In 2019, North Macedonia made their debut at the IHF Men's Youth World Championship, which took place in their home country. The Europeans did quite a decent job, progressing to the last 16 from their group and ultimately taking the 13th position.

Four years later, the Balkan side are heading into their second straight World Championship. North Macedonia secured their participation in the tournament last August when they won the M18 EHF Championship 2 2022 in Riga, finishing ahead of Switzerland, home side Latvia and Luxembourg, Türkiye, Belgium and Kosovo.

In the decisive game against Switzerland, North Macedonia were down 20:22 with seven minutes to go, but they showed character, as a 4:0 run in the remaining time saw them grab a 24:22 win and secure a spot at Croatia 2023.

Now the European team, which have some promising talents in their squad, hope to show their fighting spirit again. It will not be easy for them to progress from the group with Norway, Montenegro and Georgia, but the North Macedonians are determined to do a good job. 

Key players: David Brestovac (goalkeeper), Tomislav Dimkovski (centre back), Aleksandar Petkovski (right wing)
Qualification for Croatia 2023: M18 EHF Championship 2 2022 – 1st place
History in tournament: 2019: 13th
Group at Croatia 2023: Group F (Norway, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Georgia)