Are 32 teams at the World Championship and 24 teams at the European Championship too many? Many people think so. But what do the smaller handball nations think? GoHandball has spoken to representatives of nations that are either new (Faroe Islands) or relatively new (USA) at the highest level.
– The attention has made an enormous difference for us, says Mark Lausen-Marcher, the sports director of the Faroe Islands Handball Federation.
The Faroe Islands men’s national team made its championship debut at the 2024 European Championship in Germany, charming large parts of Europe right away. The women’s national team made its debut later in the year at the European Championship, securing some impressive results as well. For the USA, the 2025 World Championship isn’t their first championship, but they are still relatively new at this level, especially when looking at the present.
What do these two nations have in common? Not much. But one thing they share is the fact that they are two smaller handball nations, each with a completely different perspective on the fact that the number of teams at championships has increased in recent years.
– We’ve noticed a significant difference in the money coming in, especially from sponsors. And that’s not surprising – of course, they want to be visible on TV screens across Europe. So, it has become easier for us to secure sponsorships after qualifying for the European Championship, but also to have a better product for the sponsors. For us, making it to the championships has meant everything, both short-term and long-term, says Mark Lausen-Marcher to GoHandball.
– It has also meant that we’ve had more spectators at our matches, both in the domestic leagues and when our national teams play. Looking back seven or eight years, we might have had 700 spectators if Sweden played a match here. Now, I’m sure we’ll have 3,000 spectators when the women’s team plays the World Championship qualifier against Lithuania. And if Sweden comes here, it will be sold out. And then we get more money that we can invest to get better at handball. It’s a positive cycle.
What do you think about having 24 versus 32 teams at the European Championship and World Championship?
– From our perspective as a small nation, it’s a huge opportunity. We would never have made it without the new system. If you look at both the quality of our players and teams, as well as financially, we’ve grown tremendously since we qualified for the championships.
– There is more focus on handball here, from both the media, the public, and sponsors. We’re getting a new arena in March that will seat over 3,000 spectators. For our men’s national team, there weren’t many matches at the European Championship where the difference between teams was huge. But it’s a complex issue. In the women’s European Championship, the differences were bigger, especially perhaps in Sweden’s group. But you probably saw that our team played well against Switzerland and drew against Croatia.
“The Netherlands has grown because they could play in the European Championship”
The sports director believes that the structure of the championships is good right now.
– Looking at the European Championship, it looks good with three initial matches where one of them is guaranteed to be close, like Sweden vs. Hungary, and then in the main round, it’s down to twelve teams. In the European Championship, teams therefore get a maximum of two matches that are uneven.
– And then it’s easy to see countries like the Netherlands and how they’ve grown because they’ve been able to play the European Championship. And I’m not sure, but I think many countries get a lot more money from their government if they play championships. There are many good reasons to have championships with more teams and maybe only one reason not to.
Long-term, it’s good for more nations to play championships. But what about in the short term, when there are too many differences in several matches?
– It’s a balance. But if you look at the men’s European Championship, I think there is quality in all the teams. Sweden and Denmark will probably win 99 out of 100 matches against us, but we will still play well. But when it comes to the women’s European Championship, I think it’s a reasonable discussion because there were more uneven matches there.
– On the other hand, if our women’s team is at the lowest level in the championship, I think that’s okay. We still earned points and played some really good matches.
And indeed, the Faroe Islands has already noticed an increase in the number of young boys and girls wanting to play handball. It’s too early to talk about any effects related to the women’s national team’s good European Championship performance a month ago, but conclusions can be drawn from the men’s successful championship a year ago.
– We’ve seen an increase over the past eight years, both in players and teams. We just set a new record with 98 teams in the U8 age group, and the previous record was 91 teams. So, we’re progressing all the time, and a big part of that is that we’ve played at the championships and been visible there, says Lausen-Marcher.
Hedin has trouble understanding the criticism
One country that is (no surprise) much larger is the USA. But in handball terms, the USA is still a so-called “novice”. Robert Hedin leads the team during the World Championship in January, and he has difficulty understanding the criticism against having more teams at the championships.
– It’s incredibly important to be at the championships; how else would the smaller nations have a chance to catch up? It’s at championships that you learn from playing against the best. We’ve made huge strides in recent years, and that wouldn’t have been possible without playing those matches. I don’t understand the criticism; it must be interesting to see different teams, and since there are so many close matches, you still get the excitement, says Hedin.
In the USA national team, 90% of the players are in European clubs. These are players who have dual citizenship.
– Without the championships, we would never have been able to place players in the types of clubs we have. The players get better in their clubs and then get a great chance to play in the championships. Everyone knows it’s not something that takes three or five years to get to the top; we’re talking maybe 20-30 years to build everything. For the USA, it’s about making the most of the time after the LA Olympics in a better way than they did after the 1996 Olympics.
Have you noticed any difference in how much money is being invested in handball in the country after qualifying for championships?
– Yes, we’re getting more money. This year, we managed to sell all the advertising on the jerseys. Without the championships, we couldn’t have sold ad surfaces on the jerseys. That’s why it’s so important to play in the World Championship.
How do you weigh the short-term, i.e., close matches at championships, against the long-term, which is the development of more nations in the sport?
– I think it’s an impossible task to make every match close. But in the long run, the level rises with more teams, but you have to give it time. It’s not even guaranteed that the matches will be close when the best teams play – just look at the Olympic final between Denmark and Germany, which Denmark won by 13 goals.
– Handball is better then and not when the USA loses by 15, but if you’re interested in handball, it’s interesting to follow the development of the teams. I mean, we have some players who have skills in their game that some players in better teams don’t have. We have players with incredible explosiveness, and that’s exciting to watch. When there are uneven matches, you can still find other things to focus on, says Robert Hedin.