Two youth tournaments threw off on Wednesday and goalkeepers have been at the centre of both. Most of this week's material comes from Romania, where the group stage of the Women's Youth World Championship finished at the weekend. There's also something sitting in the official statistics table that every keeper should learn to spot.

Keeper of the week: Xiaoyan Wang

China went to Pitești on Saturday, played the hosts in front of a Romanian crowd, and won 31:24.

The first half was almost entirely Xiaoyan Wang's doing. Twelve saves before the break at 55%, Romania's shooting efficiency down to 41%, China 17:10 up at the interval. The IHF's own report says Romania missed "a plethora of one-on-one chances, with Wang running riot between the posts". She took Player of the Match, and the IHF called it probably China's most important win at this level.

Now the part worth carrying home. Across all three of her group games, Wang has 29 saves from 75 shots. That's 38.6%. One half at 55% and a tournament at 38.6%, same keeper, same week. That gap is normal. Judge yourself over a season, not over an afternoon.

Two goalkeepers, one win: France 29:27 Croatia

France's last group game was decided at both ends by keepers.

Nayla Pennavayre made 10 saves at 45% in the first half and France still went in 11:14 down, because the attack in front of her kept giving the ball away. Croatia's comeback had started with Vanessa Babić, whose run of saves turned straight into French turnovers.

France came out after the break with a 5:0 run, and late in the game a string of saves from Clémentine Berthelot opened the four-goal gap that settled it. Berthelot took Player of the Match.

Two keepers, one game, and it was the second one's saves that settled it. If you're a number two reading this, that's your job description in a sentence.

Croatia's Kristina Goričanec finished on 30% after a much stronger second half, but Croatia drop into the President's Cup and their lowest finish at this tournament.

Elsewhere in the group stage

• Denmark 23:21 Czechia. Tereza Skopcová almost kept Czechia in front on her own, eight saves at 42% by half-time. Denmark's answer came from their own goal. Thilde Ladegaard Skov started saving after the restart, and four stops in the closing minutes shut the door. Denmark top the group, Czechia go to the President's Cup.

• Montenegro 31:28 Portugal. Maša Dubljević made 14 saves, having also made 14 on the opening day, and the IHF's report picks out how often she turned them straight into fast breaks. That contribution never shows up in a save percentage.

• Slovakia 32:30 Japan. Anežka Stránska made the early saves that gave Slovakia a 2:0 start. Ema Augustinová replaced her and kept saving through a second half that stayed within two goals almost to the end.

• Hungary 35:29 Sweden. Hungary's keepers did not make a single save until the 25th minute and Hungary were winning anyway, which tells you how much the rest of the team was doing. Once Vivien Tábit stopped a couple, the gap went out to five by half-time and Sweden never got it back.

• Denmark 47:10 Mexico. Both Danish keepers finished above 60%.

A word about that "top goalkeeper" table

The IHF publishes a Top Goalkeeper ranking for the tournament, sorted by save percentage. As of this morning it is led by Danique Glorie of the Netherlands at 57.1%. She has faced 14 shots in three matches.

Her own teammate, Camay Berkhout, has faced 105 shots, made 39 saves, and sits 17th on 37.1%.

Glorie has saved what came at her, and that is all any keeper can do. The problem is the table. It has no minimum number of shots, so a keeper who has faced a handful can finish above one who has played every minute against the best attacks in the draw. Read the "shots faced" column before you read the ranking, whether it's a World Championship or your own league's website.

By volume, the busiest keepers of the group stage: Berkhout 39 saves from 105 shots, Stránska 32 from 69, Skopcová 31 from 72, Egypt's Jaydaa Salama 31 from 84, and Wang 29 from 75.

Belgrade: the boys' EURO

The M18 EHF EURO started on the same day, 24 teams across three halls in Belgrade. Germany opened with 48:26 against Italy and then drew 27:27 with hosts Serbia. Iceland and Denmark both won their first two by a distance. Slovenia came back from 22:15 down against North Macedonia to win 33:30.

The EHF has not published goalkeeper statistics for this tournament yet, so there is nothing here worth quoting. When they do, we'll have it.

Transfers and injuries: a quiet week

Nothing new and goalkeeper-specific was confirmed this week. The last two keeper moves properly announced are still Torbjørn Bergerud to Fredericia and Miljan Vujović to Orlen Wisła Płock, both from earlier in July. No goalkeeper injuries were reported in any source we checked.

This week

Both tournaments run to Sunday 9 August. Romania's main round and President's Cup started on Sunday; Belgrade's main round follows. The all-star teams, and the best goalkeeper award at each tournament, come at the end.

Sources

• IHF — China shock Romania with huge win; Switzerland and Slovenia seal last main round tickets (1 August 2026)

• IHF — France clinch main round berth; Spain, Slovakia and Hungary go three for three (1 August 2026)

• IHF — Netherlands cruise to main round, Slovenia and Republic of Korea play the waiting game (1 August 2026)

• IHF — Montenegro, China, Denmark and Switzerland edge closer to main round at Romania 2026 (30 July 2026)

• IHF — Top Goalkeeper statistics (checked 3 August 2026)

• Handball Planet — U18 EHF EURO 2026: Five teams at TOP 12 after Round 2 (31 July 2026)

• Handball Planet — U18 EHF EURO 2026: Germany score 48, Slovenian comeback after -7 (30 July 2026)