The IHF Women’s World Championship is always the jewel in the crown for the biggest teams in handball, but it is also a good moment to showcase the hugely talented young players who are ready to become the future stars of handball. 

With the Olympic cycle coming to a close next year, many sides are relying on experience, but even the top favourites to win the gold at the 2023 IHF Women’s World Championship will be eager to see their future talents at work.

We identified some of the brightest talents at Denmark/Norway/Sweden 2023, in a bid to anticipate who is going to shine over the next weeks at the 26th edition of the IHF Women’s World Championship.

Petra Simon (Hungary)

Hungary have a long withstanding tradition of promoting young talent, as their squad for Denmark/Norway/Sweden 2023 will be one of the youngest in the competition, with an average age of 25 years old. Moreover, their coach, Vladimir Golovin, was the mastermind behind huge successes at the younger age category levels, therefore knows the system inside out.

One player which has been promoted to the senior team is the MVP of the W19 EHF EURO 2023, centre back Petra Simon, a hugely talented player, who also earned plaudits for her performance at the 2022 IHF Women’s Youth World Championship, where she earned the bronze medal with the Hungary squad, while also making the All-Star team.

A centre back with a penchant for scoring goals – 55 at North Macedonia 2022 – Simon is also a mastermind on the court, dishing assists and creating favourable shots for her teammates, which will definitely bode well for Hungary in the future, as she is only 19 years old and has a full career ahead. 

Liliane Mario (Angola)

Angola was the big surprise of the 2022 IHF Women’s Junior World Championship, as a brimming African side, full of talent and promise, finished on the sixth place, with wins over Czechia, Slovenia or Switzerland, delivering a hugely entertaining performance at Slovenia 2022.

Few players have impressed more than Liliane Mario, a transitional talent, who can play both on the line, as well as in the back line, being the top scorer for the African side in three of the seven games they played in at Slovenia 2022.

Now, Mario made the transition to the senior squad and, at only 19 years old, will make her debut at the IHF Women’s World Championship, hoping to help her side make it to the main round after missing out at Spain 2021, when they won the President’s Cup.

Sarah Bouktit (France)

France have a long-withstanding tradition of producing excellent line players, dual-threat stalwarts, which are also excellent on the defence, as well as in attack. For the next decade, France look set on that position, with Pauletta Foppa, the All-Star line player at the 2021 IHF Women’s World Championship, and now with Sarah Bouktit, a 21-year-old, which can become one of the top players on that position in the next years.

Bouktit has made her way into the France team after two excellent seasons, making the leap from the junior team, featuring at the 2022 IHF Women’s World Championship in Slovenia last summer, becoming an integrant part of Olivier Krumbholz’s side, which is getting ready for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

The 21-year-old line player has also delivered some fantastic performances for her club, Metz Handball, in the EHF Champions League Women this season. Bouktit has been in red-hot form, with 49 goals, the largest number of goals scored by a line player, and the fourth-largest number of goals scored by any player, three goals less than the leader of the standings, Andrea Lekic. More impressively, Bouktit has a 76.6% scoring efficiency, making her lethal in front of goal.

Julie Scaglione (Denmark)

At 16 years old, Scaglione was already featuring in European club competitions for her side, Ikast Handbold, scoring 34 goals in a single season. Since that moment, she has been on a hugely successful path, becoming the All-Star left back at the 2022 IHF Women’s Youth World Championship, the All-Star left back at the W17 EHF EURO 2021 and the top goal scorer and the All-Star left back at the W19 EHF EURO 2023.

This meant that the leap to the senior national team was just a matter of time, as Scaglione made her debut in 2022, at only 18 years old, and is projected to be one of the stars of the sport in the next 15 years, with a huge amount of talent and an intrinsic value, stemming from her experience over the past years.

With over 200 goals scored for the junior and youth Denmark teams, Scaglione now needs to make the step even further, entering a Denmark side which has huge ambitions and has been on the fast-track to performance over the last years, with a bronze at Spain 2021 and a silver medal at the EHF EURO 2022.

