Mathias Gidsel leads Denmark past Croatia for fourth straight title

Early in the second half, Denmark doubled the gap to eight as they threatened to run away with the match. And Gidsel, who would be named MVP for the third consecutive major tournament, made it a 10-goal game with 20 minutes left on the clock.

Croatia fought back valiantly, scoring three times without reply to reduce the deficit to five points (28-23) with just over six minutes remaining. But indisicipline cost them again as Zvonimir Srna received a second yellow card followed by a red card.

Denmark stayed clear and, in a show of respect in the closing seconds, allowed Croatia captain and 2013 IHF Player of the Year Domagoj Duvnjak an open goal to mark his retirement from international handball.

In their first major tournament since the retirement of the great Mikkel Hansen, Denmark showed that they are still very much the team to beat.

Earlier, the bronze-medal match reached a dramatic conclusion as France beat Portugal 35-34 to claim a record-extending 13th World Championships medal.

The teams were locked at 34-34 with 30 seconds to go, but Melvyn Richardson converted a penalty to seal third place for Les Bleus.