New faces hope to bring Chile for the first time in the main round at the IHF Men's World Championship

26 Dec. 2024

New faces hope to bring Chile for the first time in the main round at the IHF Men's World Championship

Since their maiden appearance at the IHF Men’s World Championship, at Sweden 2011, Chile have not missed any of the next seven editions, as Croatia/Denmark/Norway 2025 will be the eight consecutive appearance for the South American side between the top teams in the world.

However, Chile have never made it to the main round of any edition of the IHF Men’s World Championship so far, and will celebrate their 50th match in the history of the world handball flagship competition when they make their debut at as Croatia/Denmark/Norway 2025 against Spain, having previously won 14 matches.

The South American side’s best finish is the 16th place at Denmark/Germany 2019 and in the past two editions, since the competition was extended to a 32-team line-up, Chile have finished 27th and 26th respectively, each time securing three wins.

But can they do more here? Can Chile really punch above their weight, despite losing some key players from their golden generation, which managed to put the South American side on the map and deliver a silver medal at the Pan American Games in 2019?

“The growth has been incredible. Back in 2011, we were just some young kids, trying to improve handball in Chile and become a better team. And now, we have established ourselves in the top teams of the world and have qualified for the eighth consecutive edition of the World Championship, I think it is something amazing,” says Chile’s captain, Rodrigo Salinas, for ihf.info.

Indeed, Salinas is the common denominator for Chile’s appearances at the IHF Men’s World Championship, having made his debut in 2011 and featuring now for the eighth consecutive time.

Him and his brother, Esteban, who features as a line player, are few of the last players left from the previous editions of the World Championship where Chile played, as the current crop of players is currently featuring mostly in the Chilean league, with a select others plying their trade in Europe.

Players like Marco Oneto or Emil Feuchtmann, who have served the team with pride and honour, have now retired from international handball, leaving younger players to carry the load. Yet Chile have still been one of the consistent team on their continent, finishing third in the last two editions of the South and Central America Men’s Handball Championship, securing the bronze medal.

“Of course, losing Marco and other players was a huge blow for us, because they were amazing, but we have to go forward, continue, and write some more history for Chile from now on, because we owe that to everybody supporting us, as well as ourselves,” says Salinas.

At the 2025 IHF Men’s World Championship, Chile will not have it any easier, as they are due to face Sweden, Spain and Japan, in a very balanced group, with only the first three teams in the standings progressing to the main round.

Chile, which have lost all matches played against Spain and Sweden and have shared wins with Japan in their mutual two matches, are the underdogs, but will hope to deliver good performances and, why not, make the main round for the first time in history.

“Just looking at the names of the teams, their experience and their players, we can see it will be very tough against each one of them. But we are confident that we can play a great tournament here. We have the experience, we have a new system, which has been refined in the last years after Aitor Etxaburu took over from Mateo Garralda, and we are confident in our performances,” concludes Salinas.

Key players: Rodrigo Salinas (right back), Erwin Feuchtmann (left back), Esteban Salinas (line player)

Qualification: 2024 South and Central American Men's Handball Championship: 3rd

History in the competition: 2011: 22nd, 2013: 23rd, 2015: 23rd, 2017: 21st, 2019: 16th, 2021: 27th, 2023: 26th

Group at CRO/DEN/NOR 2025: Group F (Sweden, Spain, Japan, Chile)