Spain toil to Iceland win in handball worlds start

European powerhouses Spain recovered from a slow start to their world championships to defeat a game but limited Iceland 27-21 on Thursday.

Also in Group B, Slovenia -- expected to be Spain's biggest threat in the group -- saw off Angola 42-25 and Macedonia scraped past Tunisia 34-30.

If Spain, fresh off the back of a hugely disappointing 2016, hoped to make a statement of intent to the rest of the teams in France they had a funny way of showing it against the minnows in Metz.

Iceland goalkeeper Bjorgvin Gustavsson was Spain's tormentor in chief, saving three penalties in the first period, before Spain roared back to claim a badly needed win.

France opened the defence of their world crown with a crushing 31-16 win over Brazil on Wednesday in Paris in Group A.

In the same pool on Thursday, Russia beat Japan 39-29 and Norway just prevailed 22-20 over Poland.