Financial issues meant Brazil missed the debut edition of the IHF Men’s Youth Beach Handball World Championships back in 2017, with the team pulling out of the competition late on.

But the then South and Central America champions arrived for the second edition, Greece 2022, fully-prepared and ended up with a silver.

However, it was an inauspicious start, as they relied on a win against Togo to qualify through to the main round after losses against France and Croatia.

Eventual bronze medallists Islamic Republic of Iran then beat them in the main round, but wins against Sweden and Qatar saw Brazil move into the knockout rounds, where they came to life, seeing off Spain 2-0 (19:18, 22:17) in the quarter-finals, then Iran again, but winning, this time, in the semi-finals 2:1 (12:18, 21:14, SO 8:4). 

And with a medal already in their pocket, they had nothing to lose against Croatia in the final, but in a tight game they lost via shoot-out, 9:6.

To qualify for Tunisia 2025, Brazil finished runners-up at the 2024 SACHC Men’s Youth Beach Handball Championship held in Chile which was won by Argentina by beating Brazil in a shoot-out (11:10) in their final game of the round-robin tournament. Brazil’s Newton Venzel Perdiz, scored 83 points to end as the tournament top-scorer.

The Brazil-Argentina rivalry is well-known in the world of sports, especially in football, but the two countries continue to swap continental dominance in the beach handball world. Brazil won the 2022 SCAHC championships which saw them qualify for Greece 2022 as champions, thanks to a 2-0 (20:19, 14:12) win over Argentina.

And the two sides will meet once again in the youth category with Argentina drawn in Brazil’s group at Tunisia 2025 alongside fellow South American side Uruguay – who Brazil saw off 2-1 (11:10, 14:17, SO 8:6) in Chile last year – and debutants Senegal.

“We are in a very competitive group, which promises great challenges,” said Brazil coach Junior Cardozo to ihf.info. “Argentina as our current continental champions, come with a very solid team and our last match with them was decided only by a shoot-out, showing the balance between the teams.

“Uruguay are a strong team, with its best youth generation on the rise. They have a left-handed player who stands out and we faced an extremely balanced match against them in our continental championship last year. Finally, despite being a less traditional team on the international scene, Senegal will host the next Youth Olympic Games and has been preparing intensely for the event.”

“We are in a challenging group, with tough games against Senegal, Uruguay and Argentina which will be decided by the details, as happened in the matches against the South American teams in the championship in Chile,” added captain Caio Tavares Azevedo to ihf.info.

“Our first game against Senegal will be fundamental in our journey towards our main goals: reaching the final and guaranteeing qualification for the 2026 Youth Olympic Games in Dakar. We remain fully focused, representing our country with determination, unity, and determination.”

Coach Cardozo is well-experienced in the sport, having coached Brazil to silver in Heraklion at Greece 2022, but he is not taking anything for granted.

“Our focus is to have a consistent preliminary phase, ensuring good performances and qualifying for the main round,” explained the coach, who included all eight of his continental squad from last year in his provisional team of 19 for Tunisia 2025.

“Our goal is to advance by taking important points and, with that, fight for a place in the quarter-finals, keeping the team in a real position to reach the podium. We have a very well-rounded squad, with athletes prepared to respond at a high level.”

Coach: Junior Cardozo
Key players: Newton Venzel Perdiz (Left Back), Caio Tavares Azevedo (Specialist)
Qualification information: 2024 SCAHC Men’s Youth Beach Handball Championship – 2nd
History in tournament: 2017: DNQ, 2022: 2nd
Group at Tunisia 2025: Group D – Argentina (ARG), Brazil (BRA), Uruguay (URU), Senegal (SEN)