Croatia’s women return to IHF Women’s Youth Beach Handball World Championship action after making their debut at Mauritius 2017 when they finished ninth.

After missing the 2022 edition in Greece, they are now back on the global stage thanks to their bronze won last year at the YAC 16 EURO. 

At Bulgaria 2024 they did not get off to the best start, losing their opening two preliminary group games via shoot-out against Ukraine and Netherlands. However, three wins in a row, against Norway (2-1), Slovakia (2-0) and Turkiye (2-0) ensured a quarter-final spot where they impressively beat Germany via shoot-out 7:4, after Germany had brought the game even, winning the second set 23:22 after the Croatians had taken the first 18:16.

France proved a step too far in the semi-finals for the Croats as they lost 2-0, but an impressive 2-0 (19:16, 20:16) victory against the strong Hungarians ensured a podium spot and with it, qualification through to Tunisia 2025 where they will face Bulgaria, Spain and Uruguay in their preliminary group.

“The draw wasn’t in our favour, and we ended up in a very challenging group. Spain, Bulgaria and Uruguay are teams with highly respectable results and youth programmes in this sport, so it’s up to us to start seriously from the very beginning and believe in our success,” said captain and top-scorer at Bulgaria 2024 with 124 points, Helena Furcic to ihf.info.

“Every team in our group plays beach handball at a very high level, and we know that no match is decided in advance. We're focusing on ourselves and our game, and we’ll give our maximum, believing that it will be enough. Our main goal in Tunisia is very simple and clear: a medal around our necks.”

Furcic is one of 10 players named in coach Ivan Palac’s provisional squad of 15 for Tunisia 2025 who played in Bulgaria last year, with Dora Strk the only player from last year not named again. Five new players have been added: Anamarija Baric, Katja Greguric, Lana Konjar, Marija Lovric and Tonka Papic.

Palac, alongside fellow coach Antun Staresina, are new to the team for 2025 and bring with them a wealth of experience having both played the sport for Croatia’s world-beating men’s national team. 

And both cannot wait to get going in North Africa.

“We're taking it step-by-step, staying focused on our own game. The girls are motivated, preparations are going well, and we’re looking forward to the opportunity to show what we’re capable of,” said Palace to ihf.info.

“We’re facing an interesting and challenging group. Spain has a consistent record of top results, Bulgaria is increasingly investing seriously in this sport, and Uruguay is a team we must not underestimate.”

Eight years ago in Mauritius, Croatia qualified through their preliminary group thanks to a sole victory, against Paraguay in a winner-takes-all game. This followed earlier shoot-out losses to Hungary and Argentina. 

The main round saw two further losses – against Netherlands and Chinese Taipei (both 2-0) – which saw them out of contention for the podium spots and into the 9-14 placement round where they beat Mauritius, Venezuela and Paraguay to finish inside the top ten.

And with captain Furcic leading a talent-packed team including goalkeeper Marija Juric, defensive specialist Petra Gudelj and specialist Sara Marković, anything is possible – with those involved in the team knowing their appearance at the global level is an opportunity to keep promoting the sport in one of the world’s hotbeds of beach handball.

“The participation of Croatia at the world championship is not only an honour, but also an investment in the future of the sport,” said Mario Mocilac, who has a long history with Croatian beach handball and is with the team in Tunisia as an official, to ihf.info.

“I believe the girls will gain invaluable experience from every match they play against the best young teams from around the world, strengthening their confidence and national pride. I’m convinced that performing on such a big stage will motivate them to keep training and working on themselves, and I also hope it will inspire new young girls in Croatia to get involved in this sport.”

Coach: Ivan Palac
Key players: Helena Furcic (Centre Back), Marija Juric (Goalkeeper), Petra Gudelj (Defence), Sara Marković (Specialist)
Qualification information: Performance Place (YAC 16 EURO 2024 - 3rd)
History in tournament: 2017: 9th, 2022: DNQ
Group at Tunisia 2025: Group D – Croatia (CRO), Uruguay (URU), Spain (ESP), Bulgaria (BUL)