Sweden, competing in Group II, sealed a last eight place after overcoming Iceland 35-30 at the Scandinavium Arena in Gothenburg.

In front of a passionate home crowd Sweden produced an impressive defensive display, with their replacement keeper Andreas Palicka named player of the match.

Bjarki Mar Elisson was Sweden’s top scorer, netting eight times from ten attempts, with the victory securing the Swedes a place in the next phase.

Portugal are in pole position to earn second place in the group, following a convincing 35-23 victory over Cape Verde.

The first half saw both sides start slowly, with Portugal taking a two-goal lead into the break before they pulled away later on in the contest.

Portugal tripled their score during a 20-minute period in the second half compared to their opponents, with Antonio Areia impressing as he scored nine goals from ten attempts.

Elsewhere in the group Hungary kept themselves in contention to qualify after dramatically overcoming Brazil 28-25.

Hungary started strongly although Brazil kept in touch with their opponents and took advantage of three missed shots by the Hungarians to reduce the gap to 25-24.

Mikler Roland made a crucial save for Hungary and in the end Brazil ran out of time to overhaul their opponents.

In Group I, played at the Tauron Arena in Krakow, Spain secured a fifth straight win at the tournament as they defeated Slovenia 31-26.

The score was level at 15-15 at the break, before Spain’s keeper Gonzalo Perez de Vargas impressed, frustrating Slovenia in one-on-one situations and helping his side open up a cushion.

Jure Dolenec was the top scorer for Spain with seven goals from nine attempts as they ran out five-goal winners.

France also secured a fifth straight win to seal a quarter-final place, comfortably defeating Iran 41-29 to progress.

The Olympic champions were prolific in attack with the goals shared around, and Nicolas Tournat and Thibaud Briet both netted six times as they completed their qualification.

Only pride was at stake in the other match in the group, with Poland running out 27-20 winners against Montenegro, helped by a player of the match display from Polish keeper Mateusz Kornicki.

Main round action is scheduled to continue tomorrow, with action in groups III and IV.