And it's over! Romania lose 33-35 after extra time! An amazing match! Congratulations to Norway for making it to the final! Romania will play for third place against Poland on Sunday.

Last minute: 33-34 for Norway!

Norway take a 2-goal lead. It's 31-29 for Norway after the first 5 minutes of overtime. Romania are a player down.

And the match will be decided after extra time, just like Romania's match against Denmark!

A little over one minute to go! Romania call a timeout! It's 27-27 and Romania are in the offense.

Another 2-minute suspension against Romania! Norway miss a penalty! Romania make it 27-27.

The Norwegians take back the lead, but the Romanians keep close. It's neck to neck in the last 5 minutes!

Romania score despite being outnumbered on the court! 24-23. A Norwegian is also suspended, but they level the score 24-24.

Romania break to a 2-goal lead: 23-21. Norway make it 23-23. An another 2-minute suspension against Romania.

Now, Romania are a player down, and Norway score their first goal after 9 minutes: 21-21.

ROMANIA TAKE THE LEAD 21-20!!! Norway call a timeout!

Amazing comeback for Romania, as they level the score 20-20, after a penalty shot, and they have an extra player for 2 minutes.

Almost 4 goalless minutes as the two teams play more defensive. Then Romania score two in a row narrowing the gap to 19-20.

Another miss for Romania is quickly speculated by the Norwegians, who distance themselves to three goals again: 17-20.

Romania score the first goal in the second half, reducing the gap to 2-goals, 15-17, and the Norwegians have a player off for 2 minutes. The Romanians take advantage of their first power play of the match and make it 16-17.

First half ends with Norway in front by three goals. It's been an intensive match so far, both teams focusing on the offensive. The 30 goals scored are proof of that. Unfortunately for the Romanians, they couldn't keep up the good pace in the first 15 minutes, when they went head to head with the European champions. They made several mistakes on the counter-attack phase and allowed the Nordics to score three goals in a row. They will have to work a lot for the comeback.

The Norwegians keep the 4-goal lead 17-13. Romania have their second 2-minute suspension but manage to score: 17-14. This is the half-time score. Norway miss a penalty in the last seconds.

It's 13-10 for Norway, then 15-11. It's going to be hard to steal the advantage back from them.

The two teams go head to head to 9-9 and then Norway manages to take a 2-goal lead, 11-9. Then they make it 12-10. And it's the first time out of the match, called by the Nordics.

Romania take the lead again 6-5 after a penalty shot, but Norway keep close and make it 6-6. Then it's 7-6 for Romania, and again 7-7.

Romania started the match confidently and scored the first goal. They also had a 2-1 lead, but then Norway took the initiative and got in front 4-2 scoring three goals in a row. Romania then made a comeback and made it 5-5. An intense start.

Romania’s national women’s handball team will play against Norway in the World Championship semifinals on Friday evening.

Romania will have to beat the odds to make it to the final as Norway is favorite to win. The two teams also played in the tournament’s group stage, on December 10. Norway won that match 26 to 22. Norway also won seven of their previous ten matches against Romania.

Norway finished second in the group, after Russia, while Romania was only fourth, after losing three of their five matches.

Both teams have been playing better and better after the group stage. Romania managed to beat reigning champions Brazil in the first knock-out match, 25 to 22. Then, they pulled off a dramatic victory against hosts Denmark, 31 to 30 after overtime.

Norway beat Germany 28 to 22, and then defeated Montenegro 26 to 25.

Norway is one of the top women’s handball teams in Europe. They have won the last two Olympics (2008 and 2012), two World Championships (1999 and 2011), and six European Championships (1998, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, and 2014).

Romania, on the other hand, has won three World Championships, but all of them in the 1950s and 1960s. More recently, Romania won a silver medal at the World Championship in Russia, in 2005, and a bronze medal at the European Championship in Denmark/Norway, in 2010.

The Nordic team is thus considered favorite to win the match by all online bookmakers, with average odds of 1.26. Meanwhile, Romania’s victory could bring 5 times the money to those who bet on it.

Romania’s hopes will be pinned on star Cristina Neagu, one of the world's best players, whose great form has been decisive in the last two matches against Brazil and Denmark. However, Norway will probably give it their best to stop Neagu and break Romania’s winning streak.

The match starts at 21:45 (Bucharest’s hour) and can be watched live for free on Telekom Romania's dolce-sport.ro platform.

In the other semifinal, Poland, the surprise winners against Russia, will face the Netherlands.

editor@romania-insider.com