The last two women’s global beach handball finals have seen the South American and European powerhouses of Argentina and Germany do battle on the sand, both in China.

In the 2024 IHF Women’s Beach Handball World Championship gold medal match on Pingtan Island last year Germany won 2-0 (24:16, 21:18), while at The World Games Chengdu 2025 final on Tuesday (12 August) Argentina took a 2-1 (14:20, 22:12, SO 7:2) victory.

Argentina’s squad for Chengdu 2025 featured four different players from China 2024, while Germany’s featured three changes – with both sides led by the same head coaches in Germany’s Alexander Novakovic and Argentina’s Leticia Brunati

And now, their head-to-head record in finals is 1-1.

“One year ago, after the World Championship final that there will be more finals for Germany and Argentina, maybe not another one in a year, but that the next one was coming,” said Novakovic to ihf.info after the gold medal match in Chengdu.

“These two teams are the strongest teams in the world right now and over the next years, there will be more finals and semi-finals between both Germany and Argentina, because both are doing a great job and I have respect for this.

“’Leti’ (Brunati) started with the young girls (for Buenos Aires 2018 Youth Olympic Games) and these girls are now women,” he added. “Last year, they were a little bit too young, but they learned in one year.”

And that thought is reinforced by Argentina’s Gisella Bonomi.

“They are very inspiring and their hard work is an example, they taught us about our own weaknesses, which helped us grow and become champions,” explained Bonomi about her opponents.

“The only time I have had a gold medal in my hands before it was a Youth Olympic Games one and my head did a movie with all the sacrifices, all the people that were cheering me up at home, all my teammates – we are not just this part of the team (on court), we are a bigger team and without this, it wouldn't be possible. I would do this 1,000 times again.”

A clear first set win for Germany (20:14), in the Chengdu 2025 final then saw Argentina bounce back in the second, going up 6:0 – and at one point it could have been 8:0 – before taking a 22:12 victory to send it to the shoot-out where Alma Molina in goal for Argentina restricted Novakovic’s side to just one goal.

That second set performance from Argentina was in stark contrast to the one against Spain in their semi-final which saw Brunati take a time out with barely a few minutes on the clock as her side found themselves 9:0 down.

“I think our country, is known for its craziness, and it's unpredictability,” said Bonomi about playing in a team with such differing performances set-to-set. “But we are unpredictable too and that's not something bad. It's more a virtue than a negative thing – it has its challenges, but it’s part of our nature.”

“We know that when Argentina comes into an emotional flow of play, then they will be there,” said Novakovic. “In the second half, and also the shoot-out, Argentina deserved it.

“In the first set we did a really good job, but I have to say, I'm sad about the second set, we could have done it better. In the shoot-out, I was missing the willingness of my players, to win. My team did not have the stronger willingness in the playing situations, in offence and defence, the last 5% in mental situations was missing in the second set – we did not do our best in that set and that’s the thing I am a little bit sad about.

“But, some weeks, some months ago, we would have taken silver for sure. We had a 16-year-old and 18-year-old player here and no specialist who has been playing the specialist role in the last year, so we had to integrate and adapt.  

“In the end, to underline it, I am proud of the tournament and proud of these girls but congratulations to Leti, my friend, her team and to the squad. I have the deepest respect for this performance, especially in the second set – it was a good job from all of them.”

After the disappointment of losing that world championship final last year, Brunati admitted that the experience gained from then until now had helped her team finally get to the top of the podium once more.

But she had a hard time to realise what she had achieved on the shore of Xinglong Lake.

“I can’t believe it. I am dreaming now – we are dreaming,” she said. “It was difficult because we couldn't play a lot of matches before this tournament, so we knew that our level was going to be up and down all the time, but like our semi-final against Spain, we know we are really strong at the shoot-out and in the final and then, the girls do it perfectly. We have all the potential (in Argentina) in the world for this sport.”

“This gold shows how popular and passionate our sport is,” added Bonomi. “All the players share their excitement with the crowd, and it helps inspire others to come and support beach handball in Argentina.

“It was the match I enjoyed the most because I lived in the present moment in it – I wasn't thinking that it had to end, I wasn't thinking about any medal. I was only thinking about enjoying the game.

“My team has a boundless future ahead. This is just the beginning.”

And the beach handball world cannot wait until round three between these two global powerhouses.