remaining.
Match Heroes
Blanc was the real star of the match with four goals (13 in total) while goalkeeper Karlo Thiele grabbed eight saves. For the Aussies, the goalkeepers made seven saves between them.
Stats Don’t Lie
Both teams converted two from three of extra; GER made one from two on penalty and AUS missed both chances; GER took the steals 6-5 and the overall shots 47.6 to 27.8.
Classification 15-16
Match 119. NZL 12 ROU 10 (3-3, 2-2, 5-2, 2-3)
NZL finished in 15th spot with its fourth victory, a big jump for 22nd position two years ago. It did not contest 2022 because of Covid-19 travel restrictions. Romania was 13th last time out and it was the third loss to an Oceanian team, losing twice to AUS, including in a shootout on day six. NZL opened on extra from deep left; countered for the second before ROU hit back on penalty. Milan Flore scored from top left for 2-2. Goals were traded inside the final minute for 3-3. David Filipoiu, with a centre-forward backhand for his 12th in all, and Luca Mayall driving in from the left to accept a cross pass from the right for 4-4. Calen Borcea elected to shoot at the end of possession and scored from the top. Mayall responded at 2:47 on his penalty rebound for 5-5 for the halftime score. Kenrich Shek on penalty and Isaac Cornford from deep right through two defenders took it to 7-5 favouring the Kiwis. Filipoiu from centre forward, weaving around the goalie, and Eddie Perry with a bouncer from top right made the score 8-6 at 3:05. Oliver McGuinness on counter and Borcea on penalty into the bottom left, exchanged goals by 1:11. Mayall finished the period at 10-7 from top left down the line with four seconds left on the clock. Vlad Nistor grabbed a second penalty goal and Bogdan-Andrei Nica converted extra from the top left at 2:09 for the equaliser at 12. Mayall struck from top left immediately after the ball arrived in his right hand for 11-10 at 1:41. Perry lobbed from top right at 0:34 for 12-10, sealing the match. ROU hit the crossbar from point blank, NZL took a timeout and controlled the ball for the last 22 seconds.
Match Heroes
Mayall shot four from eight for a team-high 19 and seven others made the sheet. ROU Captain Nistor made a hat-trick (9) and goalkeeper Ilie Maximciuc made it hard for the Kiwis, stopping 11 shots.
Stats Don’t Lie
NZL shot one from five on extra and stopped both ROU chances. NZL missed one of two on penalty and ROU made sure of all four attempts. NZL took the steals at two-one and was well down on the shooting percentage at 41.4 to 58.8. It was just that NZL shot 29 times to 17.
Classification 27-28
Match 112. SLO 6 ISR 17 (1-3, 2-3, 1-5, 2-6)
ISR made it a romp over SLO, going from 6-3 at the halftime break and flourishing to an 11-goal margin, as the quarters show. However, it was slump from 18th in 2024 but a slight bump up for SLO from 29th. That momentum was worthy of a good finish and a third win with some close losses. Yali Winberg (ISR) and Bine Stromajer started with a trade and Michael Ben Eliahou gave ISR the edge by 3:46. Yoav Berger helped the ISR case along with a third goal late in the period. Stromajer and Marko Marinic destroyed ISR’s lead but two Kfir Shusterman goals had ISR back in front. Ben Eliahou converted a penalty to close the half at 6-3. Bor Skrlj pulled one back for SLO but a five-goal romp had ISR firmly in the driver’s seat at 11-4 heading into the last six minutes. An early trade was followed by a mid-quarter swap with Stromajer in both. Winberg scored a triple and a late score on extra gave ISR the huge winning margin.
Match Heroes
Captain Winberg scored five, doubling his tally, and nine more made the sheet for ISR and the goalkeepers combined for seven saves. Stromajer was SLO’s best with four goals taking him to a team-high 22.
Stats Don’t Lie
ISR converted five from seven on extra and stopped five from seven. ISR missed one of three penalty shots; lost the steals three to two but had a healthy 60-20 per cent shooting average, despite shooting two less at 30-28.
Classification 29-30
Match 111. POR 8 RSA 7 (1-2, 2-2, 3-2, 2-1)
POR slipped home against RSA and took 29th position, six down on its previous effort in 2022. RSA was 20th in 2022 and 24th two years ago. Morgan Erasmus opened the scoring for RSA with consecutive penalty goals. Miguel Santos responded seven seconds from the first break on extra. Chris Davidson scored the third penalty goal and Paulo Pinto replied on penalty, as well. Tomas Tejo converted extra for the equaliser at 2:12. Erasmus scored a third penalty goal for him for the halftime lead. Santos scored in front of goal for 4-4 and a trade between Davidson on penalty and Hugo Martin from outside had the score at five apiece at the four-minute mark. Santos was the next penalty scorer and Lincoln Burger levelled the score at centre forward ahead of the final break. Two POR goals changed the face of the match before Davidson converted extra at 1:59, still one behind. POR had a timeout; missed a penalty attempt; the RSA head coach saw yellow and an RSA timeout had the subsequent shot miss eight seconds from the final buzzer. POR took a timeout to make sure to hold on the ball for the last six seconds, which it successfully did.
Match Heroes
POR’s Santos nabbed three goals for a team-high 20 and five others scored one each. RSA’s Erasmus scored a hat-trick for 11 and the goalkeepers snared 10 saves.
