Hassan Safar, the goalkeeper of Kuwait, makes a save.

ZAGREB, Jan 5: Kuwait will play its second friendly match today during its current training camp in Croatia, taking on Slovenia. The team opened the series with a 32-25 victory over Algeria two days ago, leading 17-15 at halftime.

Following the Slovenia match, Kuwait will face Kosovo on January 9 and Georgia on January 10, before the delegation returns home on January 11.

The European training camp is part of Kuwait’s preparation for the 22nd Asian Men’s Handball Championship, which also serves as the 2027 World Cup qualifiers in Germany. The tournament will be held at the Sheikh Saad Al-Abdullah Sports Complex Hall in Kuwait from January 15 to 29. Kuwait has been drawn into Group C alongside the UAE, Hong Kong, and India. The other groups are:

Group A: Oman, Qatar, South Korea

Group B: Bahrain, Jordan, China, Iraq

Group D: Japan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Australia

Kuwait began its Asian Championship preparations at the Islamic Solidarity Games in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, last November, followed by a domestic training camp. The team then held a Cairo camp, where it played two friendly matches against Egypt, before traveling to Slovenia and Croatia for the current European training session.

By Khaled Al-Enezi

Al-Seyassah/Arab Times Staff