A two-decade wait, but it is worth it for German men

Back on home sand, at Duisburg 2005, Germany lost to Croatia in the bronze medal match (2-1, 22:24, 20:16, SO 5:4) to break not only the fans hearts, but the players too.

Little did the German side know at the time that the beach handball project at home would come to an end and they would have to wait a number of years or so before it restarted again – and now the fruits of that work, effectively resurrecting the sport in the northern European country has seen their women’s team win everything and now, their men’s team become European champions.

The result was an improvement for the Germans on their silver medal last time out, in Portugal in 2023. They claimed top spot this time around after seeing off Spain in a tense shoot-out. It was their first gold and third overall medal in the competition, after taking their first silver – also in Alanya, Turkiye – in 2004.

On their way to topping the podium, Germany’s men lost just once and conceded just three sets in the process. Their preliminary group campaign saw three 2-0 wins against Czechia (26:14, 26:10), Türkiye (18:16, 20:16) and Portugal (23:22, 26:20) before 2-0 main round victories against Poland (26:20, 30:18) and Denmark (26:18, 21:20), their sole defeat coming against current The World Games and World Championship holders – and four-time EURO winners – Croatia 1-2 (20:26, 22:13, SO 8:10).

A quarter-final win against Italy 2-0 (22:20, 27:20) then set up a semi-final match-up and chance for revenge against Croatia, which Morten Franke’s team did, seeing off Mladen Paradzic’s side 2-1 (18:26, 22:20, SO 7:6), thanks to a Robin John single pointer and two saves from Mortiz Erbert.

At Chengdu 2025 they will once again face Croatia and Portugal, in their preliminary group, Brazil making up the quartet. 

“It's a really, really tough group, but that's why we are at The World Games – we are competing with the best teams in the world,” said coach Marten Franke ahead of the event.

“We are lucky to have such a really high level, competitive group, with The World Games and World Championship champions Croatia, world championship bronze medallists Portugal, and us, who finished fourth, plus Brazil, who are a top world championship and The World Games winner over the last 20 years,” said the 30-year-old, who represented Germany at youth level in the indoor game and played beach with club side Nordlichter, winning the German championship.

“With every win in the preliminary round, we have a chance to get a better position for a good quarter-final spot, so we will try our best, but from the perspective of the other preliminary group, it's nearly not so important which place you finish in the preliminary group because you will face one of the top teams in the world in the quarter-finals. It will be very interesting to see what will happen.”

Goalkeeper Oliver Middell was voted into the EURO All-star Team, but he will not be in Chengdu due to a number of players nursing injuries or their club teams unable to release them. The pair of Matthew Wollin and Lauro Pichiri, who have been part of the German team in every big tournament since 2021 and 2022 respectively, are also out, with their focus now on developing their indoor club season.

Despite the missing players, coach Franke has named a strong squad of 10, led by 34-year-old captain Robin John.

“Despite winning the European Championships, taking part in The World Games will be the highlight of this beach season for us,” he said. “This huge sporting event will surpass everything we have experienced so far. Nevertheless, our focus is fully on our sporting goals and we will have to work hard for every victory and focus on our strengths.”

20-year-old Lennart Wormann now gets his chance to impress Franke after picking up an injury just before the EURO following his debut in June against France. “He is a very agile player,” said Franke. “He has a strong understanding of the game. He gives us a lot of tactical flexibility and will make us even more inexhaustible.”

18-year-old Jannis Herr is the youngster of the group, part of a trio of players, alongside Lars Zelser and Lennart Liebeck who come from club side TSG Münster, which is close to Frankfurt and a powerhouse region for German beach handball.

To qualify for Chengdu 2025 Germany recorded a fourth place finish at the 2024 IHF Men’s Beach Handball World Championship in China last year.

They faced two Chengdu 2025 opponents in Pingtan 12 months ago, seeing off Portugal 2-0 and losing to Croatia 0-2 in the main round. Potential The World Games quarter-final opponents Spain were beaten 2-1 at the same stage in the world championship, before Denmark (semi-final) and Portugal (bronze) handed the Germans two 2-0 defeats in a row.

Coach: Marten Franke
Key players: Robin John (Specialist), Lennart Liebeck (Left Wing)
Qualification information: 4th – 2024 IHF Men’s Beach Handball World Championship
History in tournament: 2001: DNQ, 2005: 4th, 2009-2022: DNQ
Group at The World Games Chengdu 2025: Group A – Brazil, Germany, Croatia, Portugal