A five-time European champion and a four-time World champion, Sweden have established themselves as one of the top teams in the world in men’s handball, with consistent performances over the last decades. A resurgence has been felt in the last years, with Sweden securing the title at the EHF EURO 2022, finishing fourth at the 2023 IHF Men’s World Championship and third at the EHF EURO 2024.

Last October, 11 Asian teams lined up in Doha, Qatar for the Paris 2024 AHF Asian Olympic Qualification Tournament, with Japan defying all odds and securing a huge win, their maiden qualification at the Olympic Games via this path, by clinching six wins in six matches.

First, they delivered a pitch perfect performance in the preliminary round, winning against the Islamic Republic of Iran (25:20), Bahrain (27:26), Kuwait (32:30) and Kazakhstan (44:19), in close succession, with the matches against Bahrain and Kuwait being clearly close.

Tunisia men make their long-awaited debut at an IHF Men’s Beach Handball World Championship, coming to China as African champions, having won the African Beach Games in Hammamet on home sand in June 2023.

A solitary bronze medal in their debut appearance back in 2006 is the only reward for Spain’s eight appearances at the IHF Men’s Beach Handball World Championships – and for a run of four championships (2012, 2014, 2016, 2018) they were stuck in fifth place.

Could that change at China 2024?

Judging by their final ranking at the 2023 European Championships held last year in Nazare, Portugal, the answer is no – fifth again.

With three players in the IHF Beach Handball Showcase on the fringes of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games next month – Mohsen Al Yafaei, Mohammed Zaky Hassan and Hani Kakhi – it is clear just where Qatar’s men sit on the global beach handball scene.

At IHF Men’s Beach Handball World Championship level their biggest success to date is a pair of bronze medals, gained in 2014 and 2016. They came close last time out, at Greece 2022, but were unlucky to come up against a super-motivated host nation in the quarter-final.

Despite being a base for club handball on the sand in Europe, thanks to the numerous events held in the coastal town of Nazare – home to some of the biggest waves in the world – Portugal’s senior national sides have not yet made waves on a continental or global level, at least in the medal tables.

The Sultanate of Oman has a long history of beach handball, appearing at the debut IHF Men’s Beach Handball World Championship back in 2004 and having hosted the fifth edition of the global event at the Mussanah Sports City in 2012.

At that edition, their men’s side finished eighth, but in five appearances since, a seventh-place finish at Budapest 2016 is the highest they have ranked in a world championship.

After a six-year break due to covid and not qualifying through their continental championships, Hungary return to IHF Men’s Beach Handball World Championship action in the best possible way – as European champions.

Last year, at the continental event in Portugal, the Hungarians saw off Germany 2-0 (20:16, 20:18) in the gold medal match to take the European title for the first time after previously winning silver and bronze.