The Portugal men’s beach handball team took bronze at the last world championship in 2024 and have quickly become a force to be reckoned with, despite the Portuguese Handball Federation only starting their beach handball programme fully in 2019, following a silver gained by their men’s youth side at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Over the past two years, China has been a good hunting ground for Portugal.

First, the 2024 IHF Men’s Beach Handball World Championship held on Pingtan Island saw Portugal claim bronze in just their second-ever global event, when they defeated Germany 2-0 in the 3/4 placement match, with captain Ricardo Castro later making the All-star Team.

Then, just over a year later, Portugal suffered heartbreak, but also happiness, as they claimed silver at The World Games 2025 in Chengdu.

On the shores of Xinglong Lake they made it all the way through to the final in their debut The World Games appearance, taking newly-crowned European champions Germany all the way, before losing via shoot-out, 2-1 (18:21, 19:18, SO 8:6). Portugal had won the first set and tied at 18:18 in the second, but a final second single-pointer from Germany captain Robin John put it to shots.

Tiago Costa (MVP) and Simao Santos (line player) were both selected for the Chengdu 2025 All-star Team and will be two key players at Croatia 2026.

Portugal have been drawn to play Spain, Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States of America in their preliminary group after securing qualification in Turkiye last year when they finished sixth at the 2025 EHF European Beach Handball Championship after losing to France in an epic 17:16 shoot-out.

They met the USA at China 2024, defeating them 2-0 in the main round and have lost twice and won once again Spain on the IHF Beach Handball Global Tour in recent years. Iran have beaten Portugal twice – both at the 2022 World Championship, losing 2-1 in the main round and 2-1 in the 9/10 placement match.

“It’s a difficult group, as you would expect in a world championship,” said coach Pedro Serrano to portal.fpa.pt about the Croatia 2026 draw.

“Spain has a very similar style of play to ours, and matches between the two teams are usually balanced. The United States and Iran are physically very strong teams, but our goal is to reach the main round with as many points as possible, and then look to qualify for the quarter-finals.

“This world championship represents an opportunity for Portugal to show how much it loves this sport. We will fight with all our strength for everyone who supports us and to continue growing as a team.”

To prepare for Croatia 2026, Portugal have been working hard at a training camp in Leiria under the leadership of coach Pedro Serrano who introduced the experienced indoor national team player Pedro Portela to the squad.

On the indoor courts, the Leiria native was part of the Portugal team that reached the semi-finals of the 2025 World Championship for the first time in their history as well as being part of the 2026 European Men's Championship team, where they also recorded an historic ranking – fifth.

“We began this first stage of preparation with a group of 16 players, of whom 10 will have the privilege and responsibility of representing Portugal at Croatia 2026,” said Serrano.

“We enter this phase with great enthusiasm and confidence in the potential of these players. We are well aware of their quality and we know that we have a talented, committed group with an enormous desire to work. These days of preparation will be fundamental for us to continue growing as a team, reinforce our identity and prepare in the best possible way for a competition as demanding as a world championship.

“Our goal is to continue the work we have been developing,” he added. “We want to continue strengthening our defensive consistency, which is one of the foundations of our game, and at the same time, increase our offensive options. We are confident that this preparation period will allow us to evolve even further and arrive in Zagreb in the best possible condition, to represent Portugal with ambition, competitiveness and immense pride.”

Portugal have experience of Lake Jarun, host venue for Croatia 2026, both as a team and individually, with a number of players regularly playing for their club teams at the prestigious Jarun Cup event, the traditional curtain-raiser for the European Beach Handball Tour (ebt), over the years.

And as a team, Portugal have very recent experience of the sand they will be playing on later this month after participating in the first stage of the 2026 IHF Beach Handball Global Tour. They beat Serbia and Portugal in the preliminary group but then lost to Croatia twice – first in the preliminary group stage and then in the final, losing the shoot-out 7:4.

“After this first training camp, the vibe is great, the quality of the team is extremely high, and it’s clear that this group has been improving steadily,” said Castro to ihf.info.

“The new athletes who have joined the team bring immense quality and this instils a lot of confidence and a great feeling heading into Croatia 2026. We look forward to it with great enthusiasm, but also with a sense of responsibility and immense ambition.

“We want more than we did at the last world championship – that’s the feeling. We’re aware of the difficulty and level of competition, but at the same time, we’re aware of our own quality, and that’s exactly why we’re not afraid to say that we want more and we’re going in with that mindset.”

Coach: Pedro Serrano
    
Key Players: Ricardo Castro, Gabriel Conceicao, Tiago Costa

Qualification information: 2025 EHF European Beach Handball Championship – 6th

History in Tournament: 2004-2018: DNQ, 2022: 10th, 2024: 3rd

Group at Croatia 2026: Group A: Spain, Portugal, Islamic Republic of Iran, United States of America