Alihodzic living dream with Qatar in Croatia

Coming into the 2025 IHF Men’s World Championship, Qatar goalkeeper Irhad Alihodzic already had 20 national team appearances to his name, gained in friendly matches and younger age categories, but none at the elite, global event.

That changed on Tuesday 14 January, when he came on in the 44th minute in Qatar’s opening game in Porec, Croatia, against France.

Shortly after his introduction, he made his first save, going down to his left to make a two-handed stop against Aymeric Minne, allowing himself a fist pump as France coach Guillaume Gille shook his head in disappointment of the shot not hitting the back of the net.

Alihodzic would go on to make one more save, against Luka Karabatic, but his side would eventually lose and despite the disappointment of the defeat, it was a memorable day for the shotstopper.

“Everybody dreams to play against the very big teams, and I tried to give everything what I got, to show to everybody that I’ve earned it,” said the 1996-born Alihodzic about his debut to ihf.info.

“This 1996 France generation is on another level, they're very good and it was a great experience. They have very explosive shots, unbelievable jumps and are 15 years ahead of everybody with these things.”

Two days later Qatar would lose again, to Austria (28:26), with Alihodzic making three saves, but the 28-year-old would then have to wait a week to play again, after being swapped out of the team by Qatar coach Veselin Vujovic and replaced by long-term Qatar national team goalkeeper Bilal Lepenica.

First-choice goalkeeper Anadin Sulijakovic, would then record 11 saves in the next game, against Kuwait, which saw a 25:22 victory confirm their main round spot.

The Bosnian-born Alihodzic would go on to miss a one-goal, last-second loss to the Netherlands, which saw his side out of contention for the quarter-finals, before Vujovic brought him back in ahead of their 39:34 defeat to North Macedonia on Thursday (23 January) in a game where he made five saves.

“We were not so good; we didn't close our good defence and we had many problems in attack,” he said after the game. “Every loss is bad one and that's how everybody feels. We almost drew the game against Netherlands, so we lost one point there. We go down in our heads, and we tried to come back today but, again, we lost.”

Like Sulijakovic, Alihodzic has represented Qatar at a variety of levels and times, and has a long experience of playing in the country.

“I first moved to Qatar when I was 14. I started to play for the national team and Al Sadd Sports Club. Then I went back to Bosnia for four years and played in the league there. Again, I decided to come back to Qatar and then this is now my first world championship with them.”

And it was a decision to a question asked by a Bosnian-born legendary Qatari goalkeeper, Danijel Saric, who won silver with the side at the 2015 IHF Men’s World Championship, their best ranking to date.

“He brought me back to Qatar when I was 25 years old, to play for Al-Arabi Club, and then I started to play for the national team again,” explained Alihodzic. “It was amazing to work with him. He's a true legend. For Barcelona and Qatar, he did many great things.

“He's like my father, you know? We are very good friends. I learned a lot of things from him; shooting from wings, shooting from under the block, how to move it forward to the players in fast breaks – all the stuff that he did as a player he taught me. We have many good coaches in Qatar and have a lot of time to work and make a good job.”

In his club career in both Qatar and the UAE, Alihodzic has won numerous medals, including Asian club titles, and relishes the chance to test himself against a different type of handball he played in Europe in the middle of his career – especially at the world championship in Croatia.

“It's quite tough to adjust,” he explained when asked about swapping between the different styles of shots faced. “For example, here in Europe, there are stronger shots with stronger physicality. In Asia, they are technical and there are many tricky shots, but I try to learn and use this knowledge, because in Asia it’s a different style of shooting and game. I have started to adapt to this, with the better shots, and everything.”

And with players like Rafael Capote and Frankis Marzo, plus legendary coach Veselin Vujovic part of his everyday Qatar training, the goalkeeper is not short of knowledge gathering.

“Like rockets,” he says when asked what it is like to face shots from the pair of players long associated with the Qatar squad in training. “They're very good players and it's my pleasure to play with them. They were second in 2015, so it's a big pleasure to play with players like this.

“He's a little bit tough with the goalkeepers,” smiles the player when asked about Vujovic in training. “But for me, I am used to it. The coaches are working good and I don't have any complaints.”