With the voting for the 2018 IHF Player of the Year opening today, the IHF are pleased to announce the nominees for the coveted award. The five nominees in each category have been selected based on proposals submitted by a panel of experts, comprised of national team coaches and members of the IHF.  

2018 IHF World Player of the Year nominees – men

Sander Sagosen (NOR)

Position: centre back/left back
Club: Paris Saint-Germain Handball (FRA)

Achievements in 2018:

- EHF EURO 2018 All-star centre back

- Third at VELUX EHF FINAL4 2018

- VELUX EHF Champions League All-star left back

- French Cup winner

- French championship winner

Jim Gottfridsson (SWE)

Position: centre back
Club: SG Flensburg-Handewitt (GER) 

Achievements in 2018:

- EHF EURO 2018 Most Valuable Player

- EHF EURO 2018 runner-up with Sweden

- German championship winner

Rasmus Lauge Schmidt (DEN)

Position: centre back
Club: SG Flensburg-Handewitt (GER) 

Achievements in 2018:

- German championship winner

- EHF EURO 2018 semi-finalist (fourth place)

- Third top scorer at EHF EURO 2018 (40 goals)

Mikkel Hansen (DEN)

Position: left back
Club: Paris Saint-Germain Handball (FRA)  

Achievements in 2018:

- EHF EURO 2018 All-star left back

- EHF EURO 2018 semi-finalist (fourth place)

- Second top scorer at EHF EURO 2018 (43 goals)

- Third at VELUX EHF FINAL4 2018

- French Cup winner

- French championship winner

Vincent Gerard (FRA)

Position: goalkeeper
Club: Montpellier HB (FRA)  

Achievements in 2018:

- EHF EURO 2018 All-star goalkeeper

- EHF EURO 2018 bronze medallist

- Second-ranked goalkeeper at EHF EURO 2018

- VELUX EHF Champions League 2017/18 winner

- French championship runner-up

 

2018 IHF World Player of the Year nominees – women

Anna Vyakhireva (RUS)
Position: right back/right wing
Club: Rostov-Don (RUS)  

Achievements in 2018:

- EHF EURO 2018 Most Valuable Player

- EHF EURO 2018 runner-up

- Fourth top scorer at EHF EURO 2018 (43 goals)

- Fourth at Women’s EHF FINAL4 2018

- Russian Superleague winner

- Russia Cup winner

 
Cristina Neagu (ROU)

Position: left back
Club: CSM Bucuresti (ROU)  

Achievements in 2018:

- EHF Champions League top scorer (110 goals)

- Bronze at Women’s EHF FINAL4 2018

- EHF EURO 2018 semi-finalist (fourth place)

- Broke all-time top scorer record at European championships at EHF EURO 2018 – now first in all competition history, with 237 goals

- Third top scorer at EHF EURO 2018

- Romanian championship winner

- Romanian Cup winner

Amandine Leynaud (FRA)

Position: goalkeeper
Club: Györi Audi ETO KC (HUN) in 2018/19 season; HC Vardar in 2017/18

Achievements in 2018:

- EHF EURO 2018 All-star goalkeeper

- EHF EURO 2018 winner

- Women’s EHF FINAL4 Most Valuable Player

- EHF FINAL4 runner-up (with HC Vardar)

- Macedonian championship winner

- -Macedonian Cup winner

 
Stine Oftedal (NOR)

Position: centre back
Club: Györi Audi ETO KC (HUN)

Achievements in 2018:

- EHF EURO 2018 All-star centre back

- EHF Champions League winner

- Hungarian championship winner

- Hungarian Cup winner

Estelle Nze Minko (FRA)

Position: centre back/left back
Club: Siófok KC (HUN)

Achievements in 2018:

- EHF EURO 2018 winner

- Fifth top scorer at EHF EURO 2018 (38 goals)

 
In order to cast your vote, please click HERE. Voting closes on 15 March 2019.

 
Voters are kindly reminded to focus their selection on performance in 2018, and to disregard the first months of 2019.

 
Follow the IHF social media channels at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Youtube to know more about the nominees.