Stats Don’t Lie
POR netted two from four on extra and stopped five of six. On penalties, RSA was perfect with five and POR missed one of three. POR won the steals 12-nine and the shooting lost the shooting percentage 34.8 to 36.8, however, it shot 23 to 19.
Classification 31-32
Match 110. ZIM 7 CZE 8 (1-2, 3-0, 2-1, 1-5)
CZE was 30th last time and ZIM 32nd, so not much change there. Lukas Zachoval converted extra to start the match at 4:21 and at 2:58 he added a second. Logan Lumsden replied at 1:13. Nathaniel Jerahuni scored from in front for 2-2 at 5:12 in the second period. He added another on extra at 1:47 while Rio Gray made it 4-2 for ZIM by the halftime hooter. Matyas Rehak scored for 4-3 just inside the last two minutes of the third period and Cameron Cooper had ZIM at 5-3 at 1:01. Jerahuni soared the scored to 6-3 with a long-range shot 10 seconds from the final break. The match was in the bag for ZIM, or was it? Rehak converted extra and Cooper replied with an outside shot for 7-4. Rehak scored on extra; ZIM called a timeout and lost the ball to Rehak who went on counter to score for 7-6. CZE took a timeout, gained an exclusion, hit the post on the shot, regained and Zachoval converted extra for 7-7 at 1:27. He went on counter 21 seconds later for 8-7 and despite a ZIM timeout and another for CZE in the last five seconds, no further goals came and CZE had stolen an unexpected victory when needed most.
Match Heroes
Rehak and Zachoval (team-high 12) scored four each and the CZE goalkeepers combined for 10 saves. Jerahuni was ZIM’s best with a hat-trick, doubling his score in Zagreb.
Stats Don’t Lie
CZE made four from eight on extra and blocked five from six. CZE missed the only penalty chance; won the steals 12-10 and shot at 36.4 to 29.2.
Classification Round 33-36
Match 118. MEX 18 PUR 9 (5-3, 4-0, 4-3, 5-3)
MEX went on the rampage to finish top of the group and go home in 33rd place. Two years ago, it was 31 in a 32-team competition. PUR is new to this level, so would have enjoyed the experience. The withering burst came after a close first period, which blew out to 9-3 at halftime. The rage, from both teams, continued in the second half. Jose Dominguez began all scoring and Lexiel Morales responded for PUR. Carlos Nunez converted a penalty goal to start his incredible run. Gonzalo Rodriguez and Pablo Miguel traded followed by another swap and Rodriguez finished the period at deep left-hand catch for 5-3 at the first break. MEX kept PUR scoreless in the second quarter and Nunez struck on penalty and a counter on extra as the score surged to 9-3 by the long break. Nunez opened the third on extra and penalty for 11-3 and Morales struck back on extra from the outside left-post position after a timeout for 11-4. Nunez cross-caged from top left, then on counter for 13-4 before Yanmanuel Diaz converted extra for PUR with a left-armed lob. Carlos Roca took it to 13-6 from deep right much to his extreme delight — it was his second goal of the week. Matiaz Ramirez and Nunez, both on counter, sandwiched a Diaz six-metre shot for 15-7. Goals were swapped with Nunez grabbing his 25th of the tournament; Dominguez shot from top left and again on extra for 18-8 at 0:42 on a timeout play from the same position and his ninth. Diaz closed all shooting at 0:12 on extra from the right wing at 18-9.
Match Heroes
Nunez scored a tournament-high nine goals from 12 attempts for a team-high 25 and Dominguez followed up with five for MEX. Diaz snared three for PUR (10 for the week) and goalkeeper Elian Quiles-Melendez pulled in seven balls.
Stats Don’t Lie
MEX converted seven from 11 on extra and PUR four from seven. MEX made three from four on penalty; won the steals four to one and the shooting at 58.1 to 50 per cent on 31-18 shots.
Match 109. MAS 11 URU 10 (3-4, 2-3, 2-3, 4-0)
These two teams are new to this level, so will take home plenty of experience and stories and hopefully we will not have seen the last of these athletes. URU made the play with the first and soon after with a trade making it 4-1. Two MAS goals in the last minute narrowed the score to 4-3. Diego Odella, who scored the fourth goal, opened the second period on penalty. Cheok Low, who scored an earlier penalty goal, struck from outside for 5-4. Leon Varela replied with consecutive centre shots. Samuel Eng scored from centre at 0:46 for a 7-5 deficit. It was not until 2:10 in the third period that Low scored from outside and Manuel Wins gained his second on penalty for 8-6. A quick swap had it at 9-7 and Thiago del Rio converted extra for 10-7 at the last break. The positive energy in the URU team dissipated after the break as Tajesh Thanabalan from the top; Eng and Low on counter; and Low on extra catapulted the score to 11-10 in MAS’s favour. MAS had three more shots and URU two with no change to the scoreboard.
Match Heroes
Low threw five goals to top score his team with 12 and the goalkeepers saved eight between them for MAS. URU’s Varela made a hat-trick to best his team with 12 goals.
Stats Don’t Lie
MAS hit two from six on extra and URU three from five. MAS struck once on penalty and URU two from four. On steals, MAS was best at eight-seven and shots favoured URU 45.5-42.3 per cent. MAS shot 26 to 22.
Final Points
33. MEX 9
34. MAS 6
35. PUR 3
36. URU 0