The opening stage of the 2026 IHF Beach Handball Global Tour (BHGT) gets underway this Thursday (30 April) in Zagreb, with the men’s and women’s national teams of Serbia, Portugal, Poland and the host nation, Croatia, all battling it out for the stage win and with it, qualification through to the BHGT Finals stage later this year.

The two-day event features eight games in two competitions, finishing on Friday 1 May, with the finals at 17:30 (women) and 18:30 (men) local time.

All matches will be livestreamed on the IHF Competitions YouTube channel. 

Serbian men hope to take step towards European and World Championships

With Croatia, Portugal and Poland no strangers to the BHGT, the opening stage of 2026 welcomes a nation with a long history in the sport, but one which has not been seen on the continental or global stage for some time – Serbia.

With the men’s team appearing just twice at an IHF Beach Handball World Championship, in 2008 when they won bronze and in 2014, plus last appearing at an EHF EURO in 2019, and the women appearing at just one IHF Women’s Beach Handball World Championship (2008) and not gracing continental sand since 2015, the BHGT debutants will be warmly welcome onto the sand of their neighbours.

“I am glad that we will, once again, have Serbia as part of the international scene, since they have some great players and people,” said Croatia men’s team coach Mladen Paradžik to ihf.info after the stage was announced. “This stage could be a nice stepping stone for their rebirth again.”

Both Serbia teams have entered the qualification tournament for the EHF EURO in 2027 – the EHF Beach Handball Championship – which will be played at the same venue as the opening BHGT stage and upcoming 2026 IHF Men’s and Women’s Beach Handball World Championships – Jarun Lake, from 9 to 12 July. 

“We are very excited to come back to the beach handball map and we will give our best to provide excellent matches,” explains Marko Paja, Serbia men’s beach handball national team coach, to ihf.info a few days before throwing-off their campaign in Zagreb.

“Our goal is the upcoming European qualification championship. We want to try to qualify for that next year and not to miss one more European championship and this tour stage is one step in achieving that. We want to become regulars in European and World competitions and try to win some medals in the future, because the last one we won was back in 2008.”

Paja is well-experienced not only in beach but indoor handball too. A player since 2004 on the sand, he played in that last senior competition with Serbia, at the 2019 EHF EURO in Poland. Six years earlier he was voted in as MVP of the 2013 EHF EURO.

His indoor career saw him play in Belgrade for RK Obilic before transferring to France at the age of 22 to play in the second division for SMV Porte Normande, a three-year sell then followed in the first division for Creteil, before he returned to Serbia and played for RK PKB and RK Partizan. A final French experience then followed (2013-15) at Pontault Comabault where he finished his professional playing career at 33 years old.

The Belgrade-born 44-year-old then coached both indoor and beach, for RK Obilic, the U18 national team as assistant coach and has now racked up “30-40” games as Serbian men’s national team coach, one who is relishing the chance to see what his players can do in Zagreb.

“We couldn't bring our best squad because we have an indoor championship going on in Serbia and clubs didn't let players go, but I expect that we will have a complete roster for the upcoming championship. In the future there will be mix of experienced players and youth but they are all playing in first and second division in Serbia,” he explained.

“Croatia is one of the best in history in beach handball, Portugal and Poland are also great national teams, and I can only promise to give our best and enjoy on the sand.”

For his captain, Uros Savic, he is relishing the chance to take on the current world champions in Croatia and two very strong teams in Portugal and Poland.

“These teams represent the very top of European beach handball, with special emphasis on Croatia, which is a multiple European and world champion. We have a lot of respect for all three opponents,” he explained.

“Our main focus will certainly be on defence, and we will try to break our opponents through that aspect of the game. Our squad includes several experienced players who have been competing in beach handball at a high level for many years, and we believe that experience can make a key difference. With that approach, we believe we can compete with everyone. Our initial goal is to take at least one set in each match, and once it comes down to a shootout, anything is possible. Shoot-outs are always a bit of a lottery, and with a bit of luck and composure, you never know.”

Savic is quick to stress that the team’s primary objective for Zagreb is to assess where the team currently stands on the international stage and to identify strengths and weaknesses.

“Of course, we will approach every game with the intention to win and will give our maximum effort to achieve that,” he said. “Our main goal this year is qualification for the European Championship. Beyond that, we want to build a strong and stable core of players who will be able to compete consistently at the national team level. Establishing that foundation is crucial for the long-term development and success of Serbian beach handball.”

 

Serbia women: ‘We are here to stay’

Branko Radakovic is coach of the Serbia women’s national team and is aware that it will take some time for Serbia to get used to playing on the top stage once more.

