After a 10-year wait, Czechia will finally be back at the IHF Men’s World Championship, breaking one of the longest streaks between two appearances for an European side. Czechia also qualified for Egypt 2021, four years ago, but an unprecedent Covid-19 unbreak forced the European side to drop out of the competition and wait four more years until their return.

Their last appearance, at Qatar 2015, was uninspiring, as they finished 15th, but the ambitions are still high for Czechia, as outlined by the hiring of Spanish mastermind Xavi Sabate, who has been coaching the European side since 2022.

In their last two appearances in major international competitions, Czechia finished outside the top-10 at both the EHF EURO 2022, when they ended up on the 13th position, and at the EHF EURO 2024, when Sabate’s side was on the 15th place, failing to make the main round both times.

Nevertheless, they managed to seal their berth for Croatia/Denmark/Norway 2025 in style, with a 59:51 aggregate win over Romania in the Qualifiers Europe – Phase 2, after a 30:31 loss in the first leg, where they were down by seven goals, followed by a clear 29:20 home win, which sealed their berth.

But how will Czechia cope with the expectations for this edition of the IHF Men’s World Championship? Currently, their best finish was the eighth place when they made their debut – playing before as part of Czechoslovakia – at Iceland 1995. Since that moment, they made the top-10 only once, when they ended up on the 10th place at Tunisia 2005.

Yet with Sabate at the helm – providing an excelent tactical nous and a fantastic defence, spearheaded by goalkeeper Tomas Mrkva – Czechia will be a tough nut to crack, especially in a very well-balanced Group A, which will be hosted in the Jyske Bank Boxen in Herning.

Czechia’s main problem will be the lack of experience for many of their players, with some of them plying their trade in the domestic league. But with players like Tomas Mrkva, who is currently at THW Kiel, and one of the most consistent goalkeepers in the past years in Europe, as well as right back Stanislav Kasparek, who is featuring at Dinamo Bucuresti, or line player Stepan Zeman, who is currently at VfL Gummersbach, the experience is also there.

The main absence will be centre back Matěj Klíma, who has been instrumental for Czechia in the past year, as Klima, who is a lightning rod at German side SC DHfK Leipzig, suffered a season-ending injury in October, missing his maiden start at the IHF Men’s World Championship.

An all-European group, alongside Germany, Poland and Switzerland, was probably not at all expected by any of these sides, but with only three teams progressing to the next phase, the battle will be on and any mistake will be heftily punished.

Key players: Tomas Mrkva (goalkeeper), Jakub Hrstka (left wing), Stanislav Kasparek (right back)

Qualification: Qualifiers Europe - Phase 2 (59:51 aggregate win against Romania)

History in the competition: 1995: 8th, 1997: 11th, 2001: 18th, 2005: 10th, 2007: 12th, 2015: 17th

Group at CRO/DEN/NOR 2025: Group A (Germany, Czechia, Poland, Switzerland)

Credit photo: Anze Malovrh / kolektiff / EHF