The moment when the top club teams in the world gather together to play for the coveted IHF Men’s Super Globe trophy is just around the corner. Between 7 and 12 November, the Dammam Sports Hall in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, will host 12 of the best teams in the world, as the journey to the title promises to be an exhilarating one.

Four European sides, four Asian sides, and one from Africa, Oceania, the South and Central American Handball Confederation and the North America and Caribbean Handball Confederation each are lining up, with the competition boasting its second 12-team line-up in history.

Powerhouses like SC Magdeburg and Barça, as well as Füchse Berlin, the three most decorated teams in the 15 previous editions of the IHF Men’s Super Globe, will be lining up at the start, while other challengers are ready to pounce. But why is the IHF Men’s Super Globe so appealing?

Instant classics played in the past editions

The Super Globe has always been regarded as the Club World Championship by many and the honours list provides some insight why this is true. Alongside the three giants which will take part this season, teams like THW Kiel and Ciudad Real have also won the trophy, while other powerhouses like Veszprém, HSV Hamburg or PSG, as well as Egyptian giants Al-Ahly came as runners-up.

The previous editions of the IHF Men’s Super Globe have always provided dramatic and epic matches. Take, for example, the last final, where Magdeburg secured back-to-back titles, with a nail-biting 41:39 win, after extra-time, against Barça. Or the 2019 IHF Men’s Super Globe final between Barça and THW Kiel, the first one to be played in Saudi Arabia, when the Spanish giants clinched a 34:32 win.

With so many hugely talented players at the start, it is all but guaranteed to have excellent matches, especially as the competition is scheduled in the middle of the season, when teams have already geared up and the chemistry is getting better and better, providing the best quality of the matches.

Stars who play outside Europe can deliver shocks

In the last edition, Saudi hosts Khaleej delivered some excellent performances, finishing in sixth place, with their win against SL Benfica being one of the biggest surprises of the competition. Khaleej are back, after winning the domestic league, and still have some big ambitions and unfinished business this time around and might be a team to watch.

They will not have the top scorer of the previous edition, back Hassan Kaddah, at their disposal, but the Saudi side did their homework with some excellent transfers this summer. Experienced back Petar Nenadic, who played for Veszprém, HSV Hamburg or PSG, will return to the IHF Men’s Super Globe, while Egyptian line player Mamdouh Shebib, the first-ever Egyptian player to win the EHF Champions League Men, also bolstered the squad.

Khaleej will be one of the two Saudi sides in the competition, with Al-Noor also making their second appearance, but will have their work cut out, as they are in Group C in the preliminary round, alongside reigning champions SC Magdeburg and Australian side University of Queensland.

Debutants eager to prove they belong

The University of Queensland are one of the two sides making their debut in this edition of the IHF Men’s Super Globe, after securing the title at the 2023 Oceania Handball Champions Cup. This will be the third team from Australia playing in the competition, after Sydney-Uni and Southern Stars, breaking the 10-editions appearance streak for Sydney with their excellent win this summer.

While they might have a lack of experience, which could prove problematic, the University of Queensland will surely aim to avoid finishing on the last place, after Sydney-Uni managed that in the last two editions, in 2021 and 2022, when they ended up in eighth and 11th place respectively.

The other side which will make their debut is San Fernando HB, the first-ever Argentinian side to feature at the IHF Men’s Super Globe. An excellent performance at the 2023 South and Central American Men's Club Handball Championship lifted San Fernando to stardom, beating several Brazilian rivals on their way to the trophy, which proved to be their best performance in a continental competition in history. They would surely want to translate that in Saudi Arabia, yet things will be even more difficult in their group.

Stars ready to take the court

We talked about the stars present at the 2023 IHF Men’s Super Globe and mentioned a few names, but who will really be there, taking the court in the Dammam Sports Hall? Barça have had their share of injuries, but Dika Mem, Aleix Gómez or Timothey N’Guessan will all be there. Füchse Berlin will also boast the reigning top goal scorer at the IHF Men’s World Championship and the MVP of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, Mathias Gidsel, who will make his debut at the IHF Men’s Super Globe.

Gísli Þorgeir Kristjánsson might be out for Magdeburg, but the German powerhouse still have Ómar Ingi Magnússon, Felix Claar or Michael Damgaard in their ranks. Industria Kielce, coming into their third edition of the IHF Men’s Super Globe, provide a strong roster too, with Artsem Karalek, Nicolas Tournat, Alex Dujshebaev or Szymon Sicko.

Al-Ahly still have Islam Hassan and Ibrahim El-Masry in their roster, while Khaleej have plenty of experience with Nenadic and Shebib. Last, but not least, the top goal scorer of the 2021 IHF Men’s World Championship, Frankis Carol Marzo, is also due to feature in Dammam, as he is playing for Kuwait SC.

Can Germany close the gap to Spain in the all-time standings?

Barça are still the most decorated club in the history of the competition, with five titles, as Spanish teams have won the trophy at the IHF Men’s Super Globe nine times. In second place, Germany have five titles – two for Magdeburg and Füchse each and one for THW Kiel – so they still cannot leapfrog Spain in the standings.

But can they make a run for it and cut the gap to only three trophies? Can Füchse or Magdeburg become the second side in history with three wins at the IHF Men’s Super Globe? Will Magdeburg become the second side to clinch a three-peat after Barça? These are all valid questions and it will be very exciting to see how the Spanish powerhouse reacts under pressure.

The German sides have the numeric advantage and have proven that they can beat Barça – Füchse in 2015 and Magdeburg in 2021 and 2022 – and are eager to try once again, aiming to prove that German clubs are on the top of the world right now.