A mold for the continuous casting of metal includes a pouring portion with cooled long side walls and short side walls, wherein the pouring portion becomes narrower in the shape of a funnel in the casting direction until it reaches the size of the cast strand. In the funnel portion, the inner contours of the long side walls have in the casting direction from the top toward the bottom at least two points which have the property that they determine a straight line along which the inner contours of the long side walls are formed with at least one concave section and with at least one convex section in any selected sequence.