France remain on course to defend their men's Olympic handball title after overcoming Spain.
Hungary edge out Iceland in a thriller that goes to double overtime
France remain on course to defend their men's Olympic handball title after overcoming Spain 23-22 in a titantic quarter-final tussle.
The match looked set to go to extra time inside the Copper Box until William Accambray scored a spectacular winner in the closing seconds.
Nikola Karabatic's shot was saved by goalkeeper Arpad Sterbik, only for the rebound to go directly back into Accambray's path. He made no mistake with the chance, catching the ball and then throwing it into the bottom left corner.
Defeat was tough on Spain and Sterbik in particular - he had stopped eight of the first nine shots thrown at him, helping his country surge 6-1 ahead.
However, France slowly clawed their way back into the contest and then made their move at the start of the second half, a three-goal run getting them back on level terms.
Spain could have taken the lead going into the final minute but Joan Canellas Reixach hit the post. The near miss allowed France one more attack, with Accambray making no mistake with his opportunity.
Epic
It had been even tougher to split Iceland and Hungary in the opening quarter-final, with the latter eventually going through thanks to an epic double extra-time victory over the Beijing silver medallists.
Iceland - who had progressed through from Group A with a perfect record - were on the verge of going through in normal time, leading 27-26 and having a penalty with just 15 seconds remaining.
Yet Snorri Steinn Gudjonsson missed, allowing Mate Lekai to throw in with three seconds left on the clock and send the game into extra time with the scores locked at 27-27.
The Hungarians will next meet
Sweden who came through a tough tussle of their own, seeing off
Denmark 24-22 in an all-Scandinavian thriller.
A tight contest throughout was effectively decided by Niklas Ekberg's shot into an empty net with just over a minute to play, vreaking open a 22-22 tie.
A pair of strikes from Dalibor Doder and Jonas Kallman helped earn the Swedes - three-time silver medallists at the Olympics - a slender 11-9 half-time lead.
In the final game of the night, Croatia booked a semi-final showdown with France after coming from behind at half-time to beat Tunisia 25-23.
Ivan Cupic starred for the Croatians as he bagged eight goals, while Tunisia were hampered by the loss of key defender Heykel Megannem who was soon a red card after 25 minutes for foul play against Cupic.
