Six teams are at the start of the 2024 South and Central American Men's Handball Championship, the third edition of the competition, with the top three sides sealing their tickets for the 2025 IHF Men’s World Championship.

Both previous winners, Argentina (2020) and Brazil (2022) are ready to fight, with the competition taking place between 16 and 20 January, in a round-robin format, in Argentina, with the winner decided after the last matchday, which sees Argentina take on Brazil.

Hosts Argentina are favoured this time around, after winning the 2023 Pan American Games, which saw Guillermo Milano’s side progress to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, and have the upper hand against Brazil, trying to recapture the trophy they had previously sealed in 2020.

Brazil, a true powerhouse of the continent, have plenty of talent and experience, but are likely to be underdogs against Argentina, especially as they will play in Buenos Aires, where the Casa del Handball Argentino – the House of the Argentinian Handball – is expected to be sold-out for plenty of matches.

Brazil and Argentina have always come out on the top two places in the previous editions of the 2024 South and Central American Men's Handball Championship, but the bronze medal will also be crucial, as its recipients will clinch a ticket for the 2025 IHF Men’s World Championship.

Uruguay and Chile look like serious contenders for the third place, with both sides having made the cut to the world handball flagship competition in its past two editions, with Chile sealing the bronze in 2022 and Uruguay in 2020 at South and Central American Men's Handball Championship.

Paraguay, which will make their third appearance in the continental competition and finished fifth each time, and Costa Rica, which finished sixth in their debut appearance in 2022, are the other two sides completing the six-team line-up at the 2024 South and Central American Men's Handball Championship.