As the clear continental leaders Vietnam women will be hoping to move up a level at Croatia 2026, after finishing inside the top 10 on two of their three previous world championship appearances.

Vietnam’s best-ever global performance and ranking came at the 2019, debut edition of the ANOC World Beach Games in Doha, Qatar. In the preliminary stage, expected losses against the previous two world champions – Greece 0-2 (22:24, 15:16) and a tight defeat to Spain 1-2 (18:23, 23:18, SO 5:8) – were cancelled out by wins over Poland 2-1 (20:21, 22:16, SO 7:4), People’s Republic of China 2-0 (23:16, 26:15) and Australia 2-0 (17:16. 26:9).

This set up a quarter-final spot against Argentina, full of impetus after some of their squad and coaches had won the Youth Olympic Games gold medal a year earlier, but the Asian champions defeated the South Americans 2-1 (31:22, 16:20, SO 9:8).

But the business end of the tournament was a step too far with two 0-2 losses in the semi-final, against Hungary (14:25, 12:16) and bronze medal match against Brazil (14:26, 18:23) finishing off their campaign. 

They travel to Zagreb as 2025 AHF Women’s Asian Beach Handball Championship winners – which saw them qualify for Croatia 2026 – and 2026 Asian Beach Games champions.

The Asian championship last year saw Hanh lead Vietnam to their third, successive title (2022, 2023, 2025), defeating India, Hong Kong and Philippines twice, 2-0, in the round-robin event held at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex in Muscat, Oman.

The Vietnamese side ended with a plus points total of 121, on 12 points, with Philippines finishing in second on eight points (+27), followed by India (2, -79) and Hong Kong, China (2, -69).

At The World Games a few months later in China, Vietnam finished eighth after losing 2-1 to Croatia in the 7/8 placement match.

This year has already seen a gold medal claimed by Vietnam, as the Asian champions topped the podium at the 2026 Asian Beach Games in Sanya in April, despite China pushing them all the way in a tense gold medal shoot-out, Vietnam ending as 2-1 (20:18, 20:21, SO 9:6) winners. Up until that point, Vietnam had won all their games without conceding a set, 2-0. In the preliminary group stage they beat Thailand, Hong Kong and Philippines and then Turkmenistan in the semi-final. 

Captained by Ha Thi Hanh, Vietnam will face Uruguay, Netherlands and Germany at Croatia 2026 in their preliminary group. While they will face Netherlands for the first time, world championship title-holders Germany beat Vietnam 2-0 at The World Games 2025, while Uruguay were beaten at the 2018 IHF Women’s Beach Handball World Championship.

Coach Huynh Minh Ngon can call on five players in his squad who have played in every world championship since Vietnam qualified for the first time (2018), including captain Ha Thi Hanh, an inspirational leader for her team.

Once rejected by other sports because her physique was considered too small and unsuitable, she found her dream of pursuing sports come true when a coach suggested she switch to handball, which she did, playing both indoor and beach since 2014, taking over the captaincy of the Vietnam beach handball team in 2020 and continuing to play despite a catalogue of injuries, including a fractured nasal bone, torn ankle ligaments and ruptured knee ligaments.

The player has also received three Certificates of Merit from the Prime Minister of Vietnam, the Second Class Labor Medal, and numerous Certificates of Merit from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Hanoi People's Committee. 

“With a country which has such long beaches, the conditions for us to play beach handball is very easy,” explained Hạnh to ihf.info about the secret to their success. “Although we Vietnamese are small, we have a strong will, so to win three consecutive championships, we have tried very hard to practice every day to get the results we have today.”

Teammate Ngoc Trinh also explained the importance of long-time coach of the side, Ngon Huynh Minh. “We are very grateful to have our coach leading us,” she said. “He has helped us a lot to get the results, and let’s not also forget the hard work and effort of my teammates, I am very proud of them.”

Coach: Huynh Minh Ngon
Key Players: Ha Thi Hanh, Pham Thi My Hang, Dam Thi Thanh Huyen, Lu Ngoc Trinh, Nguyen Thi Tra My
Qualification information: 2025 AHF Women’s Asian Beach Handball Championship – 1st 
History in Tournament: 2004-2016: DNQ, 2018: 9th, 2022: 13th, 2024: 9th

Group at Croatia 2026: Group A: Germany, Netherlands, Vietnam, Uruguay