After a four-year hiatus caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the IHF Men’s Youth World Championship returns with the first edition with a 32-team line-up, an increase of eight teams from the previous edition, North Macedonia 2019, which prompted the first non-European winner, Egypt.

With the previous edition, which was scheduled in 2021 in Greece, cancelled, the best 32 teams in this age category – Under 19 – will get back into the arena to try and secure the gold medal, with certain favourites at the start, but also with six debutants – Burundi, Czechia, the Faroe Islands, Montenegro, Rwanda and the United States of America – lining up at the start.

The 116 matches – a record for the competition – will be hosted by four different venues in Croatia – the Varaždin Arena in Varaždin, the Josip Samardžija-Bepo Arena in Koprivnica, the Centar Zamet in Rijeka and the Sports Hall Marino Cvetković in Opatija.

Eight groups of four teams each will be played in the preliminary round, with the same system as in the IHF Men’s Junior World Championship, which took place in June in Germany and Greece, used: the first two sides in each group will progress to the main round, while the others head to the President’s Cup.

The knockout phase, including the quarter-finals, semi-finals, bronze-medal game and the big final, will be hosted by Varaždin in the 5,400-seater Varaždin Arena, which also hosted games at the 2009 IHF Men’s World Championship, after its inauguration in 2008.

Four teams will take part for the ninth time in the IHF Men’s Youth World Championship – Argentina, hosts Croatia, Denmark and Egypt – the only sides to have played in each and every edition of the world handball flagship competition in this age category.

The preliminary round will start on Wednesday, 2 August, and will feature 16 matches on the first day, with all sides playing for the first time in the competition. In Varaždin and Opatija, the games will start at 13:00 CEST, with the competition throwing off with Portugal meeting Rwanda and Germany facing Saudi Arabia, as hosts Croatia enter the fray at 19:30 CEST in Varaždin after the opening ceremony.

The 2023 IHF Men’s Youth World Championship will conclude with the big final scheduled for Sunday, 13 August, at 20:00 CEST.

2023 IHF Men’s Youth World Championship – first-day schedule

Group A (in Varaždin)
13:00 Portugal vs Rwanda
19:30 Croatia vs Algeria

Group B (in Varaždin)
15:00 Hungary vs Morocco
17:00 Slovenia vs New Zealand

Group C (in Koprivnica)
13:30 Egypt vs Iceland
15:30 Iceland vs Czechia

Group D (in Koprivnica)
17:30 Spain vs Brazil
19:30 Republic of Korea vs Bahrain

Group E (in Rijeka)
13:30 Denmark vs Chile
15:30 Austria vs Mexico

Group F (in Rijeka)
17:30 Norway vs North Macedonia
19:30 Montenegro vs Georgia

Group G (in Opatija)
13:00 Germany vs Saudi Arabia
15:00 Argentina vs United States of America

Group H (in Opatija)
17:00 Sweden vs Islamic Republic of Iran
19:00 Faroe Islands vs Burundi
*all hours are CEST

Photo: Handball Federation Croatia