Korfball News and Views from AFM Sports

13/08/2026

In any Korfball World Championships the big game is never the final but the clash between Belgium and Taipei and today's World Under 21 championships meeting between the two as usual lived up to expectations. Taipei got off to the best possible start going 2 - 0 up in the first two minutes and from that point on Belgium found themselves chasing the game and after just 12 minutes found themselves trailing 10 - 5 and Taipei went into the half time break leading 11 - 8. With just 4 minutes to go Taipei led 20 - 18 but Belgium's Mathieu Thysman scored with seconds of coming on as a substitute and with just 24 seconds left on the clock Robbe Wouters brought Belgium even at 20 - 20.

That took the game to Golden goal and as Belgium were in possession at the final whistle they would start in attack in extra time and within seconds of the start Lore Wouters snatched the win for Belgium as under the new rule Taipei would not get the chance to attack.

Taipei as ever had relied on the goal scoring power of their female players who scored 16 of the team 20 goals with Pei Yun Wu scoring 9.

As impressive as the venues there have been hardly any spectators in attendance as you could tell from the almost eery silence as Belgium scored their winning goal in extra time.

Belgium now face New Zealand in the semi final and will likely go through to face the Netherlands in the final.

13/08/2026

England's hopes of a medal at the Korfball World Under 21 Championships were dashed as the lost out 15 - 14 to New Zealand in yesterdays group clash. The defeat meant that England would need Germany to beat New Zealand and would then themselves need to beat Germany by a sufficient goal difference to have a chance of progressing to the 3rd/4th play off. But those hopes were ended today as New Zealand convincingly defeated Germany 15 - 11 to secure a place in the semi finals against Belgium. England will now need to defeat Catalonia tomorrow for a chance to reach the 5th/6th place play off.

01/05/2026

The 2026 England Korfball Grand funals will take place again at K2 Crawley on Sunday 17th May 2026.

Tickets are now on sale via the following link: https://buytickets.at/englandkorfball/2179058

But the EKA are now coming under fire from Korfball fans on social media over the price of tickets this year with adult tickets costing £25 (£20 when purchased in advance) Childrens tickets (Under 12s) costing with those under 1 year old admiited free of charge

The semi finals take place this coming Sunday at the Repton Sports center in Derby with Trojans facing Tornadoes for a place in the final while Champions Bec play Bristol Thunder

2026 England Korfball Grand Finals – K2 Crawley, Sun 17 May 2026 - Korfball Grand Finals Day – Sunday, 17th May 2026 The biggest event in the korfball calendar is almost here! Watch the nation’s top korfball teams compete for the 2025/26 championship title in an action-packed day of competitio...

11/03/2026

The korfballshop.us website is now closed but there are plenty of Mikasa K5-IKF Korfballs currently on sale in the US at just $34.95 with shipping available to the US, Canada, the Caribbean and Centrla and South America.

For details contact [email protected]

11/03/2026

The latest IKF rankings

16/02/2026

12/08/2025

The finalists for the 2025 World Games Korfball tournament are now decided and it will be Belgium who will meet the Netherlands in the final.

Belgium simply outclassed their semi final opponents tactically and Taipei not only struggled with the sort of defensive pressure that Belgian were renowned for in years gone by and in attack struggled against Belgium's clever answer to the rebound blocking tactics they have become reliant on while in defence Taipei's one dimensional tactics allowed Belgium to dominate the possession.

Belgium's defensive tactics essentially encouraged the goal scoring females Taipei so relies on into rebound positions far more than they would have liked to and that coupled with the strong pressure brought by the Belgian females had a big impact on Taipei's expected source of goals. And as Taipei's attacking moved closer to and more focused on the post that simply made it easier for Belgium to pressure Taipei's most dangerous female attackers.

In attack Belgium opted on focusing on their fast attacking females and that coupled with tremendous rebounding support from their male counterparts allowed Joke van Maldeghem, who scored 6 and reminded me of a young Ilse Poinart and Lisa Pauwels who scored 5 to for once outscore their female Taipei opponents.

