With 14 Olympic heroes and a total of 19 players, national coach Alfred Gislason is preparing for the 2025 Handball World Cup (January 14th to February 2nd).
The squad for the finals from January 14th to February 2nd next year will be led by captain Johannes Golla and veteran goalkeeper Andreas Wolff. There are particularly high hopes for top young players like Juri Knorr and Renars Uscins.
At least in the top eight
“We have a powerful squad with which we will start our preparations on January 3rd and want to attack at the World Cup.”said DHB sports director Ingo Meckes. The minimum goal of the Olympic silver medalist at the tournament in Denmark, Croatia and Norway is the quarter-finals.
Gislason relies on proven forces. Of the silver medalists in Paris, only Kai Häfner, who ended his selection career after the Summer Games, and Tim Hornke are missing after a long injury absence. On the other hand, Christoph Steinert is in the squad despite a broken metacarpal hand that he suffered around five weeks ago.
“We can play a very good tournament. But we also know what kind of performance we have to put in. My goal is to win the first game. That’s better than the other way around: wanting to win the final and forgetting how to get there “said Gislason exactly four weeks before the start of the World Cup.
World Cup preliminary round against Poland, Switzerland and the Czech Republic
The squad is completed by Lukas Zerbe, Timo Kastening, Franz Semper, Nils Lichtlein and third goalkeeper Joel Birlehm. Formally, the World Cup squad only has to be named at the technical meeting on the morning of January 15th, the day of Germany’s opening game against Poland. Gislason can then nominate up to 18 players, from which 16 players must be selected for each game.
In addition to Poland, the DHB selection will also face Switzerland and the Czech Republic in the preliminary round of the World Cup. The three best teams in the group reach the main round.
The 19-man squad of German handball players
Goal: Joel Birlehm (TSV Hannover-Burgdorf), David Späth (Rhein-Neckar Löwen), Andreas Wolff (THW Kiel)
Left wing: Rune Dahmke (THW Kiel), Lukas Mertens (SC Magdeburg)
Back area left: Marko Grgic (ThSV Eisenach), Sebastian Heymann (Rhein-Neckar Löwen), Julian Köster (VfL Gummersbach)
Back center: Juri Knorr (Rhein-Neckar Löwen), Nils Lichtlein (Füchse Berlin), Luca Witzke (SC DHfK Leipzig)
Back area right: Franz Semper (SC DHfK Leipzig), Christoph Steinert (HC Erlangen), Renars Uscins (TSV Hannover-Burgdorf)
Right wing: Timo Kastening (MT Melsungen), Lukas Zerbe (THW Kiel)
Circle: Justus Fischer (TSV Hannover-Burgdorf), Johannes Golla (SG Flensburg-Handewitt), Jannik Kohlbacher (Rhein-Neckar Löwen)