The 27th edition of the CAHB African Men’s Handball Championship will throw off on Wednesday, 21 January, in Kigali, Rwanda, with 16 teams at the start. This competition will be a qualification event for the 2027 IHF Men’s World Championship, with the top five teams in the final standings earning their tickets for the world handball flagship competition.

Only three teams – Algeria, Egypt and Tunisia – were crowned champions in the competition so far in the previous 26 editions and will headline this edition too, with Egypt, the winner of the last three editions and four of the last five editions, being the clear favourites.

The 16 teams have been divided into four groups of four teams each, with the top two sides in each group progressing to the main round, while the other two sides from each group head to the President’s Cup.

Over the past three editions, Egypt won all the 18 matches played and from 2014 onwards, they have lost only once in 33 matches, in the final against Tunisia, 24:26, in 2018.

The Pharaohs, fifth at the 2025 IHF Men’s World Championship, will be favoured once again, in Xavi Pascual’s debut as the head coach of the Egypt men’s senior national team. Pascual, one of the most decorated coaches in history of handball, started his tenure in the summer of 2025, but this will be the first major international competition in his new position, the third stint as a national team coach, after he led Romania in two separate stints.

Egypt have been drawn in Group B, alongside Angola, Gabon and debutants Uganda, as they will gear up their preparation for the main round. Provided they qualify, the reigning champions will face two teams from Group A in the next phase of the competition, with Algeria, Nigeria, hosts Rwanda and Zambia drawn there.

In Group C, Tunisia, Guinea, Cameroon and Kenya will battle for the top two places, while Group D looks set to be a balanced one, with Cape Verde, Morocco, Congo and Benin battling for glory.

While Rwanda and Benin will make their second appearance in history – with the latter returning to the competition after a 30-year wait, Uganda are the only debutants at the CAHB African Men’s Handball Championship.

The preliminary round of the 2026 CAHB African Men’s Handball Championship will take place on 21, 22 and 24 January, with the main round matches scheduled for 25 and 27 January. The semi-finals are played on 29 January, with the medals being awarded in the final day, on 31 January.

Egypt can also become the joint most decorated team in the competition, a title seeing them tie Tunisia with 10 trophies, but Tunisia still hold the advantage as the team with the largest number of medals – 25 – with Egypt coming close in second, with 22, and Algeria third, with 20 medals, seven of which are gold.

2026 CAHB African Men’s Handball Championship – preliminary round

Group A: Algeria, Nigeria, Rwanda, Zambia
Group B: Egypt, Angola, Gabon, Uganda
Group C: Tunisia, Guinea, Cameroon, Kenya
Group D: Cape Verde, Morocco, Congo, Benin