The World Championship is here, and just as sure as Andreas Palicka will make spectacular saves or Mathias Gidsel will score a lot of goals, there will be uneven matches in the group stage. And with that come critical voices about too many weak nations participating in the tournaments. GoHandball has taken a look in the rearview mirror – how have the major nations fluctuated between different levels over the years?
Every championship in recent years has seen the same thing happen: larger handball nations like Denmark, Sweden, Norway, France, and Spain run over smaller handball nations like Uruguay, Turkey, North Macedonia, and Slovakia, winning by large margins, often around 20 goals. This is followed by critical voices against the International Handball Federation (IHF) and the European Handball Federation (EHF) decisions to increase the number of participating teams in the championships.
But how did we get here? How did the World Championship end up with 32 teams and the European Championship with 24? The first World Championship for men was held in Germany in 1938 with only four teams (due to the war, it wasn’t until 1954 that the second World Championship was held, in Sweden, with six participating nations). The first Women’s World Championship took place in 1957 in the former Yugoslavia, with nine nations participating. What about the European Championship? The first European Championship was held in 1994, for both men and women.
In 2021, the number of teams at the World Championship increased from 24 to 32. For the European Championship, the increase from 16 to 24 teams occurred in 2020 on the men’s side, and in 2024, it was the women’s turn to debut with 24 teams.
Interesting results in B- and C-World Championships in recent history
All handball nations have started somewhere, and it’s easy to forget that some of today’s top nations played in B- and C-World Championships not so long ago. Here are some examples from the B- and C-World Championships of some of the strongest handball nations today:
B-World Championship Men 1992
- Norway
- Austria
- Iceland
- Switzerland
- Denmark
- Netherlands
- Poland
- Egypt
B-World Championship Men 1989
- Iceland
- Poland
- Romania
- Spain
- France
- Switzerland
- Denmark
- West Germany
- Netherlands
- Norway
B-World Championship Women 1992
- Hungary
- Czechoslovakia
- Sweden
- Lithuania
- Spain
- Bulgaria
- Netherlands
- France
C-World Championship Women 1988
- Sweden
- France
- Spain
- Netherlands
The Major Handball Nations
If we look at the five men’s nations that have been the best in recent years, they are Denmark, France, Sweden, Spain, and Germany. On the women’s side, Norway, Denmark, and France have mainly dominated.
Denmark
- First World Championship: 1938 (finished 4th).
- First World Championship Medal: 1967 (silver).
- First World Championship Gold: 2019.
- First European Championship: 1994 (finished 4th).
- First European Championship Medal: 2002 (bronze).
- First European Championship Gold: 2008.
France
- First World Championship: 1954 (finished 6th).
- First World Championship Medal: 1993 (silver).
- First World Championship Gold: 2015.
- First European Championship: 1994 (finished 6th).
- First European Championship Medal: 2006 (gold).
- First European Championship Gold: 2006.
Sweden
- First World Championship: 1938 (bronze).
- First World Championship Medal: 1938 (bronze).
- First World Championship Gold: 1954.
- First European Championship: 1994 (gold).
- First European Championship Medal: 1994 (gold).
- First European Championship Gold: 1994 (gold).
Spain
- First World Championship: 1958 (finished 12th).
- First World Championship Medal: 2005 (gold).
- First World Championship Gold: 2005.
- First European Championship: 1994 (5th).
- First European Championship Medal: 1996 (silver).
- First European Championship Gold: 2018.
Germany
- First World Championship: 1938 (gold).
- First World Championship Medal: 1938 (gold).
- First World Championship Gold: 1938.
- First European Championship: 1994 (9th).
- First European Championship Medal: 1998 (bronze).
- First European Championship Gold: 2004.
How It Looks on the Women’s Side
Especially three nations have been dominant on the women’s side in the last 20 years.
Norway
- First World Championship: 1971 (7th).
- First World Championship Medal: 1986 (bronze).
- First World Championship Gold: 1999.
- First European Championship: 1994 (bronze).
- First European Championship Medal: 1994 (bronze).
- First European Championship Gold: 1998.
Denmark
- First World Championship: 1957 (5th).
- First World Championship Medal: 1962 (silver).
- First World Championship Gold: 1997.
- First European Championship: 1994 (gold).
- First European Championship Medal: 1994 (gold).
- First European Championship Gold: 1994 (gold).
France
- First World Championship: 1986 (finished 15th).
- First World Championship Medal: 1999 (silver).
- First World Championship Gold: 2003.
- First European Championship: 2000 (5th).
- First European Championship Medal: 2002 (bronze).
- First European Championship Gold: 2018.