2021 World Men's Handball Championship
For the third time in the history of this competition, the World Championships are held in Africa and the second the host will be - Egypt. The 27th edition of the biggest tournament in handball will be bigger than ever, considering there will be 32 participating teams in the finals. With the pandemic dictating the scheduling and some important decisions had to be made. That’s why the qualification for the tournament looked somewhat different than before. The European qualifications took the hardest hit and got canceled, and the final ranking of the 2020 Euro’s determined who qualified.
Handball is, and always was, a sport dominated by the European nations. That’s why this competition could be more interesting and exciting than ever before. Since the teams haven’t played together for a long time, some upsets, downfalls, and upswings are surely on the cards.
Format
The new format will see 32 teams split into eight groups of four teams each. From there the top three teams from each group will progress to the main round. The teams ranked last in their preliminary round groups play the so-called President's Cup to determine their rankings. The 24 main round teams will be divided into four groups of six teams each. From there on the top-two teams from each group will advance to the quarterfinals and decide the champion.
Favorites
Bookmakers give somewhat different odds for teams, but it’s still possible to extrapolate the top 5 favorites for the bragging rights. The biggest favorite is DENMARK. Denmark is the defending champion but has been shockingly eliminated in the first round of the recent 2020 Euro’s. Obviously that result is not acceptable when you have the quality, history and the expectations of success like the Danish have. You can’t expect anything less than a gold medal from the team that has: Mikkel Hansen, Niklas Landin, Rasmus Schmidt, Lasse Anderson, and many other world-class players on the roster.
SPAIN is the next in line to crown themselves as the Champions of the world. Realistically, how wouldn’t they be? Spain won the last two editions of the Euro’s and are looking to continue their amazing medal-winning form in Egypt 2021. Keep in mind the last time out on the World Championship stage they have been underwhelming. Finished in 7th, a very low-down place for their standards. The senator of this squad Raul Entrerrios is looking to lead his country to another great achievement - similar to one in the 2020 Euro's. Of course, he will not be alone in the quest with Alex Dujshebaev, Joan Canellas, Julen Aguinagalde, and Ferran Sole among many others standing right by his side.
The team that won a medal on 11 times out of 14 possible World Championship tournaments deserves respect and admiration. Needless to say, that kind of success also gives an added weight of expectations. Naturally, the position of the French national handball team has always been that way. FRANCE did not win a competition since 2017, although this doesn’t seem like a long time, for this team, it’s a lifetime. The golden generation that ruled the world for decades is now coming to a close with some of the old guard still holding onto their place in the team. Players like Luc Abalo, Nikola Karabatić, Michael Guigou, and Cedric Sorhaindo are leading the way accompanied by some fresh blood of world-class players that will dominate the handballing world in the future. Dika Mem, Romain Lagarde, Ludovic Fabregas, and Nedim Remili are looking to make their names stand out in one of the biggest teams in all sporting history, not just handball.
One of the most amazing success stories in handball is the work of the Norweigan Handball Federation. NORWAY did not qualify for the Olympics since 1972, and until 2017 has never won a medal in the big tournaments. While this year, they are considered to be one of the favorites for the gold medal. In the midst of this story is their national head coach Christian Berge. He won three medals and played two finals on the last four major competitions and established Norway as a true force. In 2021 they are looking to build on their success and finally call themselves the Champions. Led by the best player in the world today – Sander Sagosen nothing is impossible. He'll, of course, need help from the likes of Magnus Jondal, Kristian Bjornsen, Magnus Gullerud, and Harald Reinkind.
A list of favorites for a team sports competition wouldn’t be complete without, arguably, the greatest sporting nation in the world – CROATIA. Performances did drop somewhat in the last few years but a surprising silver medal in the 2020 Euro’s gives them hope of gaining the World Champion title for the second time in history. Domagoj Duvnjak, Luka Cindrić, and Igor Karačić lead the line as probably the best center-back trio in the history of the sport. They are partnered with plenty of talent elsewhere on the court, like Željko Musa, Zlatko Horvat, Luka Stepančić along with the experienced head coach and the legend of the sport – Lino Červar. Červar is looking to make the nation proud yet again with a young squad on his disposal.
World Handball Championship 2021 will be held some weeks after World Junior Ice Hockey Championships 2021.