On the final day of the stage group in the men’s 2022 IBSA Goalball European – Division B Championship, there was thrill, drama, suspense, and a lot of good goalball. Portugal and Poland had completed the math, and group A’s leadership was at stake.The host national team needed to win by seven goals, which it did during the second half, but blew the opportunity due to its own mistakes, confirming the victory (14-8). Finland took advantage of it by one goal because that was the criteria to separate teams in a round robin with the same number of points.

In group B, Great Britain guaranteed the first place with two wins, against Greece and Israel, both by… one goal difference!

Bulgaria and Sweden received bad news when they finished last in their groups, A and B respectively, relegating them to European Division C.

Now, the road to the finals is open. This Friday, it will take place at the Centro de Desportos e Congressos of Matosinhos the quarter finals and semi finals of the competition.

Check the results, standings and the schedule:

Men
Results (17/11) and standings
Group A
Bulgaria vs Finland: 6-16
Poland vs Denmark: 11-10
Poland vs Portugal: 8-14

1st Finland 9P 4G 3W 1L 40GS-31GA
2nd Portugal 9P 4G 3W 1L 39GS-31GA
3rd Poland 6P 4G 2W 2L 42GS-38GA
4th Denmark 3P 4G 1W 3L 34GS-37GA
5th Bulgaria 3P 4G 1W 3L 33GS-51GA

Group B
Sweden vs Israel: 3-13
Greece vs Great Britain: 8-9
Spain vs Sweden: 13-8
Great Britain vs Israel: 7-6

1st Great Britain 10P 4G 3W 1D 31GS-24GA
2nd Greece 9P 4G-3W-1L 43GS-25GA
3rd Israel 6P 4G 2W 2L 40GS-27GA
4th Spain 4P 4G 1W 1D 2L 30GM-38GS
5th Sweden 0P 4G 4L 19GM-49GS

Schedule (18/11): “Quarters” and “Semi’s” (CET)
10am – Finland vs Spain (W1)
11.15am – Greece vs Poland (W2)
12.30pm – Great Britain vs Denmark (W3)
13.45pm – Portugal-Israel (W4)
16.15pm – W1 vs W2
17.30pm – V3-V4

In the women’s tournament, Finland, Ukraine, Greece, and Hungary are taking the lead, but the round robin isn’t over yet. This Friday are the last three matches to close the standings, but none of them, despite any possible result, can change the current position of the four national teams. Finland will not play in the morning, and it doesn’t need to know the result of the match between Ukraine and Hungary. They are already in first place and will play the semi final according to that status.

Check the results and schedule for Friday:

Women
Results (17/11)
Hungary vs Portugal: 1-3
Spain vs Finland: 1-10
Greece vs Ukraine: 4-3
Finland vs Portugal: 9-2
Italy vs Ukraine: 1-7
Hungary vs Greece: 2-9

Standings
1st Finland 15P 6G 5W 1L 52GS-14GA
2nd Ukraine 12P 5G 4W 1L 36GS-11GA
3rd Grécia 12P 5G 4W 1L 39GS-22GA
4th Hungary 9P 5G 3W 2L 17GS-24GA
5th Portugal 3P 5G 1W 4L 26GS-41GA
6th Spain 3P 5G 1W 4L 18GS-42GA
7th Italy 0P 5G 5L 13GS-47GA

Schedule (18/11)
10am – Italy vs Spain
11.10am – Ukraine vs Hungary
12.20pm – Greece vs Portugal
2.40pm – SF 2nd vs 3rd
3.50pm – SF 1st vs 4th