The wait is over. After nearly two years, the IHF Men’s World Championship is back and the first day sees four matches being played in Poreč and Herning at Croatia/Denmark/Norway 2025.

Reigning champions Denmark will look to extend their unbeaten streak against Algeria in Group B, while Italy aim to secure their maiden win in 28 years when they take on Tunisia in Herning.

All is set in Žatika Sports Centre in Poreč for the start of the 29th IHF Men's World Championship. The hunt for the trophy starts with the rematch of the 2015 final between France and Qatar, with Guillaume Gille's team carrying the favourites' title. In the second Europe versus Asia clash of the group, Austria face Kuwait, who are making their long-awaited return.

GROUP B

• 17:30 CET Italy vs Tunisia

The 29th edition of the IHF Men’s World Championship will throw off in the Jyske Bank Boxen in Herning with a match expected to be a close call, between Italy and Tunisia. While the African side have more experience in this type of situation than Italy, the European side provided some excellent results in the last friendly matches, played in Switzerland, at the Yellow Cup.

Italy are returning after a 28-years hiatus at the IHF Men’s World Championship and have never faced Denmark, Tunisia or Algeria so far in any competitive matches and will be the unknown quantity of the group, but are no pushovers, proving their mettle in the Qualification Europe on their way to Croatia/Denmark/Norway 2025.

First, Italy beat Türkiye in the Qualification Europe Phase 1, with a stunning comeback, after a 28:37 loss in the first leg. Italy bounced back and set up a clash against Belgium in the Qualification Europe Phase 2 – Part 1, with a 37:27 win, taking a 65:64 aggregate win.

Then, Italy secured two wins against Belgium, for a 62:56 aggregate win, setting up a clash against Montenegro in the Qualification Europe Phase 2 – Part 2. Once again, Italy emerged victorious, with a 66:58 aggregate win, returning to the world handball flagship competition for the first time in 28 years.

Nevertheless, the European sides will have their work cut out, as they will be missing Marco Mengon, while captain Andrea Parisini, undoubtedly the most experienced player in the team, is still nursing an injury.

Tunisia, on the other hand, are featuring for the 16th consecutive time and will be looking to avoid the President’s Cup for the first time since 2019. A win for the third best side at the 2024 CAHB African Men’s Handball Championship would go a long way, as they will definitely aim for a good result, which is due to enhance their chances of progression.

However, Tunisia’s last win in the preliminary round at the IHF Men’s World Championship came in 2019, with the last six matches in this phase of the competition seeing two draws and four losses for the African side.

• 20:30 CET Denmark vs Algeria

Denmark will throw off their title-defending campaign at the 2025 IHF Men’s World Championship with a match against Algeria, the team which finished on the second-to-last position at the previous edition of the competition. Therefore, the reigning champions – which won the title in 2019, 2021 and 2023 without dropping a single match – are big favourites in the Jyske Bank Boxen in Herning.

Riding an unprecedented 28-match unbeaten streak, the largest in the history at the IHF Men’s World Championship, Denmark will be without two key players which helped them win the last three world titles – captain Niklas Landin and left back Mikkel Hansen, the best scorer in history in the competition.

Nevertheless, they still hold a big advantage over the teams in this group, being clear favourites against Algeria, Italy and Tunisia, having serious firepower in the likes of the top goal scorer and the MVP of the last edition of the world handball flagship competition – Mathias Gidsel – or left back Simon Pytlick, with the exuberance of the two players being tempered by some experience coming from fellow Mads Mensah Larsen and Rasmus Lauge.

Gidsel needs one goal to hit the 100-goal mark at the IHF Men’s World Championship and judging by his current form – he scored 12 goals in 40 minutes in the last friendly match before the start of the competition, a 39:20 Danish win against Bahrain – he will surely get off the mark soon enough.

Algeria might be the runners-up of the 2024 CAHB African Men's Handball Championship, but will need to deliver a pitch perfect performance only to stay close to Denmark, which will also have the home advantage, with thousands of spectators expected to cheer for the reigning world and Olympic champions in Herning.