“The last time our senior national team played really was at the EHF EURO in 2015, so 11 years is a long break,” said the 39-year-old, who started playing beach handball back in 2012 at an ebt event in his home city, Novi Sad.

“But we are really excited to play on this stage, especially because we will be able to provide consistency with our tournaments - two years at the younger age category events in Varna and Alanya, the BHGT and then the upcoming younger age category EHF EURO, and then, later the EHF EURO senior qualification tournament.

“For these past two years coaching youngsters we have managed to make some good players, like Jelena Mirković, who was top-scorer in Alanya and we also have some interesting players with good specialist and defensive skills, who we hope can apply those skills when they step up to the senior level.

“We are going to focus our selection on active beach handball players from the women’s selection of BHC 2areg (Bačka Palanka/Novi Sad) and some really good indoor players who played beach handball some years ago, if they don’t have obligations with their clubs now.”

Radakovic, who helped set up BHC 2areg, played for Serbia at the 2014 IHF Men’s Beach Handball World Championship in Brazil, at three EHF EUROs in Spain (2015), Croatia (2017) and Poland (2019), plus a number of ebt tournaments in his favoured position of middle.

He started coaching the national team from the ground up in 2024 when it was relaunched with players from the 2009 or younger generation and with around 30 games under his belt already, is ready to take on some tough European opponents this week.

“I am expecting good things from Croatia, a fast and complete attack from Portugal and a good physical test from Poland,” he explained. “If we want to beat them, we must adjust our defence to their attack and keep a high level of concentration in defence during the whole game.

“Our aim is to see how well our young players do in senior competition, so we can make the best choice for the upcoming EHF EURO qualification, which is crucial for our presence on the beach handball scene. We want to gain a level of experience that is needed to fight for medals in the future. We are happy to be on the international senior stage again and our message is ‘we are here to stay’.”

Portugal and Poland ready to compete

Portugal have announced two strong squads which will aim to improve their rankings from the second stage of the 2025 BHGT in Laredo, Spain, where the men’s side finished second and women’s team, third.
 
The women’s team features seven changes from their squad at The World Games 2025, while the men’s team features eight returning athletes from their last squad, plus two new players in Daniel Azevedo and Tiago Singh.

“For this first stage of the Global Tour, our goal is to use it as a starting point for preparing for the next World Championship and try to reach the final,” said Portugal men’s coach Pedro Serrano to portal.fpa.pt.

“Winning it would be an incredible opportunity for the team, as it would give us the chance to play in another competition this year. This championship gives us the opportunity to play in the same environment as the World Championship and against high-level opponents with different playing styles, which will certainly help us.”

For women’s coach Agustín Collado, the BHGT continues the ongoing development of his side.

“This competition, along with the training camps leading up to the championship in July, will help us build the best team for the future of the national team. The goal is to reach the final and fight for victory to qualify directly for the Global Tour final. This test will give us a lot of information about the path to follow.”

Poland flew out of Warsaw on Wednesday (29 April), heading to Croatia for their national teams’ first test of the new European beach handball season.

Their men’s team will be coached by Jarosław Knopik, while their women’s team will be headed by the experienced Karolina Peda.

The BHGT will be played in parallel with the world-famous ‘Jarun Cup’ European Beach Tour (ebt) tournament, the traditional curtain-raiser to the European beach handball season, while the draw for the Croatia 2026 world championship will take place the day after the opening stage of the 2026 BHGT concludes.

Brazil are the current IHF Beach Handball Global Tour title-holders, having won both the men’s and women’s gold medals in the finals last year.

All matches from Zagreb will be streamed live on the IHF Competitions YouTube channel. 

2026 IHF Beach Handball Global Tour: Stage 1 – Match Schedule
(all times local - CEST)

Thursday 30 April

Preliminary round – Men
11:00 Portugal vs Serbia
13:00 Croatia vs Poland
18:30 Poland vs Serbia
20:30 Croatia vs Portugal

Preliminary round – Women
10:00 Serbia vs Poland
12:00 Portugal vs Croatia
17:30 Poland vs Portugal
19:30 Croatia vs Serbia

Friday 1 May

Preliminary round – Men
11:30 Poland vs Portugal
12:30 Serbia vs Croatia

Preliminary round – Women
09:30 Croatia vs Poland
10:30 Serbia vs Portugal

Finals

Men
16:30 Bronze medal match
18:30 Final

Women
15:30 Bronze medal match
17:30 Final

Photo credit: EHF / Kolektiff