The third season of the IHF Beach Handball Global Tour (BHGT) throws off in Maricá, Brazil on Wednesday (8 May) with defending Tour champions – Brazil’s women and Qatar’s men – two of 12 competing in the stage which ends on Sunday 12 May.

A total of 40 matches will be played with the men’s and women’s tournaments consisting of 20 games featuring six national teams each, with four continents represented in the Brazilian city which is located just 25km from Rio de Janeiro.

For full information on the teams and match schedule CLICK HERE.

Hosts Brazil, along with Argentina, United States of America and Uruguay will field both men’s and women’s teams with the addition of Germany and Qatar in the men’s event and Portugal, plus Puerto Rico in the women’s event.

“We see the IHF Beach Handball Global Tour as another opportunity to continue growing, competing at the highest level and fighting to improve ourselves every day,” said Portugal coach Agustín Collado Rodríguez to portal.fpa.pt ahead of the event.

“We will be present at one of the biggest Beach Handball events and it will be a test so that we can study and evaluate the current state of the team and how the new players will be able to fit in.

“We know the work we have to do and our focus is on the evolution of the collective and the competitive context of each athlete individually. We will try to play an important role and continue to move forward step-by-step to reach the IHF Beach Handball World Championship in the best possible shape and achieve a new objective that involves improving our classification from last time.”

2024 marks the second, successive year the BHGT has been played at the Barra de Maricá (Avenida João Saldanha) with free entry for all fans, shows every day, giveaways, entertainment in the arena and a food truck fair.

It promises to be a spectacle both on and off the sand and players from both the host nation teams are excited to put on a show in the arena, which features a 1,500-capacity grandstand.

“It is a joy to be in Maricá again and have all this structure to welcome us in the best way,” said Brazil’s Renata Santiago to marica.rj.gov.br. “We were very happy last year being champions and I believe that now it will also be very successful.”

“It’s a great honour to be back playing after two years away living in Spain,” added Brazil’s men’s player Nailson Amaral. “Having the chance to come back and participate in this great event that Maricá is providing for us is a great honour. The city is very supportive and that makes me very happy.”

All matches will be streamed live on the IHF YouTube Competitions channel.

2024 IHF Beach Handball Global Tour: Stage 1
Location: Maricá, Brazil
Dates: 8 to 12 May
Men’s Teams: Brazil, Argentina, United States of America, Uruguay, Germany, Qatar
Women’s Teams: Brazil, Argentina, United States of America, Uruguay, Mexico, Portugal

About the IHF Beach Handball Global Tour
The IHF Beach Handball Global Tour was launched at the 2022 IHF Men’s and Women’s Beach Handball World Championships in Greece and debuted in Gdansk, Poland with Croatia winning the men’s tournament and Spain taking the top spot in the women’s tournament.

Four teams – Croatia, Germany, Poland and Spain – participated in both the men’s and women’s competitions.

The 2023 IHF Beach Handball Global Tour visited Brazil, Tunisia and Poland before the Finals Stage was held in Doha, Qatar in November, with Qatar’s men and Brazil’s women taking the overall titles.

Overall, a total of 28 teams from 19 nations competed in the 2023 IHF Beach Handball Global Tour including Algeria, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Croatia, Denmark, Poland, Tunisia and United States of America (both men’s and women’s teams), Morocco, Portugal, Qatar, Togo, and Uruguay (men only) and Germany, Kenya, Mali, Mexico and People’s Republic of China (women only).