Handball-Norway, France, Netherlands and Russia make semis

Fourth-ranked Norway, who are seeking a third successive gold, hammered rivals Sweden 33-20, as Russia dumped out Angola with a 31-27 victory on Tuesday.

France narrowly edged out Spain, who won bronze in the 2012 London Games, in a 27-26 overtime thriller, while the Netherlands stunned hosts Brazil 32-23.

Norway showed exactly why they are two-time defending gold medallists as a combination of brilliant attack and defence saw them lead by four goals within the first eight minutes against Sweden.

Having limited Sweden to just seven goals in the first half, Norway held a comfortable 12 goal lead heading into halftime. Norway goalkeeper Kari Aalvik Grimsbo was in top form as she saved a remarkable 18 of the 32 shots she faced.

Sweden were made to pay for their poor offensive showing, with 16 turnovers, as Heidi Loke, Veronica Kristiansen, Camilla Herem and Nora Mork caused serious damage to a leaky defence, with the quartet scoring 20 goals.

Russia, who won silver in Athens eight years ago, were unexpectedly pushed by minnows Angola, who went toe-to-toe with them in the first 20 minutes of the game.

However, Russia showed their quality in the last 10 minutes of the first half as they blitzed their way to a four-goal lead.

Natalia Maria Bernardo, who finished with eight goals, led Angola's inspired second half performance. But Russia held strong as Polina Kuznetsova finished as their top scorer with five goals.

France were run ragged in the first half by an impressive Spanish defence, limiting the French to just five goals as Spain took a strong-hold of the quarter-final match with a seven goal cushion heading into halftime.

However, a fired-up France side plundered in 18 goals in the second half to force the match into overtime. Spain almost forced another period of overtime as Nerea Pena's shot bounced off the inside of the post with six seconds left as France clinched the thrilling encounter.

Netherlands, the lowest ranked side to make the final-four, just about took a one goal lead into the halftime against hosts Brazil, who looked set to plot a comeback.

However, a mix of Brazil's poor handling, with 15 turnovers, and attacking spearhead Estavana Polman in phenomenal form, scoring seven goals, saw Netherlands unexpectedly set up a semi-final clash with France.