After the end of the 2025 IHF Men’s World Championship, in the start of February, handball did not stop, and March will bring plenty of drama on the court, with new competitions ready to start.

The first item on the menu is the fifth edition of the IHF Men’s Emerging Nations Championship will take place in Varna, Bulgaria, with eight teams at the start. 

The competition will take place between 11 and 16 March, with the eight participating teams divided into two groups of four teams each. Hosts Bulgaria will face Cyprus, Great Britain and Paraguay in Group A, while in Group B, the United States of America, Nigeria, Azerbaijan and the Republic of Moldova will fight to position themselves as best as possible for a challenge for the trophy.

The first two teams in each group will progress to the semi-finals, with the final scheduled for Sunday, 16 March, at 19:15 CET. As none of the previous winners – the Faroe Islands, Georgia and Cuba – will not take part, the competition will surely have a new winner.

The IHF Trophy Men – Intercontinental Phase – will also take place in Prishtina, Kosovo, with six teams at the start in both the junior and youth competitions, scheduled between 12 and 16 March.

Kosovo, New Caledonia, Nicaragua, Nigeria, the United States of America and Uzbekistan will take part in the junior competition, while Bulgaria, New Caledonia, Nicaragua, Rwanda, the United States of America and Uzbekistan will feature in the youth competitions.

The winners of each competition will secure their tickets for the 2025 IHF Men’s Junior World Championship and the 2025 IHF Men’s Youth World Championship respectively.

Moving on to the beach, but staying in international competitions, the 2025 North American and Caribbean Handball Confederation (NACHC) Youth Beach Handball Championship is also due to take place in March, between 19 and 23 March in Acapulco, Mexico.

In club competitions, the play-offs of the EHF Champions League Women are due to take place in the last two weekends of March, with four ties ready to deliver drama and four tickets to the quarter-finals.

A Romanian derby is on the cards between Rapid București and CSM București, while Krim Mercator Ljubljana take on HB Ludwigsburg, Podravka Vegeta meet Brest Bretagne Handball, while Odense Handbold face Storhamar Handball Elite.

The EHF Champions League Men will also conclude its group phase in the first week of March, with four teams going directly to the quarter-finals, while eight others sealing play-offs spots. So far, Barça and the reigning champions in the IHF Men’s Club World Championship, Veszprém HC, are qualified to the quarter-finals.