The quite incredible rise and dominance of Germany women’s beach handball (and their men’s team too) in recent years shows no signs of ending as Alexander Novakovic’s side come to Croatia 2026 hoping to continue making history and become the first women’s team to win three world titles in a row.

20 years ago Germany finished second at the 2006 World Championship and were also European champions too, but the German Handball Federation ended their beach programme soon after and playing on sand while representing their country was only a dream for players.

But new thinking emerged in the federation, the programme was resurrected and now success and medals have been non-stop with those two world championships since, plus two continental titles (2021, 2023), The World Games title (2022) and a variety of other medals.

The dominance was such that from 13 July 2021 to 28 May 2023 Alexander Novakovic’s side won every game – 34 in total – across four major championships, in a record that is unlikely to ever be equalled or beaten. This period saw Novakovic’s side win the EHF European Championship twice (2021, 2023), IHF World Championship (2022) and IWGA The World Games 2022 titles all without losing one match.

Rising at the same time though has been the Argentina women’s national team, and their newly-formed rivalry is inspiring both teams to reach even greater levels - not least with the defeat of the German side in the final of The World Games 2025 – a reverse of the 2024 world championship final result – will be something to anticipate on the Croatian sand.

A bronze was gained in the last EHF EURO (2025), with a shoot-out win over Netherlands, a team they will face in their Croatia 2026 preliminary group, along with Uruguay and Asian champions Vietnam.

“It's a moderately strong, absolutely manageable group which makes preparation even more enjoyable because they have different playing styles. We faced Netherlands in important medal matches over the last years (2023 EHF EURO Final) and it always was tough and really close, so that‘s exactly what I expect in Zagreb. Vietnam are a highly respectable opponent with a different playing style which makes it really interesting and Uruguay are strong enough for any surprise in the group,” said coach Novakovic.

“I will not forecast group or main round constellations because we will look after ourselves, playing game-by-game. We want to improve as the tournament progresses, achieve higher scoring percentages, and become more effective. I'll only start thinking about potential main round match-ups or anything beyond that once I see progress in our game.”

Novakovic has numerous, world-beating players to choose from, including defensive specialist and China 2024 All-star Team member Lucie-Marie Kretzschmar plus The World Games 2025 best defender Kirsten Walter.

One key omission though is key attacking player and The World Games All-star Team member, Belen Gettwart with injury but the next generation of young talents are ready to step up and “fully have our trust,” according to the coach.

At Croatia 2026 Isabel Kattner is set to play her 100th championship game and if she does, will become the second beach handball player in Germany to achieve this milestone behind co-captain Kirsten Walter.

“It’s good to be back in Croatia with the best teams in the world,” added coach Novakovic, whose grandmother and grandfather are from Zagreb and whose father was born in Skrad, where the coach lived until he moved to Germany, aged one.

“We like culture, food and the welcoming feeling of all people and try to give our best for sporting success We like culture, food and the welcoming feeling of all people and try to give our best for sporting success.”

As part of their preparation for Croatia 2026, Germany’s women recently won stage 2 of the 2026 IHF Beach Handball Global Tour in Poland.

Coach: Alexander Novakovic

Key Players: Amelie Mollmann, Lena Klingler, Julia Drachsler, Kirsten Walter, Lucie Marie Kretzschmar

Qualification information: 2024 IHF Women’s Beach Handball World Championship – 1st

History in Tournament: 2004: DNQ, 2006: 2nd, 2008-2018: DNQ, 2022: 1st, 2024: 1st

Group at Croatia 2026: Group A: Germany, Netherlands, Vietnam, Uruguay