A constant presence at the IHF Women’s World Championship between 2001 and 2017, Tunisia have missed out on qualifying in 2019 and 2023, but now they are back after finishing on the third place at the 2024 CAHB African Women’s Handball Championship last December.

The African side’s best finish in the competition was at their inaugural appearance, in 1975, when they were 12th, with a stronger outing also in 2009, when they made it out of the preliminary round and finished on the 14th place.

Since that moment, Tunisia have won only nine matches, but only three of them were in the preliminary round, six of those wins coming in the President’s Cup. That means the African side needs to punch above their weight here, at Germany/Netherlands 2025, in order to book a better finish than in the previous appearances.

Having missed out on featuring in the previous edition of the IHF Women’s World Championship in 2023, the African side booked their tickets now via the 2024 CAHB African Women’s Handball Championship, where they had a slow start, but managed to bounce back.

In the preliminary round, they mustered a single win in five matches, against Uganda, while also drawing against Guinea, to finish fourth in the group standings. However, they bounced back, with a surprising win against Congo, 28:24, before losing against Senegal in the semi-finals, 18:26.

That win against Congo secured their place between the top 32 teams in the world and they even managed to finish on a high, with a 25:22 win against Egypt in the bronze medal match seeing Tunisia on the podium for the first time in four years.

Still, Tunisia have undergone a makeover in 2025, with a new coach at the helm, bringing plenty of experience in the squad. Pablo Morel, a former coach at French powerhouse Brest Bretagne Handball, who also coached Issy Paris and was an assistant for the Gabon men’s national team, was appointed in April.

Morel will have a challenge on his hands, as a friendly competition back in September saw Tunisia edge out Egypt once again, 25:24, draw against Greece, 26:26, and lose against North Macedonia, 27:34, with only the African side joining Tunisia at this edition of the World Championship.

With two other European sides in their group, France and Poland, Tunisia’s hopes will probably be relying on the match against the People’s Republic of China, where they aim to take a win and progress to the main round. That would certainly be a success for a team which retains most of its core from the past years and brings back plenty of experience in their provisional roster, with players like Rakia Rezgui, Sondes Hachana Ep Kerkeni and Aya Ben Abdallah still making the squad, just like at Spain 2021.

Key players: Rakia Rezgui (line player), Sondes Hachana Ep Kerkeni (centre back), Aya Ben Abdallah (right wing)

Coach: Pablo Morel

Qualification for Germany/Netherlands 2025: 2024 CAHB African Women’s Handball Championship: 3rd place

History in tournament: 1975: 12th, 2001: 19th, 2003: 18th, 2007: 15th, 2009: 14th, 2011: 18th, 2013: 17th, 2015: 21st, 2017: 24th, 2021: 27th 

Group at Germany/Netherlands 2025: Group F (France, Poland, Tunisia, People’s Republic of China)