10 stars to closely watch at Croatia/Denmark/Norway 2025
14 Jan. 2025
The 29th IHF Men’s World Championship is just around the corner, throwing off on 14 January in Croatia, Denmark and Norway.
Of course, the world handball flagship competition is where stars meet to try and help their teams secure a medal and Croatia/Denmark/Norway 2025 is fitting the narrative, with the best players in the world competing for the trophy.
There are many players on the list and we struggled to pick 10 of them, but here are our 10 stars to watch at the 2025 IHF Men’s World Championship.
Mathias Gidsel (Denmark)
In only two appearances at the IHF Men’s World Championship, the 2023 IHF Male Player of the Year, Mathias Gidsel, has already scored 99 goals. Therefore, he needs one more for his 100th, which he is due to get in the opener at Croatia/Denmark/Norway 2025, when Denmark feature in the opening day in the Jyske Bank Boxen, against Algeria.
Since his emergence on the biggest of stages, Gidsel has been unstoppable, scoring 448 times in 79 matches for Denmark. He has been named the All-Star right back in his maiden IHF Men’s World Championship, at Egypt 2023, as well as the MVP and the top scorer at Poland/Sweden 2023, when he had 61 goals.
Add the MVP titles at the Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 Olympic Games in the mix, as well as the top scorer title at the EHF EURO 2024 and the one at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, and also that he is only 25 years old, Gidsel is currently arguably the top player in the world and hei s coming in red hot form at Croatia/Denmark/Norway 2025, having scored 12 goals in only 40 minutes played in the last friendly match against Bahrain, won by Denmark, 39:20.
Renars Uscins (Germany)
Just 18 months ago, Uščins was playing for the Germany junior team at the 2023 IHF Men’s Junior World Championship, which saw him and his teammates win the gold medal with a flawless display, eight wins in eight matches. Just before the world handball flagship competition, Uščins made his debut in the senior team, and was subsequently called up for the EHF EURO 2024.
The right back was the fourth best scorer at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, with 52 goals, also securing a place in the All-Star team, as he helped Germany to secure the silver medal. Now, the 22-year old rising star is due to have yet another excellent performance, as he will make his debut at the IHF Men’s World Championship.
In the current season, Uščins has been unstoppable at club level for TSV Hannover-Burgdorf, being the joint-third best scorer in the German Bundesliga, with 120 goals, 12 goals behind the leader, once again, the same Mathias Gidsel. But the right back has become crucial for Germany and he will likely be the fulcrum of his team’s attack at Croatia/Denmark/Norway 2025.
Yahia Omar (Egypt)
The 27-year-old is just in his prime, after slowly emerging on the biggest of stages as one of the best right backs in the world. Omar was named the All-Star right back at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and is the MVP of the previous two editions of the CAHB African Men’s Handball Championship, which took place in 2022 and 2024.
Currently playing his trade at PSG Handball, Omar will be a crucial player for Egypt, the African champions, which finished seventh in the previous two editions of the IHF Men’s World Championship. The Pharaohs will be looking for yet another excellent performance here, and Omar might just be the leader of their team, as Yehia Elderaa is out, due to a knee injury.
Croatia/Denmark/Norway 2025 is the fourth edition of the IHF Men’s World Championship for Egypt’s right back, who scored 64 goals in the first three appearances, having made his debut at France 2017, eight years ago, when he was only 19 years old, and scored a single goal.
Nedim Remili (France)
Nedim Remili has always been a student of the game. Since he was just a junior, he was always trying to find out more, absorbing information like a sponge. He lives and breathes handball and talks with passion about the sport.
Now, in his prime, at 29 years old, Remili is considered one of the best players in the world, named as the All-Star centre back at the 2023 IHF Men’s World Championship, the All-Star right back at the 2017 IHF Men’s World Championship, the All-Star centre back at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, as well as the MVP of the EHF EURO 2024.
The left-handed centre back is a crucial player for France, transitioning from his right back position into the playmaking role, accommodating Dika Mem on the right flank. With a superb season for Veszprem, the MVP of the 2024 IHF Men’s Club World Championship, Remili is now poised to write another piece of history for France, in his fifth consecutive appearance in the world handball flagship competition.
Bryan Monte da Silva (Brazil)
At 2.02m tall and with an outrageous powerful shot, Bryan Hugo Monte da Silva is one of the next in line for becoming one of the best left backs in the world, after the 21-year-old Brazil player went on the fast track over the past year and a half.
Last January, he made his debut at a major international competition at the 2023 IHF Men’s World Championship, scoring 17 goals for Brazil, which finished on the 17th place in the standings. A few months later, Monte da Silva was his team’s top scorer at the 2023 IHF Men’s Junior World Championship, with 39 goals for the 16th placed Brazil.
