The eight participating teams and the match schedule for the second stage of the 2025 IHF Beach Handball Global Tour (BHGT) have been revealed.

The second stop on the world circuit this year will be in Laredo, northern Spain and take place across two matchdays – Tuesday 29 and Wednesday 30 July.

Four nations and two continents will be represented in Spain, with the men’s and women’s teams of the host nation joined by those from neighbouring Portugal as well as Poland and the United States of America.

Familiar faces do battle again on the world stage

All eight teams in Laredo have numerous BHGT stage appearances behind them and rematches of previous stages are littered throughout the competitions.

In addition to those anticipated matchups, the women’s competition will be a homecoming celebration for Spain with their team playing in front of their own fans as newly-crowned European champions.

The 2016 IHF Women’s Beach Handball World Championship winners will open their home stage with a clash against Poland, a rematch of their match at the first-ever BHGT stage, back in 2022 in Gdansk, Poland, won by Spain, 2-0 (22:14, 12:6

Poland returned to the tour in 2023, but missed out last year – a year in which Spain also hosted stage 2, in Cadiz, their women’s team losing their opener to Portugal 0-2 (18:20, 12:14), before qualifying through to the final and reversing the result, 2-0 (20:18, 24:14), to win gold.

Gdansk 2022 also saw the men's sides clash, not once, but twice. Spain winning their preliminary group game 2-0 (20:18, 22:14), but losing the bronze medal match as the hosts won via shoot-out 2-1 (15:12, 16:17, SO 6:4)

Spain’s men faced Portugal last year in their home stage, beating them 2-0 (16:14, 23:20) in the preliminary group, ahead of finishing with a silver medal.

Spain and Portugal’s women also met in the preliminary round of the finals stage, stage 3, of the 2024 IHF BHGT in Qatar, with Spain taking a 2-0 (19:18, 16:9) victory.

Both USA sides return for their second, successive BHGT event after appearing at the opening stage of the 2024 tour. In Marica, Brazil, the women’s side met 2025 opponents Portugal in their preliminary group, the Europeans taking a 2-0 (18:6, 28:2) victory. while the men’s sides met at the first stage of the 2023 tour, Portugal winning via shoot-out 2-1 (14:16, 20:12, SO 13:12).

The USA men also met Portugal in Marica, but in 2023, with the Europeans winning via shoot-out, 2-1 (14:16, 20:12, SO 13:12) 

The two host nation sides are appearing in their second, successive stage of the 2025 BHGT after playing last month in Tunisia, with the Spanish women winning the opening stage in Hammamet.

The US women’s team have already announced their squad – the first under new coach Lyndon Suvanto – as they head to Spain for a tournament which they are calling ‘…an important opportunity for the team as it continues its international development against some of the world’s top beach handball programmes’.

Match Schedule
(all times local)

Tuesday 29 July – Day 1

Preliminary round

Men’s competition
1000 Poland vs United States of America
1200 Spain vs Portugal
1700 Portugal vs Poland
1900 United States of America vs Spain

Women’s competition
1100 United States of America vs Portugal
1300 Poland vs Spain
1800 Poland vs United States of America
2000 Spain vs Portugal

Wednesday 30 July – Day 2

Preliminary round

Men’s competition
1000 Portugal vs United States of America
1200 Spain vs Poland

Women’s competition
1100 Poland vs Portugal
1300 Spain vs United States of America 

Finals
Men’s competition
1700 Bronze medal match
1900 Final

Women’s competition
1800 Bronze medal match
2000 Final

About the IHF Beach Handball Global Tour

The IHF Beach Handball Global Tour was launched at the 2022 IHF Men’s and Women’s Beach Handball World Championships in Greece and debuted in Gdansk, Poland, with Croatia winning the men’s tournament and Spain taking the top spot in the women’s tournament.

The following year, in 2023, the IHF Beach Handball Global Tour visited Brazil, Tunisia and Poland before the Finals Stage was held in Qatar with Qatar’s men and Brazil’s women taking the overall titles.

The 2024 IHF Beach Handball Global Tour was held in Brazil, Spain and finals, again in Qatar, where Brazil won both the men’s and women’s events.

2025 represents the fourth edition of the IHF Beach Handball Global Tour, with Stage 1 taking place in Hammamet, Tunisia, won by Spain’s women and Croatia’ men’s teams in June. Stage 2 will be played in Laredo, Spain in July, with Stage 3 – Finals taking place in João Pessoa, Brazil in November.

In a senior IHF Beach Handball World Championship or The World Games year, the IHF Beach Handball Global Tour Team consists of three stages, with non-event years reverting back to four stages. This year, The World Games will take place in August, in the People’s Republic of China.