Senegal’s men find themselves in a preliminary group which features four teams from four different continents, with Hungary, Brazil and Puerto Rico all adding their own, unique style to proceedings.

And it is those styles which pose a threat early on for the host nation with 2025 IHF Men’s Youth Beach Handball World Championship bronze medallists Brazil and the team they defeated for the podium, Hungary, faced on the very first day.

“Brazil and Hungary are among the world’s top beach handball nations,” says Mickael ILLES, part of the Senegal coaching staff, to IHF.info. “While we do not expect to win those matches, in beach handball anything is possible, especially with the home crowd behind us. Our goal is to finish third in the group so that we can face the runner-up from the other group in the quarter-finals.”

ILLES, known as ‘Mika’, has an impressive handball history – and not just on the sand. A former French professional indoor player who played with the famous Olympic medal-winning KARABATIC (Nikola and Luka) brothers, and won player of the month once in the French top league, he helped lay the foundations for beach handball in France, a country which had its own form of the sport called ‘Sandball’.

He founded the French men’s national team back in 2015 and saw them through to top 10 finishes in the European Championship, before moving on in 2023 to follow a path of developing the sport globally, through the French Handball Federation and, subsequently, the IHF.

As part of that work, he set about creating and developing a national training programme in the West African nation for coaches, referees and delegates, as well as helping to identify and develop the next generation of players.

With the IHF and in partnership with the Senegalese Handball Federation, that project is coming to fruition as he and fellow men’s coaches – and division one indoor coaches in Senegal – Ahmadou Ousmane DRAMÉ and Mohamed El Habib GUEYE look towards success at home. 

At the world championship last year in Tunisia, Senegal finished 12th on their debut as a competitive team, losing to Brazil 0-2 (10:21, 12:30), Argentina and Uruguay in the preliminary group stage, before consolation round wins over Kenya (2-1), Islamic Republic of Iran (2-0 walkover) and Cook Islands (2-0). An impressive 9-16 placement round win over Mexico (2-1) was followed by 0-2 losses to Croatia and Dakar 2026 opponents Puerto Rico (12:18, 8:14).

Due to age constraints for the Youth Olympic Games, ILLES and his coaching staff were only able to name three players from that Tunisia 2025 squad for Dakar 2026, but they are key players, including top-scorer and enigmatic captain, Abdourahmane DIOP. Known as ‘Yahoo’ to his teammates, the effective specialist from the wing scored 78 points in eight games last year in Hammamet, where he played alongside fellow Dakar 2026 players Mamour DIOP (centre back and leader of the offence) and Serigne Babacar DIOP (defender).

Following Tunisia 2025, the squad moved on to win gold at the 2025 ANOCA African Youth Games last December after emerging victorious in three of their four round-robin games and beating Togo 2-0 in the final.

With hopes on the sand high for the hosts, the significance of showcasing the sport to ensure its legacy in the West African nation is not lost on Marody DIAGNE, Secretary General of the Senegalese Handball Federation.

“The Olympic Games are a once-in-a-lifetime experience (given age constraints) so for African federations, qualifying a team in a collective sport for them is a rare achievement. This could be a once-in-a-lifetime participation,” he said to IHF.info.

“The federation selected beach handball as a key discipline and has since spared no effort to ensure that athletes and coaches have the ideal conditions to prepare for an optimal performance, with the ultimate goal of securing at least one medal at the Games. There are high expectations for the Senegalese national teams, which have inspired great hope following their performances at the 2025 world championship and the African Games, as well as in various preparatory tournaments – all the more so as they will be playing on home sand.

“At present, activity in beach handball in Senegal is limited to the performance of these two national teams,” he continued. “There are not yet any leagues or clubs composed exclusively of beach handball players, but the outlook is promising for the period following these Youth Olympic Games. The players who took part in the 2025 world championship – currently U18 juniors – will serve as the spearheads for Senegalese beach handball.

“The legacy left by the Games will enable us to broaden the base for the sport across the entire country and even establish one or more championships to ensure the long-term sustainability of beach handball in Senegal.”

Final preparations for Dakar 2026 for the Senegal men’s team have included a training and preparation camp in Spain, as well as intense work on home sand in Toubab Dialaw and Saint-Louis.

Coaches: Mike ILLES, Ahmadou Ousmane DRAMÉ, Mohamed El Habib GUEYE
Key players: Saliou DIOP (Pivot), Mamadou SONKO (Goalkeeper), Abdourahmane DIOP (Centre Back)
Qualification information: Host nation
History in tournament: 2018: DNQ
Group at Dakar 2026: Group B – Brazil (BRA), Hungary (HUN), Puerto Rico (PUR), Senegal (SEN)