His potential was also seen by Montpellier HB, one of the powerhouses in European handball, as the French side invested their trust into the Brazilian left back, who made his debut in the EHF Champions League Men last season, scoring 62 goals. Still a raw product, but with a huge upside, Monte da Silva can be a leader for the national team, but right now he is grounded and is just enjoying life as it is, being sometimes the understudy of experienced left back Haniel Langaro.
Monte da Silva injured his ankle in a friendly match against Germany just before the start of Croatia/Denmark/Norway 2025, but Brazil announced that he is ready to go, being a crucial part for the South American team.
Martim Costa (Portugal)
In three season in the EHF European League Men, Martim Costa scored 50, 104 and 62 goals respectively, being one of the top scorers for Sporting CP. Now, the Portuguese left back has been one of the top scorers of the EHF Champions League Men, putting 62 goals past his side’s opponents, being on the fourth place in the top goal scorer standings, with just six goals more than his brother, Francisco.
Costa, who is still only 22 years old, has a fantastic potential, which was confirmed at the last edition of the EHF EURO, in January 2024, when the Portugal left back was the joint top scorer of the competition, alongside Mathias Gidsel, with 54 goals, helping his side finish on the seventh place.
This will be the second edition of the IHF Men’s World Championship for Costa, who will definitely be one of the top scorers for Paulo Pereira’s side, a crucial cog in Portugal’s bid for a top-10 finish for the second time in history, after ending up on the 10th place at Egypt 2021.
Sander Sagosen (Norway)
Consistency is very hard to achieve at the IHF Men’s World Championship, therefore scoring at least 39 goals in four consecutive editions is a feature difficult to check for most of the players. However, Sander Sagosen is not just any player, he is Norway’s stalwart and the big hope for the Scandinavian side to secure a medal on their home court at Croatia/Denmark/Norway 2025.
Sagosen made his debut in the world handball flagship competition in 2017, when Norway returned and secured a silver medal. Two years later, at Denmark/Germany 2019, the Scandinavian side clinched another place on the podium, still as runners-up, conceding the final to Denmark.
But the back has been nothing short of superb, with 41 goals at France 2017, 51 goals at Denmark/Germany 2019, 54 goals at Egypt 2021 and 39 goals at Poland/Sweden 2023. In total, Sagosen has scored 188 times at the IHF Men’s World Championship. Freshly recovered after an injury, the Norway left back is due to take over once again, just as he did on home court at the EHF EURO 2020, where he helped Norway secure the bronze medal.
Naoki Fujisaka (Japan)
"I have started playing handball as a seven-year-old because my bigger brothers have also played it. They never got to represent Japan, but I am honoured to be here and wear the flag on my shirt; it is an amazing feeling. I immediately fell in love with the sport, and I truly love what I am doing now," said Naoki Fujisaka in an interview for ihf.info in 2023.
He was then representing his national team at the IHF Men’s Junior World Championship, where he was the joint top scorer, with 55 goals, and who is plying his trade at club level for the Nippon Sport Science University team in Japan.
With a new coach, Toni Gerona, Japan are aiming high at the 2025 IHF Men’s World Championship, and after Fujisaka was one of the best scorers for his team at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, that experience will surely help the dazzling centre back to put an impressive performance in the world handball flagship competition at his debut in the senior event.
Domagoj Duvnjak (Croatia)
If Fujisaka is still a rookie at the IHF Men’s World Championship, Domagoj Duvnjak will be featuring for the 10th consecutive time in the competition, having been selected twice in the All-Star team, at Spain 2013 and France 2017. While he might be past his prime, he is still a crucial player for Croatia, an “idol” for many of his current teammates.
Duvnjak is the most capped player for Croatia in their history, as well as the top goal scorer of the team, and playing at home at Croatia/Denmark/Norway 2025 will certainly be special, as this will be his last ever appearance at the IHF Men’s World Championship, with the left back announcing his retirement from the national team at the end of the competition.
The Croatia stalwart has scored 183 goals in 67 matches in the world handball flagship competition, and needs another 17 goals to hit the 200-goal milestone, achieved by two dozen of players until this moment at the IHF Men’s World Championship, and which place to do it better than home?
The goalkeepers
We promised 10 players, but we thought we might up the ante a bit and show a little appreciation to the unsung heroes – the goalkeepers. They are getting more and more important in modern handball, with some exquisite saves ready to turn around the match.
The last two All-Star goalkeepers, Germany’s Andreas Wolff, and Sweden’s Andreas Palicka, will be present at the 2025 IHF Men’s World Championship, but the goalkeeping area is in no short supply of fantastic talent, with Denmark’s Emil Nielsen, Spain’s Gonzalo Perez de Vargas or Norway’s Torbjorn Bergerud also headlining their teams.