Honours were split between two of the world heavyweights in beach handball at the 2026 FISU World University Championship Beach Sports championships which concluded in Figueira da Foz, Portugal on Tuesday (22 September).

Brazil’s women and Spain’s men took the global titles, defeating Spain’s women and Brazil’s men in the finals, respectively.

The men’s and women’s beach handball competitions took place on Buarcos Beach across five matchdays from 17 to 22 September and featured men’s and women’s teams from Brazil, Spain, Poland and Portugal, with the men’s competition also featuring Türkiye.

In the men’s competition featuring five teams, an initial three-day preliminary group stage was held, with the teams then going through to the semi-finals, 3-5 placement rounds and medal matches. The women’s competition saw each of the four teams play each other twice in the first stage before semi-finals and medal matches.

On their way to gold, 2024 title-holders Brazil won all six of their women’s preliminary group games - defeating Spain (2-1, 2-0), Poland (2-0) and Portugal (2-0, 2-1). Hosts Portugal were seen off in the semi-final (2-0), before Spain put up quite a battle in the gold medal match, eventually losing 8:4 in the shoot-out after winning the first set comfortably (27:18). 

The home nation, featuring a number of players and coach who won stage 1 of the 2026 IHF Beach Handball Global Tour in Zagreb earlier this year, took bronze with a 2-0 win over Poland.

The men’s final was the opposite result with Spain adding yet another beach handball title to their history books.

Spain beat Portugal (2-1), Türkiye (2-0) and Poland (2-0) in the group stage before losing to Brazil (1-2) in their final preliminary round game. Portugal were seen off in the semi-final (2-0) and then a tight first set, golden goal win, was followed by a clear second set win to take the title against 2024 champions Brazil. Portugal doubled their bronze count with a 2-0 win over Poland.

Giampiero Masi, Chair of the IHF Beach Handball Working Group, attended the championships in his capacity as a Technical Delegate with referees and officials taking part in the ‘YouRef’ project, co-funded by the European Union under the Erasmus+ Sport programme, which saw practical and promotional sessions held with the aim of encouraging more young people to become involved in sports officiating.

Participants from 31 nations and regions competed for world titles in four disciplines at the championships which also included beach soccer, beach volleyball and beach wrestling and was held from 16 to 22 September.

FINAL RANKING

Men’s competition
1 Spain
2 Brazil
3 Portugal
4 Poland
5 Turkiye

Women’s competition
1 Brazil
2 Spain
3 Portugal
4 Poland

RESULTS

Women’s competition

Preliminary Group
POR-POL 2-0
ESP-BRA 1-2
BRA-POR 2-1
ESP-POL 2-0
POL-BRA 0-2
POR-ESP 0-2
POL-POR 0-2
BRA-ESP 0-2
POR-BRA 1-2
POL-ESP 0-2
BRA-POL 2-0
ESP-POR 2-1
Semi-Final: ESP-POL 2-0
Semi-Final: BRA-POR 2-0
Bronze: POL-POR 0-2 (10:19, 18:19)
Final: ESP-BRA 1-2(27:18, 12:17 SO 4:8)

Men’s competition

Preliminary Group
POR-ESP 1-2
TUR-BRA 0-2
POL-POR 0-2
ESP-TUR 2-0
BRA-POR 2-1
POL-ESP 0-2
BRA-POL 2-0
POR-TUR 2-0
TUR-POL 0-2
ESP-BRA 1-2
Semi-Final: BRA-POL 2-0
Semi-Final: ESP-POR 2-0
3-5 Placement Round: POL-TUR 2-0
3-5 Placement Round: POR-TUR 2-1
3-5 Placement Round: POR-POL 2-0 MEDAL (19:10, 27:14)
Final: BRA-ESP 0-2 (20:21, 22:26)

To view over 1,000 photos and videos from the beach handball competitions, visit HERE.

To watch the semi-finals again, visit HERE.

To watch the finals, visit HERE.