Even though coach Henrik Signell’s concepts go far beyond what one single player might contribute to the team, there is no doubt he must have had his fingers crossed to have Bella Gullden in Kumamoto. For a long time it was uncertain if the Swedish superstar will be available to compete at her fifth IHF Women’s Handball World Championship, since she gave birth to her first child in the beginning of July.

Norway arrive in Japan in an unfamiliar position – they currently hold no major international titles. As the Olympic champions in 2008 and 2012, the world champions in 2011 and 2015 , and the European champions at every edition of the biennial tournament from 2004 to 2016 apart from one (2012, won by Montenegro), Norway have been champions of at least one major international championship at any given time since 2004. 

Are Hungary on their way back to the top? After finishing as medallists at the IHF Women’s World Championship no less than nine times from the first edition in 1957 up until 2005, with the last podium climb that year (bronze), Hungary’s rankings on the women’s international scene dropped.  

They were the hosts of the previous IHF Women’s World Championship, in 2017, and hopes were therefore high for Germany to do something big on the home court, but an elimination in the eighth-finals ended the dream of returning to the top of the global rankings. That moment initiated a transition, with top stars such as then captain Anna Loerper and two-time Champions League winning goalkeeper Clara Woltering ending their national team careers. 

The shelves of the Danish handball museum are crowded with trophies and medals. Throughout history, their women’s team claimed three Olympic gold medals, one IHF World Championship title and three EHF EURO trophies – mentioning only their most remarkable achievements.

It is not hard to imagine how long it must feel for the Danes these past six years without medals – the last one was the bronze medal clinched at the Serbia 2013 IHF Women’s Handball World Championship.