Fatemeh Merikhi (Islamic Republic of Iran)

“When I was watching the World Championship in Spain on TV, I was very proud that Iran were there for the first time. With the presence of prominent European teams, the World Championship is a bit difficult, but now we are trying to make up the gap to them,” said Fatemeh Merikhi during the 2022 IHF Women’s Youth World Championship.

The 19-year-old Iranian left back will not be watching Denmark/Norway/Sweden 2023 on TV anymore, as she will be part of the team taking the court, after flashing huge signs of potential at the junior and youth level in the 2022 IHF Women’s World Championship editions in the younger age categories.

With the Islamic Republic of Iran making their debut in both competitions, Merikhi scored 38 goals at Slovenia 2022, for the Asian side’s junior team, adding 55 more goals, which saw her break into the top 10 in the goal scorer standings at North Macedonia 2022. Just 19 years old, she projects to be the future of Iranian handball, with another big challenge on her doorstep in December.

Tyra Axnér (Sweden)

It is not unusual, but also rarely seen that a player is coached by her own father, but this is exactly what the situation is for Sweden’s national team, one of the three co-hosts of the 26th IHF Women’s World Championship, when Tyra Axnér finally makes her debut at the world handball flagship competition, under the guidance of her father, Tomas.

Axnér was one of the top players at the 2022 IHF Women’s Junior World Championship last summer, when she was the top scorer of a Sweden squad which finished on the fourth place, boasting a 41-goal tally over the seven matches played at Slovenia 2022.

The 21-year-old left back, who was in the All-Star team at the W17 EHF EURO 2019, has serious experience at club level, playing for Ikast before moving to Nykøbing Falster Handboldklub in 2022, where she featured in the EHF European League Women and in the Danish league. 

Sora Ishikawa (Japan)

Last summer, Japan secured their second highest-ever ranking at the IHF Women’s Junior World Championship, finishing on the ninth place, after a superb performance, which saw the Asian side secure wins against Czechia, Montenegro and Slovakia and a draw against Sweden, underlining their huge potential.

From that team, it was right back Sora Ishikawa who made the All-Star team, which was a huge performance for the 21-year-old, after she finished on the seventh place in the top goal scorer standings, with 47 goals.

Ishikawa made the transition to the senior team almost seamlessly, and was slotted in that position in crucial matches, like the ones against the Republic of Korea in the Paris 2024 Asian Olympic Qualification or in the Asian Games, where Japan did deliver some outstanding performances.

Now, Ishikawa will make her debut at the IHF Women’s World Championship, as Japan project to be a dark horse in the competition, as they face Germany, the Islamic Republic of Iran and Poland in a well-balanced group.

Paula Arcos (Spain)

This is not the first rodeo for Arcos at the IHF Women’s World Championship, after she has already tasted the feeling at Spain 2021, on “Las Guerreras’” home court, where she saw ample playing time and established herself as one of the top young players in women’s handball.
Now 21, Arcos is ready for another big step, as Spain are eager to prove the doubters wrong, after some mishaps in the past year. The diminutive centre back will add more experience to her already 30 caps for “Las Guerreras”, after making a huge step in her career this summer, when she moved to Vipers Kristiansand.

Arcos can also play in every position on the back line, which means she will add excellent value to an already squad brimming with potential, which will bode well for the new coach, Ambros Martin, who will make his debut in a major international competition for Spain.

Charlotte Cholevová (Czechia)

At only 21 years old, Cholevová projects to be one of the main pillars of this Czechia side going into the future, as she has delivered some excellent performances both for club and country over the past few years. 

While she is only 1.73m tall, Cholevová is a powerful left back, a modern player, as highlighted by her performance at the 2022 IHF Women’s Junior World Championship, where she scored 62 goals, tied as the top goal scorer with Dutch left back Kim Molenaar, helping Czechia qualify for the main round of the competition.

She is also tested in major international club competitions, as she finished in the top 10 of the top goal scorer standings in the EHF Champions League Women last season, scoring 77 goals for DHK Banik Most, which prompted a transfer to French powerhouse Brest Bretagne Handball.

Cholevová is just another name for the excellent hotbed of talent which is Czechia, as she could make a great pair in the back line with Marketa Jerabková, already a household name in European and international handball.