In comparing the spirit of this young Belgian side to that of the legendary 1991 World Championships winning Belgian squad it is worthy of the note that oke van Maldeghem and her sister Lise have been training twice a week with Rudy Ramaekers the legendary Belgian coach who led Belgium to its one and only World Championships win on their technical skills

To win so convincingly against the team that has beaten them on two occasions at the highest level and pushed them so hard in other games will be a big confidence boost for Belgium going into tomorrow's final for sure.

But the big question is whether the Belgians can repeat such a performance in tomorrow's final.

Those who have played at this level will know just much physical energy playing that sort of pressure defence against a team like Taipei demands and a repeat performance against the mighty Dutch demand much more physically, which might be a problem bearing in mind the Netherlands had their usual comfortable semi final win which would have allowed them to rest players for the final if they chose to..

Whilst another huge win for the Netherlands would be a delight for Dutch Korfball it would for many be a disaster for the sport as a whole and it's goal of becoming recognized as an Olympic sport.

If they are to have a chance Belgium would be need to be as tactically asture as they proved in the semi final and will need to give even more of themselves in terms of defensive pressure but if they focus once again on their fast attacking females with their male players providing the level of support they did today, and if Belgium can bring that level of defensive pressure then just like back in 1991 when Belgium won its one and only World Championship final, anything is possible but as was the case back then Belgium sinply cannot fall behind by more than one goal because if they end up chasing the game at any stage they are finished.

The bronze medal play off should prove just as fascinating a game and no doubt Czechia will have watched carefully just how Belgium were so able to dominate Taipei and if they can mimic that Belgium performance and if Taipei are unable to prove more tactically flexible and adaptable then a bronze medal for the Czechs might just be possible.

12/08/2025

Belgium secured their place in the World Games Korfball final defeating Taipei 19 - 13 in a convincing win that will see that meeting the Netherlands tomorrow.

Belgium came out strong from the start and despite missing 2 penalties in the first few minutes were soon 2 - 0 ahead goals from Joke van Maldeghem as Taipei looked to be initially struggling under the Belgian defensive pressure.

For those who have been around in Korfball long enough this might have started to remind them of the Belgian teams of old that were renowned for such defensive pressure and clearly Belgium had studied Taipei’s style in attack which was very much focused on their goalscoring female players supported by their male attacker.

Belgium had no such problem in attack and for one the Belgian attacks were very much focused on their fast attacking females backed up by some strong support from their male teammates.��Taipei’s Kai-Yeh Lo brought the score to 2 - 1 with a medium range shot under pressure but as the speed of the Belgian females continued to cause problems for Taipei Lisa Pauwels drew a penalty and slotted the ball home from the sport to take Belgian into a 3 - 1 lead.

Taipei brought the score back to 3 - 2 minutes later only for Joke van Maldeghem, who was at times was starting to look like a young Ilse Poinart, to take the score to 4 - 2 from a free pass.��The first quarter end with Belgium leading 5 - 4 but despite the closeness of the scoreline Belgium looked in control and Taipei looked rattled from the start having to work far harder just to find a shooting opportunity than was the case for their Belgian opponents.

Taipei were beginning to look somewhat one dimensional in their tactics and when their rebound defensive tactics were clearly not proving effective they couldn’t seem to switch to a more pressurized front defence system. And as Belgium continued find ways to overcome Taipei’s rebound defense the Taipei male attackers started to look a little lost and rather than simply head straight to the rebound at speed they ended up with their goalscoring females spending much of their time under the basket which is exactly what the Belgians wanted.

As the second quarter began Joke van Maldeghem again drove past her defender to extend the lead to 6 - 4 and as long as Taipei had to chase the game Belgium were on track.

As the Belgian attacks focused on their fast female attackers that helped create moments of space for the Belgian males and �Jarre De Ley seized on such an opportunity sinking the ball home from the sidelines and extending the lead to 7 - 4.��As Lisa Pauwels scored from the back court to take the score to 8 - 4 Taipei were looking in trouble and their male attackers struggled to find an answer to the clever Belgian defensive tactics and the teams went into the half time break with the score at 9 - 5 with Belgium restricting Taipei to just one goal in that second quarter managing only 28 shots at goal compared to Belgium’s 60 in the first half.�
Belgium had a very clear tactical plan that was working and the big question now was whether Taipei could adapt to somehow counter that plan.

