To win the IHF World Player of the Year award once is a huge milestone. To win it two times, it is even harder. But three times? Only Nikola Karabatić and Mikkel Hansen had done it before.

But now, Mathias Gidsel cut his own path into handball immortality. Into the sport’s history. Into greatness. The Denmark right back was named the 2025 IHF Male World Player of the Year, snatching the award from his competitors for the third time in a row, becoming the first player to win in three consecutive years and the third one to be awarded as the top player in the world three times.

It could not have been different, after a stellar 2025 year, which saw Gidsel clinch the IHF Men’s World Championship for the third time in a row – bringing Denmark’s fourth consecutive crown – and seeing himself secure the MVP and the top goal scorer award.

His influence rubbed at club level too, as Füchse Berlin were crowned champions and went as far as the Machineseeker EHF Champions League final, with Gidsel being the second best scorer in the domestic league and the top scorer in the European premium club competition.

The superlatives are running out for how consistent, how influential and how dominant is Gidsel in these years, setting himself up to become the greatest player to even don the court.

“Obviously, it's something special. You know, first thing is just to be the World Player of the Year once – it's always something special. Imagine going to be the best in a sport three times in a row, it's incredible. I'm of course extremely proud. Also, getting it three times in a row tells me that I have been on a good run for the last couple of years, and I'm proud of my stability and the way I've been performing together with the Danish national team, which is also a really fantastic team at the moment. And of course, Füchse Berlin had an amazing development too– being part of those teams is incredible,” says Gidsel in an exclusive interview for IHF.info.

“To be tied now with Mikkel Hansen and Nikola Karabatić, I think that tells the whole story. It is incredible that my name is in the same conversation with these two guys.”

 

"I'm always Mathias"

Denmark’s ascension to greatness has been unprecedented. Since winning the maiden World title in 2019 – when Gidsel was still an up and coming player and not in the squad – they have put together a streak of 37 unbeaten matches, the largest in history in the competition, with 35 wins and two draws.

Gidsel has been part of the team since 2021, making his debut in a major international competition at Egypt 2021, and has not looked back ever since. Just take the list of his individual achievements.

At the 2021 IHF Men’s World Championship, he was the All-Star right back. MVP titles followed at the 2023 and 2025 IHF Men’s World Championships, where he was the top goal scorer, as well as at the Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Gidsel also secured the top scorer awards at the EHF EURO 2024 and EHF EURO 2026, being in the All-Star team in 2022, 2024 and 2026 in the continental events.

 

 

 

 

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Basically, since making his debut at the highest level, the Denmark right back, who just turned 27 years old on 8 February, has always made the All-Star team in one way or another in the major international events he took part in.

But Gidsel has remained the same he was five years ago, albeit with a plethora of titles and individual awards under his name.

“I always say that I hope people can see that I'm always Mathias, that I've always been the same guy, no matter how many times I am going to win things or be crowned the IHF World Player of the Year. But I'll always be myself. And of course, I'm getting more mature, older – I can feel that when I wake up every morning now. But I'm getting more experience, I am more mature on the court and also outside of it. And you know, what I'm most proud of is that I'm really there 100% every time, and I hope everyone can see that every time I'm on the court, no matter if I play against Wetzlar or it's for Denmark in the World Championship final. I'm 100% there and I enjoy it,” says Gidsel.

 

Playing handball as a way of life - "That's my playground"

The Denmark right back has been under the spotlight for a few times on this website and has always expressed a deep love for handball, one which has never felt more prominent.

“You know, I have the best job in the world, and I think I'm also a big part of the best sport in the world. So I enjoy every time I wake up to be able to play handball as my job – that's incredible. And to be able to stand in front of 10,000 people every time I play here in Berlin is also incredible, and it's a huge honour for me actually to be on the court every time and just enjoying handball,” adds Gidsel.

Indeed, Gidsel loves to play handball. In the final of the 2025 IHF Men’s World Championship, the right back has spent 59 minutes and 10 seconds on the court, after being 53 minutes and 53 seconds on the court in the semi-final against Portugal, 40:27, two days earlier.

Simply put, he wants to play all the time and he wants to play good. 

“I'm always saying that it's a little bit like putting a kid on the playground. That's my playground – to stand in a handball arena – and no matter where I am in the whole world, or if we're in front with 10 or behind with 10 goals, I always want to be a part of the game. And if you put me outside the playground, then I'm getting really sad, and I just want to be a part of it. For me, it's a playground; for me it's there where I'm having the most fun in my life. I can also feel that now I'm 27, but still, hey, I'm injury-free, and I can every time enjoy playing handball. And I'm also extremely proud of – I know a lot of people are talking about the Danish handball team, but I'm extremely proud of being a part of the team in Berlin and the journey we have been part of,” says Gidsel.

