The Handball World Cup is just around the corner. You should also have one or two previously unknown players on your list.
Denmark: Mathias Gidsel
Every handball fan knows Mathias Gidsel. The 25-year-old is currently the handball superstar. Olympic champion, two-time world champion, European Championship top scorer, OlympicMVP and World Handball Player 2023. There is actually no question that the Dane will shape the Handball World Cup. This can also be expected from other established top stars – such as Dika Mem, Nedim Remili, Sander Sagosen, Jim Gottfridsson and Emil Nielsen.
What’s special about Gidsel? The backcourt player is in top form in his first home tournament. He was born in Herning, the Danish venue in the preliminary and main rounds, and should therefore start the tournament with double the home advantage, encouraged by the Danish fans, who are famous for their enthusiasm for handball. Can the Dane go one better?
Others would like to go where Gidsel is already. These players are in the starting blocks to attract attention on the big World Cup stage:
Germany: Marko Grgic
Marko Grgic has had a meteoric rise. In 2023, the now 21-year-old made his debut in the handball Bundesliga with ThSV Eisenach. Less than a year ago, in May 2024, the first national team appearance – ever. Because Grgic was never part of a youth or junior team. His first big tournament: the Olympic Games in Paris, where he won the silver medal with the DHB selection. Grgic could be particularly important for the German team at the tournament in Denmark, Croatia and Norway. Due to the injury-related cancellation of position colleague Sebastian Heymann in the left backfield, the youngster has more responsibility.
“I just love playing handball and don’t worry too much about it”he says about himself. Grgic comes from a family of handball players. His father was a Croatian international, his mother played in the top league, and his brother coached him in his youth. Word of his abilities has now spread. Although his contract with ThSV Eisenach, currently eighth in the table, runs until 2027, several clubs are said to have already expressed interest.
Spain: Petar Cikusa
Petar Cikusa is one of the greatest talents in handball. Many experts are sure: the 19-year-old will go far. At the age of twelve, Cikusa moved to the top Spanish club FC Barcelona and went through all of the youth teams there. With the Spanish youth national team, he won the U18 European Championship in 2022, the U19 World Cup in 2023 and the U20 European Championship in 2024, where he was voted best player of the tournament. Always at his side: his no less talented twin brother Djordje, who particularly stands out for his two-handed style of play.
The move to the senior level did not affect Petar Cikusa’s success. In the 2023/24 season he made his debut in the FC Barcelona first team at the age of 17 and won the Spanish championship and the Champions League in his first year. In the same year he was invited to the Spanish national team for the first time. He was nominated as a reserve player for the Olympic Games in Paris.
Portugal: Martim Costa
At last year’s European Championship, Martim Costa – together with Mathias Gidsel – became the tournament’s top scorer. The now 22-year-old scored 54 goals in seven games, with only twelve missed shots throughout the tournament. He was elected to the European Championship All-Star team as the best backfield left and was awarded the Excellence Award as the best young player by the European Handball Federation (EHF) the following summer. Not just because of his achievements in the national team, but also in the club. At Sporting Lisbon, where his father Ricardo is on the sidelines as head coach, Martim Costa is one of the key players despite his young age. Last season he won the Portuguese Cup and the championship and led his team to the quarter-finals of the EHF European League.
Together with his also highly talented 19-year-old brother Francisco, with whom he plays in both the national team and the club, Costa represents the positive development in Portuguese handball. After years of abstinence from major tournaments, the Portuguese selection has now developed from an underdog to a serious opponent.
Croatia: Luka Klarica
For Croatia’s superstar Domagoj Duvnjak, the World Cup will be the last major tournament in the national team’s jersey. The 36-year-old announced this before the start of the tournament. But a potential successor is already in the starting blocks: Luka Klarica. The 23-year-old plays in the right back and is already an important component in the squad of World Cup co-hosts Croatia.
At the European Championships in Germany last year, he was his team’s most successful thrower in the tournament. In the current Champions League season, the 1.98m tall left-hander has contributed 48 goals for his club RK Zagreb so far. This arouses desire: According to various media reports, various clubs, including Bundesliga clubs, are interested in signing the Croatian.
Italy: Domenico Ebner
At the age of 30, Domenico Ebner is no longer considered a talent. It is extremely unlikely that he will reach the knockout phase with the Italian team. Nevertheless, it could be worth keeping an eye on Ebner at this World Cup. For the first time since 1997, the Italian selection is taking part in a major tournament. “I can’t put into words what this qualification means to me”he writes on LinkedIn. Ebner played a big part in this, the goalkeeper is one of the key players in his team. He was voted Italy’s Handball Player of the Year five times in a row.
The fact that the Freiburg native is playing for Italy at all is thanks to a Facebook query. In 2017, the assistant coach of the Italian national team wrote to him. Ebner’s father is German, his mother is Italian. The goalkeeper takes on dual citizenship, begins to learn Italian and starts the Italian handball project. “For me it was the right decision”Ebner says today: “Creating a project, contributing my own ideas and helping people is what excites me and I feel that 1,000 percent here.”
Reaching the main round would be a great success for his team. To do this, Italy would have to leave behind at least one of the group Denmark, Tunisia and Algeria. If that were successful, the German-Italian would have another highlight ahead of them: a duel against the DHB selection.