“12 years ago, I just finished training and I went with my teammates to a place and watched the final of the World Championship. I was so happy when Brazil won the title. So, so happy. And we all thought: ‘will we be in this position?’. This is what I have been working for.”

Since producing arguably the biggest shock in the history of the IHF Women’s World Championship by stunning the powerhouses and securing the title from the underdog position, Brazil have always been trying to get back between the top teams in the world.

While dominating the continent, still yet to lose a match at the South and Central American Women’s Handball Championship and winning four tiles in four editions, they finished 10th, 18th, 17th, sixth and ninth at the next five editions of the world handball flagship competition.

But Brazil’s time looks to be now. Led by one of the best players in the world in centre back Bruna de Paula Almeida, the South American powerhouse swept their opponents in the preliminary round at Germany/Netherlands 2025, to put themselves in pole position for a place in the quarter-finals.

“The strength of the team is the unity. We are a tightly-knit group. We play for each other, we try every time to play as a team, regardless of the opponent. We knew we had a tough preliminary round group, we were in difficult situations, we fought and eventually we managed to win against Sweden and Czechia and also beat Cuba,” says de Paula.

 

She was always considered a prodigy, since starting handball in Campestre, a small town between Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. And after making her debut as a teenager at the 2015 IHF Women’s World Championship, when Brazil were defending their title – her career skyrocketed.

The centre back came to France when she was only 20 years old and could not speak the language, signing for Fleury Loiret HB. Clearly, it was a difficult move, one which saw de Paula say goodbye to everything she knew, including her family.

But it was the right one.

Fast forward 10 years and she is the leader of the current iteration of the Brazil team which started the 2025 IHF Women’s World Championship with three wins in the preliminary round – 41:20 against Cuba, 28:22 against Czechia and 31:27 against Sweden.

She is on pace for her best ever appearance in the competition, being Brazil’s top scorer, with 17 goals, and the best assist provider, with 14 assists. While the numbers might not be impressive, her importance for Brazil cannot be understated.

The 2013 team had Ana Paula Rodrigues as the centre back, but was built differently, with a fantastic defence. From that winning team, de Paula shares the court now with Alexandra do Nascimento, who returned in the national team at 44 years old.

 

But this current iteration of Brazil has de Paula running the show, with her speed, skill and creativity dazzling every time. No wonder Sweden – otherwise a team with a sturdy defence – was unable to stop Brazil and de Paula ran riot.

And then, the celebrations came, wild dances on the court and in the locker room, the  true samba nation being back on the big stage with a bang.

“What you see in our Instagram posts is what we are. It is the joy that we live, it is celebrating a win, it is celebrating who we are. As I mentioned previously, we live like this, we are a tight group and we really want to enjoy ourselves after such important matches. We showed resilience and we showed how good we can be,” says the centre back.

2025 has been one of the best – if not the best year for de Paula, as she won the EHF Champions League Women for the second time with club team Győri Audi ETO KC. And 2025 has also been a stellar year for Brazil, with the men’s team also making the quarter-finals of the IHF Men’s World Championship for the first time in history.

“We all try to do our best and it is really an honour to be here and provide such a joy for Brazil and to play so good. We are proud of what we achieved and we want to provide even better matches, so we can go even further in the competition,” says de Paula.

 

The win against Sweden, especially by the margin which was created, will be pivotal in the maths for the quarter-finals battle. While Norway look certain to be the favourite in Group IV of the main round, Brazil are closely behind. Facing the Republic of Korea and Angola is no easy feature before the final showdown against the reigning Olympic champions, but Brazil have a cushion ahead of Sweden with their win.

Win their first two matches and Brazil might just be in, setting up a World Championship quarter-final in Dortmund. For de Paula, it would be her second in her career after the one at Spain 2021, when Brazil lost against Denmark, 25:30.

But now, de Paula, who is featuring in her fifth edition of the World Championship, having scored 88 goals in 29 matches so far, is in her prime. Aged 29, she looks unstoppable.

“We are in a good mood and we want to get further in the competition,” smiles de Paula.

And just maybe, she can be the one the young kids who are just starting handball in Brazil can look up to when playing in the final stages of the World Championship. 

A model for a country which lives life just like de Paula plays – fast, passionate and dazzling.