Over the last years, Great Britain have made some important strides in handball’s development throughout the Kingdom. The European side is one of the two teams which have taken part in every edition of the IHF Men’s Emerging Nations Championship, alongside Bulgaria.

And their progress has been there to be seen, after finishing 9th in the inaugural edition, in 2015, and 11th two years later, the British team ended up fourth in 2019 and fifth in 2023. Now, at Bulgaria 2025, Great Britain are sure of securing another top-4 finish, but are eyeing a medal, having already made it to the semi-finals.

“I think the team is more and more professional, because the British Handball Association has worked a lot in that direction. You can feel inside the team that steps are being made, and, over the years, the feeling is that direction is the right one, because the results are better,” says Francisco Pereira, Great Britain’s right back.

Pereira has already established himself as a force to be reckoned with at the IHF Men’s Emerging Nations Championship, scoring 34 goals in 2023, when he was the top scorer of the competition. Now, he has 23 goals in the first three matches, being the second best scorer, after Bulgaria’s Svetlin Dimitrov, who is leading with 37 goals.

Indeed, 2025 has been excellent for Great Britain, which spent the first day in January in the Qualification Phase 1 of the EHF EURO 2028, in a four-team tournament against Cyprus, Malta and Bulgaria.

Great Britain finished first in that group, with a 37:14 win over Malta, a 28:26 win over Cyprus and a 27:27 draw against Bulgaria, being the team with the best attack and the second best defence between the four.

Now, at the 2025 IHF Men’s Emerging Nations Championship, Great Britain finished second in their group in the preliminary round, with a 37:23 win over Cyprus, a 33:27 win over Paraguay and a 22:35 loss against hosts Bulgaria, where they were clearly outplayed.

Finishing second meant that Great Britain will feature against the United States of America in the semi-finals, where the USA are favourites, having four players who were in the roster for the 2025 IHF Men’s World Championship in January.

“This is the type of matches we want to play in. This is the type of matches from where we can learn and measure forces with better teams. We are confident that we can play well and, as I said, we have been making good steps towards development, therefore it is a good thing that we are here,” adds Pereira.

Throughout his life, the 25-year-old right back has been dreaming about handball. Pereira was born in Portugal, in capital Lisbon, and started playing handball when he was only five years old, following in his brother’s footsteps.

“My brother was a goalkeeper. I was going to trainings with him since I was little, I was not even allowed to play handball. Then, I started playing when I was five years old and then I was called up to play in Sporting CP’s academy, one of the biggest in the country. So there I made my first steps and it was amazing,” sayd Pereira.

But then, his parents moved to the United Kingdom, with Francisco following suit, and his dream looked done and dusted, as the tradition for handball is not big there.

“Luckily, I met our coach, Ricardo Vasconcelos, and that helped a lot. He was in Nottingham, where I studied. He moulded me as a player and, dare I say, as a human being. So my dream continued to be alive, I started playing handball in a country where I did not even know the language properly when I came,” adds Pereira, with a strong British accent in his voice.

But then, the right back wanted more. At 18, he had the chance to move to Germany, but his family persuaded him to stay and finish his studies in Nottingham. Then, when he turned 21, he did move to Germany, where he spent two years in Füchse Berlin, playing for the second team of the German powerhouse.

Pereira even was called up for Füchse’s first team, featuring in an EHF European League Men match against Swiss side Pfadi Winterthur, which the German side eventually won, 30:27.

“To be there, to share the locker room with some great players, like Mathias Gidsel and Lasse Andersson, it’s hard to describe,” says Pereira, before making a big pause in his speech. “I am at a loss for words, I am speechless,” adds the right back.

Since 2023, the right back moved to Aue, in the second league, relegating to the third league in the first season at his new team. Now, Aue are still in the third league, with promotion hopes up in smoke and Pereira calculating the next steps for his career.

A good outing here, at the 2025 IHF Men’s Emerging Nations Championship, which he did so far, could well matter for the future, especially if the right back makes the All-Star team once again, just like he did in the previous edition. So far, he has been excellent, with a 62% shooting efficiency, 23 goals scored and eight assists provided to his teammates.

“We are a team and if I play well, it means my teammates are doing the right thing too. I have to thank them, as well as the BHA for creating a good environment. Like I said, we are more professional now, the level is bigger and we are aiming to become even better,” concludes Pereira before the semi-final against the USA.