Taipei made 3 substations for the 3rd quarter and came out strong looking as though the half time break had offered a chance to get over the shock of the first half and Pei-Yun Wu brought the score to 9 - 6 with a running in shot but goals from distance from Lisa Pauwels and Joke van Maldeghem took Belgium into a commanding 11 - 6 lead a goals from Ya-Wen Lin and 2 from Pei-Yun Wu brought the score back to 11 - 9 and some hope to Taipei only for Kian Armorgaste to sink the ball home from distance to end the 3rd quarter with Belgian leading 12 - 9.

Taipei outscored Belgium in the 3rd quarter but with just 10 minutes would find themselves chasing the game.��Yah-Wen Lin opened the 4th quarter making the most of some rare space to score from distance but another sideline shot from Jarre De Ley and substitute Lisa van Gorp extended the Belgian lead to 17 - 12 with just 4 minutes to go.

Yah-Wen Lin scored a consolation free pass but the game was over and as the dejected Taipei defender retreated to the basket no longer offering any form of defense the easiest of goals from Lisa Pauwels and Jordan De Vogelaere ended the game 19 - 13 sending the Belgian squad celebrating.��The other semi final was the expected big win for the Netherlands and the game eventually ended with the Dutch winning 39 - 13, with the Netherlands essentially scoring a Goa every minute. Czechia did their best try to and keep the game as competitive as they could but as the first quarter ended with the Dutch leading 9 - 3 in terms of the result the game was effectively over.��The big question now is whether Belgium can give the Dutch a competitive game in the final and avoid the sort of landslide which as great as it that would be for Dutch Korfball would be a disaster for the sport as a whole in terms of its Olympic ambitions.

10/08/2025

The Czechia v Germany clash certainly lived up to expectations and it was a tight run game throughout with Germany needing to win by 2 goals to have a chance of going through to the semi finals on goal difference.

With just 3 minutes to go Germany led 19 - 17 with a goal from Anna Orth and looked on track to secure that semi final place but seconds later Petr Snajdr put the Czechs back in the driving sinking the ball through the basket from distance.

With just 1 minute on the clock Czechia missed a penalty but seconds later Petr Snajdr brought Czechia even at 19 - 19 again from distance.

The end of the game brought an unusual situation in terms of golden goal as the Czech’s were already celebrating the score meaning they would go through to the semi final and with the golden goal lacking the usual tense excitement Nela Kuba’s media. Distance goal secured the win for Czechia and a semi final place against the mighty Netherlands.

In other day 3 games the Netherlands cruised to a somewhat easy 35 - 9 win over China while Belgium had a tougher game than expected against Suriname eventually winning 15 - 11 although it unlikely the Belgium fielded their strongest line up to rest players to tomorrow’s semi final against Taipei.

Taipei themselves had a tough game against Portugal but their impressive shooting performance, 23 goals from 65 shots, proved the difference with the stage now set for the big semi final clash between Taipei and Belgium set for 7.45pm tomorrow Monday 11th August in a game that could go either way.

10/08/2025

The stage is set for the much anticipated semi final clash between Taipei and Belgium tomorrow in a game that as ever could go either way. Belgium had a tougher than expected day 3 game against Suriname winning 15 - 11, but were likely resting some of the players who will feature in the semi final, while Taipei also had their work cut out on day against Portugal eventually winning 23 - 18 Taipei's impressive shooting accuracy proving the difference between the two.

In the other semi final the Netherlands will meet Czechia, who secured a dramatic win over Germany on day 3, and of course there is no question that the Dutch will reach the final (they have only lost one game at the highest level competition and that was 34 years ago) and the question is will the Czech's be able to keep the game competitive.

Looking at the performances this week it is hard to predict the outcome of the Belgium v Taipei clash but with Taipei losing out 33 - 16 to the Nertherlands in the pool Belgium may well prove best placed to give the Dutch a game in the final should they make it.

Predictions ?