The Argentine handball team defeated Brazil 26-25 to become champions of the South-Central Championship. This victory also secured their qualification for the 2027 World Cup, which will be held in Germany. The exciting match was very close throughout and was decided by a goal from the 'Gladiators' with just over 10 seconds left on the clock. Brazil started the match better, quickly taking a 5-2 lead and maintaining that difference for much of the first half, while Argentina suffered from a lack of efficiency, especially when they had a penalty. However, the 'Gladiators' had a deadly scoring streak that allowed them to turn the game around and go to halftime with a 14-12 lead. At the start of the second half, it seemed the balance would finally tip in Argentina's favor, as they managed to take a good 19-15 lead. But from there on, it was a nightmare for the 'Gladiators', who started to miss very clear opportunities against a strong reaction from the Cariocas. Finally, after some very final minutes where the lead passed from one team to the other, Argentina managed to win thanks to a goal with just over 10 seconds left on the whistle. This goal was key, as in case of a draw, Brazil would have been champion for having a better goal difference. In their previous appearances, the Argentine team, coached by Rodolfo Jung, crushed Peru and Paraguay with convincing scores of 49-17 and 45-15 respectively, while then easily defeating Uruguay (35-18) and Chile (37-23). Brazil, for its part, began its competition with solid victories against Paraguay (40-18), Uruguay (33-25) and Chile (34-21), before going on to defeat Peru with an impressive 66-14. This was Argentina's second title in the South-Central Championship after the one won in 2020, which was the first edition. The following ones, in 2022 and 2024, had been won by Brazil. After the match, Nicolás Bono, who was the great Argentine figure in the final, highlighted that 'we played a very good final, especially on defense', and stressed that 'the whole team was very good'.