Against Algeria, Denmark have won five of the six mutual matches, with the single loss coming in the preliminary round at the 1995 IHF Men’s World Championship, 24:25. The most recent clash between the two sides was played in 2011, when Denmark took a 26:19 win, in the preliminary round of the world handball flagship competition.

GROUP C

• 18:00 CET France vs Qatar

France are coming to the Croatia/Denmark/Norway 2025 with a slightly changed squad, marking the dawn of a new era following the retirement of the legendary player Nikola Karabatic and goalkeeper Vincent Gerard. 

With redemption on their mind after failing short at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, France are ready to turn the page and show the same strength they did when they won the Men's EHF EURO 2024. Despite having injury problems ahead of the preparations, key players like Dika Mem and Elohim Prandi are ready to take the stage, though Hugo Descat will be absent.

The six-time world champions, who last claimed the title in 2017, fine-tuned their form at the Tournoi de France in Strasbourg, where they won against the Czech Republic (37:28) and Portugal (44:38). Apart from Descat, Benjamin Richert stayed without a ticket to Croatia, as 18 players are travelling to Poreč.

“I know that we have worked hard and we are more certain now than we were two weeks ago. We will be able to switch to a new mode, that of matches with stakes and it will bring us, I hope, even better performance,” says head coach Gille for ffhandball.fr.

Their opponents, Qatar, are coming to the world handball flagship competition with a new head coach – the experienced Veselin Vujovic - and dream to get back on track when it comes to placement at the IHF Men's World Championship. After a disappointing 22nd place at the 2023 IHF Men’s World Championship, the six-time Asian champions are determined to bounce back and make it to the main round. They are aiming to come on top of another Asian team, Kuwait and if possible, beat Austria.

The Qatari handball team wrapped up their preparation in Ljubljana, Slovenia where they lost to the hosts 30:38, and against Algeria 25:27. Even though they stated the result was not in focus but the testing of players and tactics. They have a tough task at the start of the competition as they are to face France, whom they beat only once — at the Golden League tournament in 2016.

• 20:30 CET Austria vs Kuwait

Austria are stepping into Croatia/Denmark/Norway 2025 still with the momentum of their impressive eight-place finish at the Men's EHF EURO 2024. However, the team faces a significant challenge as they will be without their standout player Nikola Bilyk, who has been instrumental in their recent success. This opens the door for fellow back Lukas Hutecek to step up. Despite the setback, Austria set a clear goal — to be among the top three teams and progress further after missing out on the 2023 edition and competing in the Presidents' Cup in 2019 and 2021.

“We have a manageable group. The goal is the main round. We have played the President's Cup in the past and we definitely don't want that anymore. I know that the boys will give it their all from the first minute in the first game,” says head coach Pajovič for oehb.at.

Austria's opening clash against Kuwait comes at a good moment following mixed results in their pre-tournament preparations. Austria suffered defeats to Japan and Poland but managed to win against Tunisia, who themselves secured victories over Kuwait (35:34 and 37:31) in their preparations. With the two teams never having faced each other, Austria will need to adapt to Kuwait's aggressive and shiftable defence.

For Kuwait, this is a return to the World Championship, with their last appearance being in the same country — Croatia in 2009. Now, 16 years later, they are dreaming of a good result. While Kuwait has never placed higher than 15th, they have also never fallen below 23rd place and if they want to keep it that way, they need to be among the top three teams in the group and avoid the Presidents' Cup. For that, most likely, they will have to beat a very familiar foe — Qatar, if they do not surprise against Austria also.

It is a real challenge for the team whose players will make their debut in the competition, but they can count on all of their key players: Saleh Ali, Saif Al-Adwani, Hassan Safar, Haider Dashti, Abdulaziz Salmeen and Abdullah Al-Khamees, who are ready to take the court on Tuesday.