One year ago, at the EHF EURO 2024, Austria became the surprise package of the competition, drawing against Spain, Germany and Croatia, winning against Hungary and losing after a tough fight against the eventual champions, France.

Then, Austria also pushed for their maiden appearance at the Olympic Games since Berlin 1936, only to fall short against Germany and Croatia, missing out on a potential huge shock in the Olympic Qualification Tournament in Hannover.

So, now, one year later, Austria cannot be discounted to secure their best result in history at the IHF Men’s World Championship in modern times, beating their best performance, the 13th place, at Qatar 2015.

One of the players who impressed the most during those two competitions was goalkeeper Constantin Möstl. The 24-year-old shot stopper, son of another former Austria goalkeeper, Werner Möstl, was trully impressive between the posts, making the second largest number of saves at the EHF EURO 2024, 81, just 11 less than Germany’s Andreas Wolff.

Those fierce performances brought Möstl plenty of attention and subsequently a move outside of Austria, signing with German club TBV Lemgo Lippe, where he has continued his amazing form this season in the German Bundesliga, having 134 saves, the eighth largest number after 17 matches.

“I am not the young kid from Austria anymore,” says Möstl with a smile upon his face, when asked how he feels before the start of the 2025 IHF Men’s World Championship, where Austria will face France, Qatar and Kuwait in Group C of the preliminary round, in Poreč, Croatia.

Indeed he is not. At the annual Sporthilfe Gala, an event which highlights the best performances of the year in Austrian sport, Möstl was named the “Rising Star of the Year”, an outstanding feature for a handball player in a country where handball is not as big as other sports.

“It has been a fantastic feeling, to be honest. For handball, this was a huge thing, because the sport is not as big in Austria like, let’s say, in Germany. I was honoured and very happy to receive the award and to write some history for Austrian handball,” says the 24-year-old goalkeeper.

2024 is gone and, therefore, Möstl is focusing on another challenge. The New Year brings the 2025 IHF Men’s World Championship and Austria are back after missing out on a place at Poland/Sweden 2023. And for Möstl, this edition is special, as he will make his debut at the world handball flagship competition.

At 15, he was still playing as an outfield player, but he went between the posts due to an injury to the goalkeepers of his team and has stayed there until now, proving that he inherited the passion and the genes from his father.

“I can hardly wait for the World Championship to start. I think it is a very different competition. I think that with more teams, the competition is fiercer. Everybody will want to win, everybody will want to be as far as possible in the tournament. Therefore, we will have our work cut out,” adds Möstl.

Indeed, Austria are not an easy team to play against anymore for any side. Chances are that Austria will finally avoid featuring in the President’s Cup, after ending in the consolation competition at Denmark/Germany 2019 and Egypt 2021. And they are aiming even higher.

With Ales Pajovic at the helm, the coach who led the team also at Egypt 2021, when they finished 26th, Austria look as dangerous as any other dark horse, and their aim is bigger than a few wins, at least in Möstl’s words.

A quarter-finals berth is within reach, according to the goalkeeper, judging from the team’s potential and its growth, with several players now featuring in stronger leagues and getting more and more experienced.

However, there are some caveats. One of the most experienced players, right wing Robert Weber, who scored nearly 1000 goals for the Austria national team, has retired from international handball. And captain Nikola Bilyk, the star of the team, will miss through injury, as the THW Kiel left back brought plenty to the table for his national team.

“Of course we will miss Nikola, it is a big absence for us and that needs to be covered somehow. But we needed his goals, we needed his presence, he knew what to do in important moments, therefore it will be very difficult to take over. But this is what we need to do, this is what we have to do now and we are focused on the task at hand,” adds Möstl.

The first test before the throw off at Croatia/Denmark/Norway 2025, against Kuwait in the Žatika Sport Centre, in Poreč, was a friendly match against Poland on 8 January and Austria fell way short of their level, conceding a 19:31 loss against their European counterparts.

But that should and probably will not deter a side which has been punching above their weight, on an accelerated growth in the last few years. They have already measured their forces with strong sides and will do so again in order to fulfil their dream.

Provided they do not exit early from contention, they will likely face Hungary, the Netherlands and North Macedonia, aiming for a quarter-finals berth at Croatia/Denmark/Norway 2025.

“But first, we need to win our first matches. There is never an easy match in such competitions, so we need to take care and play our best brand of handball. That is very important and will define our fate in the competition. However, we also want to enjoy while we are here and play to the best of our potential,” concludes the 24-year-old goalkeeper.