Uruguay’s women’s beach handball national team have become the 13th team to qualify for the 2026 IHF Women’s Beach Handball World Championship after winning the South and Central America Handball Confederation (SCAHC) Championship – Second Phase event.

The competition was held on Punta Rocas (Rocky Point) beach in Lima, Peru, well-known in the surfing world for its waves. It featured Uruguay, Chile and host nation Peru playing each other twice in a round-robin event held over three days; 15 to 17 April.

The event provided an opportunity for teams to grab the last qualification place after missing out on the first opportunity at the SCAHC Men’s and Women’s Beach Handball Championships in Rosario, Argentina last February.

Due to Argentina’s women winning silver at the 2024 IHF Women’s Beach Handball World Championship in China, the SCAHC had an extra qualification spot for its women’s teams and Uruguay went to Peru as strong favourites, having finished behind Argentina and Brazil in third spot at the continental championship and with All-star Team goalkeeper Brenda Planavia leading the side from the back.

Coached by Maximiliano Malfatti, who was assistant coach for the Uruguay women at the 2025 IHF Women’s Youth Beach Handball World Championship last year in Tunisia, Uruguay took four wins from four games in Peru, not dropping one sent, to top the group on eight points.

They were followed by Chile, with two wins and four points, while Peru lost all four games and eight sets, to end last. Chile’s Ayelen Gonzalez Chile finished as top scorer with 42 points followed by Uruguay’s Ana Iglesias (41), who played alongside teammate Julia Rotundo, a member of the Uruguay youth team who finished fifth at the world championship in Tunisia in 2025.

 

The 2026 IHF Women’s World Championship will be played in Zagreb, Croatia in June and the qualification for Uruguay represents the eighth time they have appeared at the global event, the nation missing just three editions in the event’s history (2004, 2010, 2024). Their highest ranking was sixth at Oman 2012.

“I'm truly thrilled. We've put Uruguay on top, which is what we came here to do. We were absolutely certain we could achieve it. It's incredibly exciting to have qualified for the world championship,” said Iglesias to fuhandball.com.

“It's truly an emotional experience for all of us. There were only two of us who went to the last world championship so it's a feeling of excitement, joy, and, more than anything, resilience, because we came in third in the last tournament (SCAHC championship) and now qualifying is fantastic.

“Thank you to my family, my friends, my partner and a huge thank you to everyone who supported us from Uruguay, and we'll see you in Croatia.”

Final Ranking
1 Uruguay
2 Chile
3 Peru

Results
Uruguay v Chile 2-0 (16:14, 22:12)
Peru v Chile 0-2 (8:20, 14:16)
Peru v Uruguay 0-2 (4:20, 6:26)
Chile v Peru 2-0 (16:8, 18:17)
Uruguay v Peru 2-0 (24:6, 18:0)
Chile v Uruguay 0-2 (16:17, 14:18)

Photo credit: @handballsca / @dajhanaprado / Luis Nuñez