In their first two appearances at the IHF Men’s Youth World Championship, Iceland secured medals twice, the silver in 2009 and then the bronze in 2015, with a six-year hiatus between them sealing berths for the final tournament in the world handball flagship competition.

They will be at the start for the fourth consecutive edition after taking the 10th place in 2017 and the eighth place in 2019, but the Nordic side still has plenty to improve, as their performances have dropped over the last years.

Iceland made the final cut at Croatia 2023 after finishing on the 10th place at the M18 EHF EURO 2022, but they were hardly impressive in the competition with a single win in the preliminary round against Poland, only bouncing back in the intermediate round with wins over Montenegro and Italy.

However, their recent performances have been truly impressive, with a 34:27 win over the Netherlands and a 27:21 win over Germany in a friendly tournament played mid-July, with some excellent performances from key players like Kjartan Þór Júlíusson and Reynir Þór Stefánsson.

Iceland will surely need more of that at the 2023 IHF Men’s Youth World Championship, where they are featuring in what projects to be the most balanced group in the preliminary round, with fellow European side Czechia, a plucky Japan team and the reigning champions Egypt, who will definitely aim to secure another medal.

Key players: Isak Steinsson (goalkeeper), Kjartan Þór Júlíusson (right back), Reynir Þór Stefánsson (left back)
Qualification for Croatia 2023: M18 EHF EURO 2022 – 10th place 
History in the tournament: 2009: 2nd, 2015: 3rd, 2017: 10th, 2019: 8th 
Group at Croatia 2023: Group C (Egypt, Iceland, Japan, Czechia)