The Men’s World Championship 2025 is getting closer and in a series of articles Ola Selby, reporter at GoHandball, picks his 5 best players at each position. First out: The goalkeepers.
Here are the players:
Emil Nielsen, Denmark
Probably the best goalkeeper in the world right now and has been for a while. Now Nielsen will be the main goalkeeper “for real” in Denmark for the first time. Nielsen rarely has a bad game, and he could be the difference for a Denmark side that is looking to bring home another gold medal.
Andreas Palicka, Sweden
Yes, Palicka is still world-class, and perhaps especially in the national team, even though his autumn season at PSG has been really good. Has the ability to elevate himself when he plays for Sweden and also has immense respect from opponents, which should not be underestimated.
Andreas Wolff, Germany
Wolff was a big reason why Germany made it all the way to the Olympic final this summer. The big bad wolf was unbelievably good in several matches, and especially in the right situations. The autumn in Kiel has been up and down, largely because the defense has not been good enough, but most of the time, Wolff has been one of the team’s best players.
Gonzalo Perez de Vargas, Spain
Perez de Vargas is (is he?) still Spain’s best goalkeeper, even though it’s a tight race between him and Rodrigo Corrales and Sergey Hernandez. He’s been among the world’s top for many years now, and even though he may not be as insanely good as he was four or five years ago, he’s still one of the best.
Sergey Hernendez, Spain
Here, I could have placed Kevin Möller. Or maybe Rodrigo Corrales. The choice fell on Hernandez, who has been brilliant during the season. The fact is that Hernandez has saved his Magdeburg from defeat several times. Maybe he will be the third goalkeeper during the World Championship, but in my opinion, he should be at least second choice in the Spanish team, even if Corrales is pretty good, too.