“It also makes me every time have to work really hard every day and also make it possible to achieve this for the first time. So yeah, you know, I'm just – like I said, I'm really truly meaning it when I said I'm incredibly honoured to have handball as my job and that I can play that every day.”

A true honour, but also something that Gidsel excels at. To be constantly able to post a shooting efficiency hovering around 70%, or even exceeding that, at the constant workload he has, looks improbable and needs a certain amount of talent and mental strength.

 

Making a difference in society

The latter is something that Gidsel has touched in his newsletter – The Gidsel Circle – where he is one of the few handball players who shares insight into the life of a handball superstar.

“It's a way to talk directly to my fans, to the people who want to be a part of my life, to follow my life. I just wanted to have a clear voice to my people, the ones who want to follow my career. And that's why I made this newsletter. It's maybe not the most sexy way of talking to people these days. You can do a podcast, you could do a YouTube channel, but for me I'm a little bit better in front of a writing machine,” says Gidsel.

“What my last newsletter was about my thoughts in the European Championship – that I also sometimes can doubt myself. And I think if I was a little kid and I saw Karabatić when I was young, I said, okay, this man, he never doubts himself, he's never insecure. And you know, when I'm coming on this side now, we are also insecure, we also doubt. And I think sometimes for young kids and boys, it's maybe incredibly good to hear that also the best people in sport sometimes doubt themselves and have the same thoughts as they have.”

Gidsel has made it a point to talk about mental strength and mental health, while dominating the court. In his opinion, this is one of his attributes which differentiates him from others and provides a valve to decompress even in the most difficult of moments, touching a subject which not many speak about.

The volume of abuse is growing bigger and bigger in the social media era and with Denmark being such a dominant force, the pressure is there to be seen all the time. Take, for instance, the performances at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and at the 2025 IHF Men’s World Championship, where Denmark were crowned champions by winning 17 matches out of 17.

But at the European Championship played in January 2026, Denmark conceded a loss against Portugal in the preliminary round, which was close to derail their title campaign. Yet with Gidsel as the MVP and starring throughout the competition, they built a six-match winning streak to become the second team in history after France to hold the three major titles – World Championship, Olympic Games and European Championship -  simultaneously.

“Maybe I'm incredibly strong for telling these things and actually showing that I have normal thoughts like everyone else. And I'm just admitting it. I think a lot of people are sometimes hiding that they have doubts, they are insecure. Me being insecure on the court – maybe a lot of people think, oh, that doesn't happen. It happens. Of course it happens. I'm also a human like everyone else, but I have trained myself to have these tools to get over this, to find the rhythm back and to get the confidence back. And, you know, for me, I see it – I see openness and the willingness to talk openly about difficult things as a real strength,” adds the 2025 IHF Male World Player of the Year. 

“And when you can do that and you can admit sometimes also that you're not the best at everything – I'm not the best at everything in this life. And if you can admit that, then you have the clear path to become one of the best in your arena, no matter if you talk about a handball player or a lawyer or a journalist. And that's also what I'm trying to tell in the newsletter: is that you need to admit mistakes. You need to also admit that a lot of things are difficult, but you need to take care of them and care about them.”

 

Being the best that ever was

But, in the end, facts are facts. Gidsel is being a role model on the court and off the court, with his ascension to greatness gripping fans, pundits and specialists alike. In the coaches’ vote for this year’s award, he took a 68% share, while he totalled more fan votes than teammate Emil Nielsen and Croatia right back Ivan Martinović between them, with a 60,8% share.

And Gidsel has proven to be impossible to catch, or replicate, with his set of skills being a mirror of where handball is heading.

“Our goal entering the matches is to play good handball. We know when we go onto the court and we play really good handball, then the other guys really have to be really good to beat us. And if they beat us, hey, respect. But that's our goal going into the games,” says Gidsel.

So far, the plan has worked to perfection, and Denmark are getting ready to make it five world titles in a row. If that happens in Germany next January, Gidsel will have a good chance to seal another Player of the Year award, his fourth (provided he does not win in 2026) or even fifth in his career.

And he’s still going strong.

“Every time I go on the court, people know that I'm putting in 100%. If I'm doing my 100% the whole 2026 and someone are better than me, then be it. Then I have a lot of respect for the one who's going to beat me. But still, I hope that people every time I go on the court will see, no matter how many times I become the world player, that I still enjoy playing handball. That's the most important for me,” concludes Gidsel.

Photo credit for club picture: Füchse Berlin