Algeria's Ghedbane aims for history at the 2025 IHF Men's World Championship

05 Dec. 2024

Algeria's Ghedbane aims for history at the 2025 IHF Men's World Championship

After failing to make the cut for two consecutive editions of the IHF Men’s World Championship in 2017 and 2019, Algeria returned at Egypt 2021, when they finished 22nd, and at Poland/Sweden 2023, when they secured a win in seven matches, but ended up on the 31st place.

The African side is still a long way of their best performance in the world handball flagship competition, secured at France 2001, when they finished 13th, but signs of a resurgence have appeared at the 2024 CAHB African Men’s Handball Championship, when Algeria finished second, their best position since winning the title in 2014.

Now, Algeria will head to the 2024 IHF Men’s World Championship with an experienced side, with several players featuring in the top club competitions in the world, such as right back Ayoub Abdi, who is playing for French side HBC Nantes, and goalkeeper Khalifa Ghedbane, plying his trade in the Bundesliga, at HC Erlangen.

Ghedbane made his debut for Algeria in 2016, when he was only 20 years old. Now aged 28 – he celebrated his birthday on 26 November – the goalkeeper is certainly one of the most experienced Algeria players, spending the last seven years in Europe, featuring at Ademar Leon, in Spain, Vardar and Eurofarm Pelister in North Macedonia, Dinamo București in Romania and HC Erlangen in Germany.

“I’ve been in Europe now for seven years and  I played for many teams and against many excellent players. I know what it takes to be on the top, because I was several years in the Champions League and now I am playing in the best league in the world, the Bundesliga,” says Ghedbane.

“For the national team, I have some more responsibilities and I like that I canhelp my team my teammates to make good results whenever we can and we hope to do this also in this edition of the World Championship.”

Ghedbane was in the Vardar team which secured the Machineseeker EHF Champions League title in 2019, became a champion in Romania and North Macedonia, but he was also a key player for Algeria in the last two editions of the IHF Men’s World Championship, when the African side returned after a six-year hiatus and made consecutive appearances.

“Now, I am looking forward for my third World Championship and I feel ecstatic to be able to represent Algeria and our country in the biggest competition in world handball. It is a pleasure and a happiness to represent your country here and we will do our best to get some excellent results,” adds the Algeria goalkeeper.

Of course, Poland/Sweden 2023 has been a disappointment for Ghedbane and the whole Algeria team, who failed to get any proper rhythm going, conceding losses against Germany, Serbia and Qatar in the preliminary round and scoring only 72 goals in the three matches.

Losses against Tunisia, Morocco and North Macedonia followed, with the matches against the first two sides, African counterparts, seeing Algeria fail to deliver the needed performances to improve their final ranking, which was their worst in history in 16 editions of the IHF Men’s World Championship.

“The last World Championship was really disappointing for us. It was a bad result, that is clear, but I think for this next one, we prepared better than two years ago. We have some new players who I am sure will help our team and we will do our best to get a good result,” adds Ghedbane.

Now, Algeria are back, with a big appetite for performance and trying to secure a good result at the end of the competition, aiming, of course, for a main round berth, as they have been drawn against reigning champions Denmark, Italy and fellow African side Tunisia in Group B of the 2025 IHF Men’s World Championship.

This means that Algeria will have a difficult task, daunting at times, facing a team which have not lost in their last 28 matches in the world handball flagship competition, on their home court, a difficult proposition for any team in the world.

“To play against Denmark is good for us as a team, in order to gain experience, especially for some of our players which have never been in the World Championship so far. They have never played against such players like Denmark have, but we will try and fight against a huge team, which will play in front of their own fans. What I am sure is that it will be great atmosphere,” adds the 28-year-old goalkeeper.

But how does Ghedbane rate his team’s chances to progress?

“The matches will be really hard. Denmark have the tradition. Italy and Tunisia have good teams, but we hope to challenge them and fight until the end to reach the main round, which would be excellent for us,” says Ghedbane.

A good result for Algeria would also mean a lot for Ghedbane, who has been better and better in the past years, being nurtured by some of the best coaches in the world since he came to Europe.

“In Vardar, I had Roberto Garcia Parrondo as a coach. And Dejan Peric as a goalkeeping coach. In Dinamo, I was coached by Xavi Pascual, in Leon, Manolo Cadenas was leading the team. Everywhere I went, the memories are amazing, and have really shaped me up as a player and as a person,” says Ghedbane.

The player who said that he would be a chef were it was not for handball – because he cooks very well – has now written history to become the first Algerian player to ever feature in the Bundesliga, another milestone unlocked by a true globetrotter, who played handball on three continents, also featuring briefly for Qatari side Al Rayyan.

“It is a pleasure for me to have played and still play at this high level, I learn every day, and every match, I really enjoy it, it is a great experience and I hope to go forward,” concludes Ghedbane.