With the first victory against Russia in eight games at major competitions the team also made Slovenian handball history, as this is the first time Slovenia will be among the top four teams in a world championship.

Slovenia were down 4:9 by the 15th minute as Russia played an aggressive game, but made it 11:11 by the 22nd minute to enter the half time with a 14:13 lead.

In the second half the teams were neck-and-neck, but gained the upper hand after two Russians were sent off with red cards twenty minutes from time.

"We were not stellar...but we're a better team than Russia. We'd beat them tomorrow and the day after tomorrow," Slovenia coach Boris Denić said after the game.

He said the game was more akin to boxing than handball. "They wanted to beat us up and we thank the referees for protecting the players and the sport," he added.

Slovenia has beaten Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Poland, Belarus and Serbia in the group stage of the championship and a win against Egypt secured it a slot in the quarter finals, and will take on Spain in their semifinals game.