The 2024 IHF Men’s Club World Championship, the 17th edition of the world club handball flagship competition, will throw off on Friday, 27 September, with three matches scheduled in the New Administrative Capital Hall, as the competition returns to Egypt for the first time since 2007.

GROUP A

• 21:00 EEST Handebol Taubaté (BRA) vs Zamalek SC (EGY)

GROUP B

• 18:30 EEST Sydney Uni (AUS) vs Al-Ahly (EGY)

GROUP C

• 15:00 EEST California Eagles (USA) vs Khaleej Club (KSA)

With nine clubs at the start – three from Europe, two from Africa and one from Asia, Oceania, North America and South America each – the 2024 IHF Men’s Club World Championship returns in full fledge, with a three-match card, with the European teams not entering the fray in the first day.

A rehash of the number of participating teams meant that the competition structure is also changed, with three groups of three teams each in the preliminary round, with the winners of each group, plus the best second-placed side progressing to the semi-finals.

In the first day of the competition, both Egyptian sides – hosts Al-Ahly and the runners-up of the CAHB African Men’s Supercup, Zamalek SC – will take on the court, in matches where they are favourites, at least on paper.

Now coached by Stefan Madsen, Aalborg Handbold’s former head coach, Al-Ahly, featuring for the fifth time in the competition, will be aiming to return to the semi-finals of the IHF Men’s Club World Championship, just like they did in 2022, when they finished on the fourth place.

With a strong core of Egyptian players, Al-Ahly, the champions of the last two editions of the domestic league, are aiming to win big against Sydney Uni, the Australian side which returns for the 11th time to the competition, after a one-year hiatus.

A large win is pivotal for Al-Ahly’s chances to secure a semi-finals place, either from the first or the second place in the group, before they face Barcelona in the last day of the preliminary round, on Sunday. The Australian side is the team with the largest number of appearances in the competition, 11, but have finished on the last place in five of the last six editions.

The first match of this edition of the IHF Men’s Club World Championship will see a debutant, the California Eagles, take on Khaleej Club, the winners of the 2023 AHF Asian Club League Championship.

The Eagles, which won the 2024 NACHC North American and Caribbean Senior Club Championship, will have a new coach on their bench, with Danilo Rojevic, the one who helped the team secure the continental title, being replaced by Gonzalo Carou, the former Argentina captain, who acted as the assistant coach for the South American side at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

With a mix of American players and some oversea ones, the Eagles are an unknown quantity so far and Carou has emphasised that the attention will shift on the final matches of the competition. However, the test against Khaleej will surely be one where California Eagles will learn a thing or two.

The Saudi side is now taking part for the third consecutive time in the competition, albeit devoid of stars like Petar Nenadic, who took the court for Khaleej in the last edition, when the Saudi side hosted the IHF Men’s Club World Championship. Khaleej finished sixth each of the last two editions, and they will hope for a bump in the standings, therefore aiming for a big win against the Eagles, before their match against SC Magdeburg.

Zamalek SC will return to the competition for the first time since 2021 and for the sixth time in total, have never finished lower than the fifth place, which was secured in 2019 and 2021.

The Egyptian side has a star-studded history and plenty of experience in their roster, but probably had the worst draw in the competition, facing Brazilian side Handebol Taubaté, which won the 2024 South and Central American Club Championship back in June.

Taubaté will be for the eighth time in the competition, with their best result being the fifth place in 2017, and have a team with a strong Brazilian core, albeit some young players, who do not have so much experience on the big stage. Nevertheless, the last match of the day promises to be the most balanced one in the first day, therefore making it an interesting conclusion of the maiden round of the IHF Men’s Club World Championship.