Germany had got off to a good start in the match and were 5-3 up after 11 minutes of play at the Varaždin Arena.

Spain, however, recovered well to take a 14-13 lead into the half-time break at the Croatian venue.

The Spaniards, who won the silver medal two years ago in Poland, then increased the tempo early in the second half and eventually scored eight unanswered goals to lead 23-15 in the 44th minute.

Germany found this gap hard to overcome and even their four goals in the last three minutes of the match were not enough to catch the Spaniards, who ran out 31-27 winners.

Spain’s win means they finish second behind Denmark, who had qualified prior to their match against Macedonia today, where they won 31-20, whilst current champions Germany have been eliminated from the tournament.

The other Group II game saw Czech Republic secure their place in the fifth-place play-off match by drawing against Slovenia 26-26 to finish third.

France took the top spot in Group I by beating hosts Croatia 30-27 at Arena Zagreb.

Nedim Remili was the star of the show for his side with six goals.

This loss for Croatia meant they were narrowly pipped to the second qualification spot by Sweden, who lost to 28-25 to Scandinavian rivals Norway.

However, Sweden's superior head-to-head record against Croatia in the tournament thanks to their 35-31 victory on January 16 means they have reached the semi-finals ahead of them.

The dead-rubber match between the two eliminated sides in Group I, Belarus and Serbia, finished in a 32-27 victory for the former.

France will face Spain in the first semi-final on January 26 whilst Sweden will come up against Denmark in the second.

Today’s action at the Asian Men’s Handball Championship also saw the semi-final line-ups decided with Saudi Arabia set to face Bahrain whilst hosts South Korea will take on defending champions Qatar.

Saudi Arabia gained a first seeding for the semi-final by beating nine-time champions South Korea 26-23 at the Suwon Gymnasium in Suwon, meaning they topped Group One.

Qatar had already won the group before their 34-20 dead rubber against the United Arab Emirates today, meaning the match between Japan and Bahrain was an all-or-nothing game.

The two sides were inseparable in the first half with the scores level at 13-13 at half-time.

However, Bahrain moved through the gears in the second half and eventually came out 29-21 winners, ensuring they qualified.

This relegated Japan to third meaning they will now contest the fifth-place game against Iran, who defeated Oman 40-25.

The last four teams of the African Men’s Handball Championship were also decided at Le Palais des Sports de Libreville in Gabon today.

Hosts Gabon lost their quarter-final to Morocco in heart-breaking circumstances in overtime by a 26-23 scoreline

Morocco will face defending champions Egypt, who beat Congo 37-22 in their quarter-final.

Nine-time champions Tunisia and Angola will meet in the other semi-final after Tunisia recorded a comfortable 38-21 victory over Democratic Republic of Congo whilst Angola, who won bronze at the 2016 tournament in Egypt, came out on top against Algeria in a very close match which ended 29-27.