The 2025 IHF Men’s World Championship is the first-ever to be co-hosted by three countries – Croatia, Denmark and Norway – and the 29th edition of the world handball flagship competition will bring an award which aims to reward the best young player in the competition.

The “Best Young Player Presented by Lidl” is the new award which will be presented to the best young player aged Under-21 at the 2025 IHF Men’s World Championship, underlining the common values shared by the International Handball Federation (IHF) and its Official Fresh Food Partner, Lidl, in creating a path for the top young talent to be nurtured and developed.

Each and every edition of the IHF Men’s World Championship has remained witness to the exploits of a young player who shined and went on to become a transitional talent over the course of the next decades in handball.

There are over 20 Under-21 players who will be featuring at the 2025 IHF Men’s World Championship, but we set our sights on some who have already gained some invaluable experience over the years and look like future stars on the court.

Petar Cikusa (Spain)

Cikusa and his twin brother, Djordje, have been already touted as the next big thing coming from Spain and they proved it at the youth level, where the two twins lifted their team to the gold medal at the 2023 IHF Men’s Youth World Championship. A versatile back, with a huge handball IQ, Petar has been playing more and more for FC Barcelona at club level and was selected in the extended roster for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

As Spain are looking to rebuild their squad, he will undoubtedly be one of the huge building blocks for “Los Hispanos”, ready now to make his debut at the senior level at the IHF Men’s World Championship. Petar is, alongside his twin brother, the second youngest player to feature for Spain’s senior squad, and will be a player to watch at the IHF Men’s World Championship at Croatia/Denmark/Norway 2025.

Francisco Costa (Portugal)

61 goals in the EHF European League Men in the 2021/22 season. 97 in the next one and 73 in the 2023/24 season. Now, Francisco Costa is lightning up the EHF Champions League Men, with 54 goals in the first nine matches. And he is only 19 years old, ready to feature for the second time in his career at the IHF Men’s World Championship, after making his debut at Poland/Sweden 2023.

It is difficult to believe that the right back is still a teenager – he will turn 20 just after Croatia/Denmark/Norway 2025 – but Costa has already established himself as one of the brightest talents in men’s handball over the last years. In the previous edition of the competition, when he was only 17 years old, he scored 17 goals, but now his workload should increase, as he is getting more and more experienced.

Gino Steenaerts (Switzerland)

Switzerland have been developing young players over the last few years, as more focus was put into bringing young talent to the fore and the results are starting to be seen immediately. In women’s handball, they already have secured some impressive results in the IHF Women’s Junior and Youth World Championships, but now they have a fantastic prospect on their hands on the right wing.

Gino Steenaerts is only 19 years old, but has already made waves at club level, where he scored 42 goals for HC Kriens-Luzern in the last season of the EHF European League Men, one season after putting 16 goals under his name in the same competition. He also has made his debut for the senior national team in 2024, having seven matches and 19 goals scored so far.

From next season, Steenaerts will make the switch to the German Bundesliga, with his talent and skills being scouted by one of the best sides in the competition, Rhein-Neckar Löwen, where he will start playing from this summer onwards.

Renan Pinheiro (Brazil)

Brazil have a tradition of forging excellent line players in the past decades and Renan Pinheiro just looks like the next one on the conveyor belt, who might become a force to be reckoned with in the future. Aged only 19 years old, he is due a breakthrough in the maiden edition of the IHF Men’s World Championship.

Breaking through into Brazil’s squad is a huge proposition for Pinheiro, who has not been a part of the winning squad at the 2024 South and Central American Men’s Handball Championship, but he has the skill and the strength to become a good player in the future for Brazil.

Ian Barrufet (Spain)

The rebuild of the Spanish squad is underlined by coach Jordi Ribera selecting five of the players from the generation which won the title at the 2023 IHF Men’s Youth World Championship. One of them is left wing Ian Barrufet, the son of goalkeeping legend David Barrufet, who is now ready to make his debut at the senior level in a major international competition.

The left wing, currently 20 years old, has been loaned by his parent club, FC Barcelona, to Bundesliga leaders MT Melsungen, with Barrufet scoring 52 goals this season in the German league for the competition leaders. He will share the left wing position with another up-and-coming player, Dani Fernandez.

Diogo Rema Marques (Portugal)

Portugal have plenty of talent at disposal to avoid missing out on major international competitions in the next decade, like they did between 2003 and 2021 at the IHF Men’s World Championship. And Diogo Rema Marques is surely one of the players who will help the side stay strong, as the 20-year-old goalkeeper is getting ready for his maiden action at the IHF Men’s World Championship.

Rema Marques had 57 saves for a 31% efficiency at the 2023 IHF Men’s Junior World Championship and has now emerged as one of the top goalkeepers in Portugal, at a very young age and limited experience. But his penchant for excellent saves is still there, as highlighted at the EHF EURO 2024, when he had 49 saves, being Portugal’s top goalkeeper.

Credit SUI photo: Felix Walker / handball.ch