Despite losing the final of the 2024 Men's IHF Trophy North America and the Caribbean against the United States of America back in December 2024, 25:26, Mexico were sure of qualifying for the 2025 IHF Men’s Junior World Championship.

It marked a premiere for the Mexico team, which had never been part of such a competition and a huge milestone for a country which has been making more and more strides on their continent, as well as making appearances at the IHF World Championship editions in the younger age categories in the women’s competitions.

But for these young players, having the chance of be part of such a competition, despite meeting powerhouses like France and Denmark, it is a huge help, a boost of confidence and a moment to remember in their pursuit of improvement.

“Well, it's a pride for everyone to represent our country against some of the best teams in the world, teams which are very strong. But we have tried to play our game. Sometimes, it is very difficult, because these sides are very strong. But we are here to learn and develop,” says Mexico’s line player Enric Carreno Toral.

Between the 16 players making the trip to Poland for this IHF Men’s Junior World Championship edition, Carreno Toral is arguably the most experienced one. Born in Barcelona, Spain, he has been part of the youth squads of FC Barcelona, spending some time also in Germany, at SG BBM Bietigheim, the team coached by Spanish coach Iker Romero until the end of this season.

While the other players are mostly based in Mexico, Carreno Toral, born to a Mexican mother in Spain, is now featuring at Club Handbol La Salle Montcada, in the Spanish third league.

“I played at Barcelona and at Bietigheim and both those experienced taught me a lot. I was for three years in Germany and that helped me become a better player. I learned the Spanish tactics and then I learned a lot about the physical development in Germany. Now I try to help everyone in this team, of course,” adds the line player.

Nevertheless, the path towards improvement is not easy, especially for Mexico, which cannot face strong opponents throughout the whole year. Therefore, in their debut at the 2025 IHF Men’s Junior World Championship, the North American side was simply dominated by France, constantly put into a tough situation, forcing plenty of turnovers.

In fact, in their 17:46 loss against France, Mexico converted only 17 shots, for a 36% attacking efficiency. They turned the ball over 19 times and allowed France to create 22 fast break chances, conceding 21 goals in the transition. Their goalkeepers saved only 13% of the shots they faced.

All in all, it was a tough debut, but Mexico are confident that they have something to learn from and will definitely improve in the future, with patience and an attention to detail, which are just being delivered now.

“We have learned a lot for these days. Mexico is going to take big steps in the future. We are really preparing for this generation to become better and better. We are going to take big steps and then we'll see what happens,” said Carreno Toral.

And the line player is confident that handball can become more and more popular in the country, once more and more players take up the sport and it grows throughout a country with a population of nearly 130 million people.

“I see that the kids have to start to enjoy it and play more and more. From the beginning, from the bottom of the pyramid, and that is the most important. We try to add more and more players and we hope it is going to be good,” concluded Carreno Toral.