Criticism of more teams in Championships: “Exclusivity is lost”

Tonight, the 2025 World Championship begins. But is there too many teams participating? The criticism in recent years regarding the increase in the number of participating teams has been significant in some quarters. Two of the critics are Swedish coaches Per Johansson and Andreas Stockenberg.
– I understand that handball should develop, but the exclusivity is lost with so many teams, says Johansson to GoHandball.

It was for the 2021 World Championship that the number of teams was expanded from 24 to 32. The Men’s European Championship increased from 16 to 24 teams in 2020, and the same increase was made for the Women’s European Championship in 2024. As the number of participating nations has increased, the number of matches where one team wins by large margins has also risen. In the Women’s European Championship a month ago, Sweden won by 28 goals against Turkey, Norway won by 23 goals against Slovakia, and the Netherlands won by 20 goals against Ukraine.

One of the critics of the big federations’ decision to expand the number of teams is Per Johansson, who has been the head coach for Sweden, Montenegro, and the Netherlands.

– I think there are better conditions for having more teams on the men’s side than on the women’s side. But I’m afraid that the exclusivity of participating in the European Championship or World Championship disappears when there are too many teams. There’s no excitement about who will qualify and who will be eliminated. Then it becomes too much of a commercial product, and does it get any better then, asks Per Johansson.

– I think it’s better to have a B-World Championship, where the teams can compete at the same level. Then I understand that handball should develop, but the exclusivity is lost with so many teams. What should the World Championship stand for? Should it be a true World Championship or should everyone be allowed to participate? That is also a way to protect the development of handball.

Where do you think the limit should be? How many teams should participate in the European and World Championships?

– I think around 20 teams for the women and maybe 24 for the men. But when we are up to 32, it’s a lot of teams. And it doesn’t have to be the same number for men and women.

There were some, but perhaps not to the extent many feared before the championship, large winning margins during the Women’s European Championship in December. Turkey, Slovakia, and Ukraine were the weakest nations at that time.

– I think the next step is the problem, the teams that come after Turkey, Slovakia, and Ukraine. There’s perhaps a quality barrier there. Turkey can have a good game and lose by eight, but the countries behind them will never lose by just eight.

Stockenberg Wants Even Fewer Teams Than Johansson

Another person who has been critical is Andreas Stockenberg. The Swedish coach has his own opinion on why he wants fewer teams in championships:

– As a handball lover, it’s fun with more matches, but at the same time, I believe that in championships, the best referees should officiate, the best players should play, and the best coaches should coach. That doesn’t happen when there are so many teams, instead, it’s two or three matches for the top nations that are basically meaningless, says Stockenberg.

– There’s a lot of talk about protecting our players, who already have many matches, but instead, they play these kinds of games where the risk of injury increases. I only see disadvantages with that.

“Stocken” takes it a step further than Per Johansson in terms of the number of teams in the European and World Championships.

– For a European Championship, I think 16 teams is reasonable. And maybe around 20 teams for the World Championship. That would still maintain the quality of the championships.

Balancing Short-Term vs. Long-Term

GoHandball then asked both coaches how to balance the short-term vs. long-term perspective. How much negativity do uneven matches risk spreading compared to the positive aspects of long-term development? It’s not an entirely straightforward question.

– I think you primarily have to analyze what happens with the countries that participate in the World Championship year after year. What does their development look like? The handball family may need to get better at helping to create interest, competence, talent development, etc. I believe much more in that work than in just throwing those nations into a World Championship, says Per Johansson.

– Who cares after the World Championship? Who takes responsibility after the World Championship and follows up? If a team loses by 20-30 goals every time, what do we do to try to help them improve next time? I don’t have any insight into that, but I think that work is lacking. I think there needs to be a massive effort in the daily work. Then, it can’t just be even matches in the championships, but there must be minimum requirements for how large the gap can be. But that work shouldn’t happen during the World Championship, it should happen on all the other days.

Stockenberg adds:

– If handball is to become an even bigger sport, it’s not 50-13 matches people want to see, but rather tough matches. That’s how handball can gain traction, for example, in the USA. Then there’s politics in it, everyone knows that the twelve extra countries are there so Hassan can get his votes.