Hungary’s best performance at the IHF Women’s World Championship came 60 years ago, when the European side won their maiden and their only title in the history of the competition.

This has been celebrated by the current iteration of the Hungary team with a stylish shirt, a white shirt with strong horizontal accent stripes across the chest: a bold red band above a green one, echoing the national flag.

It is a tribute to the shirt which Hungary won their only world title 60 years ago and the players are buzzing to wear it.

“I also think that it’s really cool. The meaning behind it is really inspiring for us. I think we played only one game in green, the other games we played in white. I feel like it gave us energy. Every time we wear the Hungarian national team jersey, it’s a special feeling. But now with this jersey, it feels a little bit different. Maybe we can feel the positive energy from the time when they could win the World Championship. So we are really proud to wear this jersey and I hope with our performance we can show that we are good enough to wear it,” says Hungary’s centre back Petra Vámos.

Vámos has announced herself as one of the top Hungarian players for the foreseeable future since winning the silver medal at the 2018 IHF Women’s Youth World Championship with Hungary, a team which has constantly been in the medal conversation in the younger age categories on the world stage for almost a decade now.

 

Then, Vámos led that generation to an European gold in 2019 and it was also six years ago when she made her debut in the senior national team. Since then, she amassed 102 caps for Hungary, scoring more than 270 goals.

And at the 2025 IHF Women’s World Championship, Vámos is an integrant part of the squad which made the quarter-finals for the first time since 2013. With 18 goals, she is the team’s third best scorer, just behind Gréta Márton and Katrin Klujber. But her 23 assists put her on the fifth place in the top assists standings, making it clearer that the centre back orchestrates everything in the team’s attack.

“I think we developed a lot in the last few years. I think the people who watched us at the Olympic Games and then at the EURO could see the development,” says Vámos.

But the pressure was high. Hungary always had big ambitions, with eight medals won in history at the IHF Women’s World Championship. 30 years ago, they won the silver, when they co-hosted the competition with Austria. Then, in 2003 and 2005, they won the silver and the bronze.

But since then, their best finish was the eighth place, at France 2007 and Serbia 2013. And for 12 years, they had never fought for a medal, struggling to find a balance in the team, while ending on the 10th place at Spain 2021 and Denmark/Norway/Sweden 2023.

“I think for Hungary it was really difficult to change the generation because we had really strong teams and they achieved big results for Hungary. Then a younger generation came and I feel like we had to be the first in our positions very early. We needed some years to get experience and to be better and better,” says Vámos.

“The leaders of this team are playing in the Champions League now. They play a lot, they have responsibility in the team and they know what their role is. We also have really young players who are brave and they have a lot of dynamism, they are explosive, they want to be part of this team. To come to the Hungarian national team is a privilege and we love to be here, we love to be with each other outside of the court. It’s a great atmosphere here. It’s a totally different team than before, it’s hard to compare them.”

 

But while stalwarts like Anita Görbicz, Ágnes Farkas, Bojana Radulovics or Katalin Pálinger are not in the team anymore, this current Hungary side really provides some excellent quality. Speed, skill, but, most of all, resilience.

Hungary did not have it easy so far at the 2025 IHF Women’s World Championship. They struggled for the first half against Senegal and Switzerland, but mounted sturdy comebacks in the second halves.

Against Romania, they also let their opponents come back before finally pulling away in the last 10 minutes. And against Japan, they were down by six goals, but eventually bounced back and salvaged a draw, and, with it, sealed the highly-sought quarter-finals berth, putting Hungary back in the top-8 of the World Championship for the first time since 2013.

“I feel like this power comes from the team. We know each other really well and we know how to help our teammates, to come back into the game and fight again. I have the feeling that tactically we developed a lot. Even if we don’t play really well, we know what the problem is. In defence, we are not aggressive enough, we don’t help each other, so we know what the problem is and we go to the dressing room and we can figure it out together and talk about it,” says Vámos.

“Against Senegal and Switzerland, we could turn the game in the second half. I think this is our power, that we never give up. We can always give a little bit more. We have really great players with great mentality. In the critical moments, someone can step up, take responsibility, score one goal, save one ball, and then we are back in the game. I think our team is pretty strong.”

 

Vámos made her first steps in handball at the Nemzeti Kézilabda Akadémia – the Hungarian Handball Academy – before moving to Debrecen, where she played with her younger sister, Mira, before moving for her first club outside of Hungary, at French champions Metz Handball.

There, the 25-year-old centre back added some more dimensions to her game, scoring 62 goals in the previous season of the EHF Champions League Women and 26 goals in this season, while also winning the domestic double in France.

“I’ve learned a lot in Metz. I feel like I developed in every area or every aspect of handball. I grew as a player and as a person too. Even in the difficult times I could feel the support, that they believed in me. For me this is really important, that the coach trusts me, my teammates trust me. Even if I make a mistake, I can see in their eyes that they know what I’m capable of and they know how to motivate me. So I’m really happy to be there and I feel like I developed a lot as a playmaker. Now I understand the game more and I can choose the situations and the things that we play in attack better,” concludes Vámos, who is eager to shine in the last match of the main round at Germany/Netherlands 2025, when Hungary take on group leaders Denmark on Sunday.