Croatia 2026 represents the 20th anniversary of the debut appearance of Uruguay’s women at the IHF Women’s Beach Handball World Championship after the South American side finished ninth at the event held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 2006.

Since then, the team has appeared seven more times, including their current residence in Zagreb on the shores of Lake Jarun.

Their best-ever ranking (6th) was gained in 2012 but after qualifying through to the main round of Croatia 2026 on Wednesday (24 June), they have now put themselves in a strong position to at least equal, if not better their best ranking of the past 10 years (10th in 2018).

And to get to the championships, they not only had one of the longest journeys in distance – 12,000km – but qualification periods, finishing third in the SCAHC championships in Argentina in February, meaning they would have to then play in the second phase qualification event in Peru in April which they duly won to qualify through to Croatia 2026.

“We were in a long process to be here and we sacrificed a lot to be here; study, work and spent a lot of money, our money,” said Uruguay’s Romina Boschiero Mari about the team huddle with coach Maximiliano Malfatti after they secured a main spot by defeating Vietnam in a shoot-out in front of a handful of supporters who made the journey with them.

“It's incredible to be here, to play, to represent our country and have the support of the federation and all the Uruguayan people. It's a pleasure to be here, a pleasure to go to the main round, and we will work hard to do the best there.”

 

In the main round, Uruguay will face Spain, Croatia and Puerto Rico, but having already played 2024 title-holders Germany – taking them to a shoot-out – and bronze medallists Netherlands, nothing fazes Mari and her side.

“We treat all teams as equal and we don't care who the other team is,” she said with a big smile. “When we played Germany, we knew who they were, that they were strong and they are the world champions but what was important for us at the moment is to play how we know we can play. We just want to play our game how we're playing and we want to win. It’s simple: just win.”

While Uruguay’s senior women are the face of the team internationally, the U17 youth squad are making waves on a global level too. One of the teams competing at the upcoming 2026 Youth Olympic Games in Dakar, Senegal, they finished fifth at the 2025 IHF Women’s Youth Beach Handball World Championships last year in Tunisia, a feat that Mari said made her and her whole team “proud”.

And for senior women’s coach Maximiliano Malfatti, who was assistant coach for the Uruguay women last year and who has selected youth player Julia Rotundo in his side for Croatia 2026, it is an exciting time.

“We had a very good championship last year and we have another camp in our country with the main girls that will represent us in Dakar in a couple of months,” he said. “We are very excited for them, because we have a very good next generation of players in that age, which means we can compete on that stage for a small country like us. We have a good group of players in our country that want to play beach handball and want to play and represent our country.”

 

In the present, Uruguay will be hoping to make it through to the quarter-finals, but know the task is a tough one.

However, after that long qualification period, it is a case of not only being happy to have qualified once more after missing out in 2024, but to be competitive on the sand.

“After two phases of qualification, one in our neighbouring country Argentina and one a long, costly trip to Peru means it a gift for us to be here but Uruguay have history in men’s and women’s beach handball, so, for us, it's very important to maintain that and be here in Croatia,

“We are playing a good championship here so far because we have seven world championship debutants in our team and they are gaining experience. Yes, our first two matches were very tough against Netherlands and Germany, but our team competed well. We went to shoot-out with Germany, and this is for us very good. Our first objective here was to beat Vietnam (and qualify for the main round), and we did it so now begins another championship for us with the main round and another experience for the players.”

As Uruguay gear up to try and make history, coach Malfatti reflected on an emotional, positive pre-championship message from the President of the Uruguayan Handball Federation, Gustavo Modernell to his team before Croatia 2026 where he called the team a ‘…a tremendous source of pride and joy for the entire Uruguayan handball community’, and underlined that ‘…we know exactly how much work it took to get there... with countless training sessions, long journeys, personal and family sacrifices, and a group of players and coaches who never stopped believing’. 

 

“It's tremendous the difference it makes,” said an emotional Malfatti when asked about the support of the President and the federation “Our President, Gustavo, and the delegates we there are making things more easy than in previous years. 

“Maybe it doesn't matter that we don’t have too much money, but it matters that they are present, facilitating things, places to train, being at our practices and asking us if we need something.

“Being present, being with us, near us and having a fluid conversation, it facilitates us a lot, and it makes it not only easier, but pleasant too.”