2024 has been a year with ups and downs for Spain, which saw Jordi Ribera’s side experience all the possible emotions, from the disappointment of missing out of a main round spot at the EHF EURO 2024, to the exhilarating trip to the bronze medal match at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, where Spain secured a place on the podium.

Still, Spain had an aging squad and Ribera did not have many solutions at his disposal, as “Los Hispanos” are now embarking on a new journey, with the definite objective of competing for another medal at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.

There are still a few years ahead and the first challenge for Spain will be the 2025 IHF Men’s World Championship, where the European side has been fantastically consistent over the past seven editions. Four of those editions of the world handball flagship competition brought a medal for “Los Hispanos” and Spain have not finished lower than the seventh place in the past 14 years.

Winning the title was the crowning achievement in 2013, on their home court, with three other bronze medals – at Sweden 2011, Egypt 2021 and Poland/Sweden 2023 – made Spain a team tough to beat, with Ribera’s team making the quarter-finals each time since 2011 at the IHF Men’s World Championship.

But will they return between the top teams in the world? That is a legitimate question, as plenty of new players have been ushered in, with Spain dipping into their untapped potential of their young stalwarts, who have been dominating the competitions in the junior and youth levels in the past years.

Spain have been European champions at the M20 EHF EURO in 2022 and in 2024, with a golden generation also delivering some fantastic performances at the IHF Men’s Youth World Championship, where they won the title in 2023.

Five of the new players called by Ribera in the 19-player extended squad which will train for the 2025 IHF Men’s World Championship - Petar Cikusa, Víctor Romero, Ferrán Castillo, Djordje Cikusa and Ian Barrufet – were part of the team which struck gold at the 2023 IHF Men’s Youth World Championship, which also took place in Croatia, one of the co-hosts of the world handball flagship competition in January 2025.

“We are at the beginning of the new Olympic cycle, and it is time to introduce these new players. They are young players, who have demonstrated their worth at the youth level, and who are confirming this with their clubs, so it is important that they continue to accumulate experience,” said Ribera for the official website of the Spanish Handball Federation (RFEBM).

However, experienced stalwarts like Gonzalo Perez de Vargas, Aleix Gomez or the Dujshebaev brothers – Alex and Daniel – are also in the squad, helping the younger players slot right in.

But Spain struggled to secure their berth for the 2025 IHF Men’s World Championship, with a 54:53 aggregate win against Serbia in the European Qualification Phase 2 – Part 2, after a 32:28 home win and a 22:25 away loss, underlining once again that this team is currently undergoing a serious makeover.

In Group F, which will be hosted by the Unity Arena in Baerum, Spain will face a familiar European face, Sweden, with the two sides usually facing off in the later stages of major international competitions. While Sweden might have won 15 of the 23 matches played at the World Championship, the EHF EURO and the Olympic Games, at the IHF Men’s World Championship, “Los Hispanos” have a positive balance against the Scandinavian side.

The first meeting took place in 1958, when Sweden dominated Spain, 31:11, but in the last two meetings in the world handball flagship competition, Spain took the wins, 24:23 in 2011 and 39:36 in the bronze medal matches of the IHF Men’s World Championship, with both competitions hosted by Sweden.

The two sides also met in three EHF EURO finals, in 1998, 2018 and 2022, when Sweden took two wins and Spain sealed one continental title in 2018. The latest mutual meeting came at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, when Sweden secured a 29:26 win over Spain in the preliminary round.

Spain have an immaculate head-to-head record against both Chile and Japan, securing two wins in two matches at the IHF Men’s World Championship against the South American side, 37:16 in 2015 and 34:26 in 2023, both matches being played in the preliminary round.

Against Japan, Spain have won four matches out of the four played, with a 26:22 win at the 2019 IHF Men’s World Championship and a 37:33 win in the preliminary round of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, in August 2024.

Key players: Gonzalo Perez de Vargas (goalkeeper), Aleix Gomez (right wing), Alex Dujshebaev (right back)

Qualification: Qualification Europe - phase 2 (54:53 win on aggregate versus Serbia)

History in the competition: 1958: 12th, 1974: 13th, 1978: 10th, 1982: 8th, 1986: 5th, 1990: 5th, 1993: 5th, 1995: 11th, 1997: 7th, 1999: 4th, 2001: 5th, 2003: 4th, 2005: Winners, 2007: 7th, 2009: 13th, 2011: Bronze medal, 2013: Winners, 2015: 4th, 2017: 5th, 2019: 7th, 2021: Bronze medal, 2023: Bronze medal 

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