Back in 2009 Croatia hosted the IHF Men’s World Championship, winning nine games in a row to make it to the final at the Arena Zagreb, where they lost to France 19:24 – a team they had beaten a few days earlier in the main round stage.

Now, in 2025 as co-hosts along with Norway and Denmark, Croatia will be hoping to be on the podium once again and for the first time since 2013 when they ended with bronze.

Men’s handball is in the consciousness of the Croatian general public with their national team winning the 2003 IHF Men’s World Championship, as well as Olympic Games gold (1996, 2004) and multiple European Championship silvers – the most recent of which came in 2020 and the last medal the team have won in the three, elite tournaments.

The nation has been a men’s world championship ever-present since 1995, with five medals collected – one gold (2003), three silvers (1995, 2005, 2009) and one bronze (2013).

2024 started badly for the Croatians as under then coach Goran Perkovac they finished 11th at the European Championship, their worst placement since 2002. After this disappointment the Croatian Handball Federation moved quickly to appoint new coach Dagur Sigurdsson ahead of the Olympic Qualification Tournaments for Paris 2024 just a few weeks later, in March.

His side duly went on and defeated Austria and Algeria in Germany at the tournament, but lost to the hosts, who went on to win silver in the French capital.

But for Sigurdsson and his side, Paris proved to be a disappointment with the team losing three of their five games (against Slovenia, Sweden and Spain) to finish fifth in their group and not proceed to the last eight.

More recently, the side defeated Belgium and Luxembourg in their 2026 European Championship qualification matches and they will face Italy (Porec – 29 December), North Macedonia (Varazdin – 8 January) and Slovenia (Zagreb – 10 January) as part of their two, final phases of preparation.

Croatia’s preliminary group in Zagreb features Argentina, Egypt and Bahrain – a diverse mixture of styles and experience.

At the 2021 IHF Men’s World Championship in Egypt, on their way to their worst ranking in 14 appearances – 15th – Croatia beat Bahrain (28:18) but lost to Argentina (19:23) in the main round, with then-coach Lino Cervar announcing after that game he would be stepping down.

Two years later, at Poland/Sweden 2023 Croatia lost to Egypt comprehensively 22:31 in the preliminary round and beat Bahrain 43:32 in the main round.

“Our group is very interesting because there are four teams from different continents,” explained Sigurdsson ahead of the event. “I know some of the teams very well, for example Argentina, and Bahrain as when I coached Japan, we played against them a lot of times. Egypt are a strong team too so we have to be ready and well prepared for all of them.

“It will be an interesting and exciting group for the fans, but, first, we have to do our job in the preliminary group and main round, and let’s see. I am sure it will be a spectacle in Croatia.”

Guiding his players on court will be Croatia’s long-serving team captain Domagoj Duvnjak, who scored twice in that world championship final in 2009 before moving to Germany in the following August as a 21-year-old and becoming the most expensive player in the world at the time.

And for the player who is now 36-year-old and with 263 national team appearances to his name, the world championship is something that will be extra-special as not only will it be his last one ahead of his international retirement, but it will be on home soil once again.

“I am extremely happy that our country will co-host together with Denmark and Norway,” said the Champions League winner. “Croatia already hosted the best handball players in the world once, in 2009 when I was very young. Many still remember it today and say that it was one of the best-organised championships ever, but time flies quickly and every day we are getting closer to this competition.

“I can't wait for our first match and since we have known Croatia will host, the emotions and feelings for every member of our team are so special, it’s like a dream come true when you play a big competition for your country on the home court.

“I love the sound of the full arena. Each of us has our handball dream and our dream is to bring Croatia back to the podium and make it proud once again. With the help of our best fans who will be with us in the stands, I believe that this is possible, but of course we need to go step by step, match by match. Our hearts will beat as one.”

Croatia’s provisional squad features a wealth of talent who play their club handball across Europe, most notably, left wing Mario Sostaric, who is the current EHF Champions League top-scorer, with 72 goals for Hungarian side Pick Szeged.

“Croatia is a handball country and one of the most successful in history,” said Tomislav Grahovac, Croatian Handball Federation President about co-hosting the event. “Our ambitions are the highest when it comes to results. We have an excellent team and a great coach and I am sure that we will do our best to reach the finals.

“It would be ideal to get to Oslo (for the final weekend) because that would mean fighting for a medal. These are our wishes, but we are also aware of the strength of others. Just as there are no winners in sport in advance, we also have the right to hope.”
 
Coach: Dagur Sigurdsson

Key players: Domagoj Duvnjak (centre back), Luka Cindric (centre back), Ivan Martinovic (right back), Mario Sostaric (right wing), Dominik Kuzmanovic (goalkeeper)

Qualification for Croatia/Denmark/Norway 2025: Co-host nation

History in the competition: 1995: 2nd, 1997: 13th, 1999: 10th, 2001: 9th, 2003: Winners, 2005: 2nd, 2007: 5th, 2009: 2nd, 2011: 5th, 2013: 3rd, 2015: 6th, 2017: 4th, 2019: 6th, 2021: 15th, 2023: 9th 

Group at Croatia/Denmark/Norway 2025: Group H (Argentina, Bahrain, Croatia, Egypt)