The chance to carry two points into the main round was on the line as the two nations went head-to-head two years after their bronzemedal meeting at the last World Cup in 2023.
Spain went into the clash handicapped by the absence of their two right wingers, Kauldi Odriozola and Aleix Gomez which soon became evident as Sweden opened up a 9-4 lead also thanks to superb goalkeeping by Andreas Palicka, who had a 31% saving efficiency at the end of the first half.
The Spanish coach Jordi Ribera then attempted to change his defensive approach, from a classic 6-0 to a more aggressive 5-1 but Sweden kept their control of the match and headed for the interval with a lead of 16-11.
After the break a lack of diversity in attack was to cost Sweden dearly as Spain clearly had more energy towards the end having rotated a greater number of players during the game than the Swedes.
With less than 60 seconds on the clock, Sweden took a 29-28 lead thanks to a penalty conversion by Niklas Ekberg but they failed to hang on as Alex Dujshebaev equalised with seven seconds left on the clock with a fortunate shot which hit both posts before beating Andreas Palicka..
Both teams now go into the main round with three points, one point shy of Portugal.
For the first time in eight appearances at the Handball World Cup, Chile clinched a main round berth through an impressive 31-26 win against Japan while Cape Verde with a population less than 500.00 inhabitants are also through to the main round for only the second time in history by defeating Cuba 38-28.
Finally Iceland thanks to a fine goalkeeper performance from Viktor Hallgrimsson cruised to a five-goal win against Slovenia (23-18) to seal first place in Group G and carry two points into the main round.