The 16th IHF Men's Super Globe, which is due to take place in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, between 18 and 23 October, will be the first edition of the competition, with 12 teams starting.

Since the first edition of the competition, which took place in Vienna in 1997, the primary purpose of the IHF Men's Super Globe was to bring together the best club teams in the world from all the continents, creating, basically, a Club World Championship. 

In 1997, when Spanish side Caja Cantabria secured the trophy, eight teams from four continents – Asia, Africa, Europe and South America – featured in the competition. The number varied from five teams, in the second edition, which took place in 2002, to 10 teams, in the past two editions, held in Saudi Arabia in 2019 and 2021.

This year the competition will feature 12 teams from six different Continental Confederations – Asia, Africa, Europe, North America and the Caribbean, South and Central America and Oceania. They will be divided into four groups of three teams each, with the winner of each group advancing to the semi-finals.

Once again, Europe?

Europe is the continent with the most significant representation – four teams – namely the EHF Champions League Men and the EHF European League Men winners – Barça and SL Benfica – plus reigning champions SC Magdeburg, Łomża Industria Kielce, the runners-up in the European premium competition.

In fact, European teams have won the trophy 13 times, losing the gold medal only a single time at the IHF Men's Super Globe in 2002, when Al-Sadd won the trophy on their home court in Doha, Qatar.

No European side featured as many times in the IHF Men's Super Globe as Barça. The Spanish powerhouse have already won the trophy five times and have always been on the podium in the seven appearances. With players like Aitor Arino, who was in the winning team every time, and Gonzalo Perez de Vargas, who secured four trophies, Barça will always be considered as favourites.

However, this time, teams like Łomża Industria Kielce and SC Magdeburg will be gunning for the trophy. Magdeburg are the reigning champions and have always played for the title when they appeared at the IHF Super Globe, losing the final in 2002 against Al-Sadd, but avenging that loss last year when they secured a 33:28 win in the final against Barcelona.

In fact, the IHF Men's Super Globe has been won only by teams from Spain, Germany or Qatar. Therefore Łomża Industria Kielce, who finished third in 2016, their only participation, will have some heavy lifting to do. The Polish champions, who were the runners-up of the last EHF Champions League Men season, have plenty of experience, though, a tested core and one of the best brains in handball on the bench: Talant Dujshebaev.

On the other hand, SL Benfica will be the first Portuguese side to take on the other giants in the competition and are indeed a dark horse. Coached by former Spanish legend Chema Rodriguez, Benfica are the reigning EHF European League Men champions, having won the final against Magdeburg. With a strong core and Portuguese handball on the rise, they are surely a team to watch, albeit their experience is lacking in such crucial competitions.

New Asian sides to feature in the IHF Super Globe

The Asian Handball Confederation is sending three teams to the IHF Men's Super Globe, the largest contingent outside of Europe. Two of them are the hosts, Saudi sides Mudhar and Khaleej, the top two sides in the domestic league last season.

Mudhar have already featured in the competition in 2019, when they finished seventh, while Khaleej will make their debut, being the fourth team from Saudi Arabia to enter the competition.

The best finish for a team from Saudi Arabia was Al-Wehda's fourth place in 2019 after conceding a 26:30 loss against RK Vardar in the bronze-medal match.

The third Asian team will be Al-Kuwait, the Asian Club League Championship winner, who will also make their debut in the competition. Two other Kuwaiti clubs have previously featured in the competition. Still, the Asian Club League Championship winner will be the country's first side to participate in the Super Globe since Al-Qadsiya in 2007.

Mix of new and fresh faces from America

The North America and the Caribbean Handball Confederation will be represented for the first time by a Mexican team, Club Ministros, the unlikely winners of the North American and Caribbean Senior Club Championship.

Ministros, a team from a country where handball is just an emerging sport, shocked the world by securing the title in a tight match against fellow Mexican side Vikingos de Sonora. The two American sides, New York Athletic Club and San Francisco CalHeat, the teams that have previously featured in the IHF Men's Super Globe, were eliminated prematurely.

The South and Central American Handball Confederation will be represented by Brazil's Handebol Taubaté, one of the veterans of the IHF Men's Super Globe. 

After downing arch-rivals EC Pinheiros in the final of the South and Central American Men's Club Handball Championship 27:20, Taubaté earned their right to feature in the Super Globe for the seventh time, a record for South America and the third-largest number of participations in history.

Since 2013, Taubaté have missed only one edition of the competition, in 2017, but have not finished higher than fifth place in 2018.

Big African teams and a record holder from Australia

The passion for handball is high in Africa, and the Super Globe is undoubtedly a big thing, as highlighted last year when Zamalek were cheered on by thousands of fans that came to Saudi Arabia to see their team. This time around, Zamalek failed to qualify. Still, two powerhouses, Egypt's Al-Ahly SC and Tunisia's Esperance de Tunis – one of the continent's most decorated teams in history – will be ready to start.

Al-Ahly SC recorded the best-ever result for an African side – the silver medal in 2007 – and will make their comeback for the first time since 2015. Esperance, the winners of the Arab Handball Championship of Champions, are back for the first time since 2017 and will feature in the competition for the fourth time.

Last but not least, we will not forget about the team with the highest number of participations in the IHF Men's Super Globe in history.

Sydney University Handball Club will take part in the competition for the 10th consecutive time, with an uninterrupted streak since they became the second Australian team in history to play here. Following in the footsteps of the Southern Stars, which featured in 2010 and 2011, Sydney Uni have appeared at every IHF Men's Super Globe edition since 2012 and even finished fourth in 2015.

They have avoided finishing last in 2021, when they ended up in eighth place thanks to a draw against Al-Wehda in the placement round, but will surely want to build up on that experience to earn an even higher ranking this time around.