Switzerland will line up at the start of the IHF Men’s World Championship for the 12th time in history, for the second time in the last three editions and only for the third time in the last 20 years, as the European country is slowly trying to enter the conversation and become a mainstay in the world handball flagship competition.

They made it inside Europe’s top 10 in 2022, so is it possible that the upwards trajectory of the Netherlands’ men’s team in recent years can add another top 10 position at CRO/DEN/NOR 2025?

While the Netherlands' women's team are well-known for their exploits; a World or European Championship medal every year from 2015 to 2019 and three top-five Olympic Games finishes in a row (2016, 2020, 2024), the men's side are not at that level. Yet.

But they are making giant steps towards it.