Spain have been a powerhouse in men’s handball over the last two decades, delivering consistent performances at major international competitions. Since 1996, when they secured their first medal at the Olympic Games, they went on to clinch 18 medals at the IHF Men’s World Championship, the Olympic Games and the EHF EURO.

Basically, Spain secured a place on the podium in 18 of the 35 major international competitions they had featured in since 1996, which basically reads that “Los Hispanos” had a medal in one in each two competitions they started in, a fantastic performance for a team which aims high once again at Paris 2024.

Nevertheless, with an aging core, albeit with plenty of experience, Jordi Ribera’s side has made a step back in the last year. At the EHF EURO 2024, they failed to progress to the main round, and ended up on the 13th place, their lowest finish in history in the European competition. Moreover, in the 2025 IHF Men’s World Championship – European Qualification, Spain eked out a 54:53 aggregate win against Serbia, only a timely comeback in the second leg seeing “Los Hispanos” progress to the competition.

But when it really mattered, in the Olympic Qualification Tournament #1, which Spain hosted in Granollers, the European side took it up a notch and their experience was crucial in delivering three clear wins – 39:27 against Bahrain, 32:22 against Slovenia and 28:26 against Brazil – which saw them secure their place for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

With experienced players like Joan Cañellas, Antonio Garcia Robledo or Gedeon Guardiola, which will likely be at their last Olympic Games edition, Spain will undergo a transitional period in the close future, but will surely aim to add another medal to their already impressive collection of four bronze medals at the Olympic Games, secured at Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000, Beijing 2008 and Tokyo 2020.

However, that objective will not be easy to complete for Spain, which have a tough group on their hands, with five other European sides, plus the sole Asian side in the competition, Japan, which is coached by another Spanish mastermind, Antonio Carlos Ortega, who has intimate knowledge of the Spain team, as he coaches plenty of players at club level, at FC Barcelona.

The battles against Croatia – a team which eliminated Spain at the EHF EURO 2024 – Germany, Slovenia, Sweden and Japan in Group A, will be fiery, and will rekindle some special rivalries, as Spain and Sweden also met in the bronze medal match at the 2023 IHF Men’s World Championship, where “Los Hispanos” took the medal.

"We knew that any of the groups would be difficult, taking into account the level of the teams at the Games. The most important thing will be to qualify for the quarter-finals and, if we manage to do so, we know that all the teams in the draw will be very tough," said Spain’s coach, Jordi Ribera.

“Croatia clearly beat us at the last European Championship, Sweden were the European Champions in 2022 , Japan are a strong Asian side, both Germany and Slovenia are great powers. Our group is the one with the most European teams and there is a high level,” concluded Ribera.

Spain

Coach: Jordi Ribera
Key players: Gonzalo Pérez de Vargas (goalkeeper), Alex Dujshebaev (right back), Aleix Gomez (right wing), Joan Cañellas (left back)
Qualification for Paris 2024: Olympic Qualification Tournament #1: 1st place
Previous appearances: 1972: 15th, 1980: 5th, 1984: 8th, 1988: 9th, 1992: 5th, 1996: Bronze medal, 2000: Bronze medal, 2004: 7th, 2008: Bronze medal, 2012: 7th, 2020: Bronze medal
Group at Paris 2024: Group A: Spain, Croatia, Germany, Slovenia, Sweden, Japan