It is a new dawn for the North Macedonia men’s senior national team, as their top scorer and legend Kiril Lazarov met an end to his playing career. Yet Lazarov did not call it quits on North Macedonia, becoming the side’s coach in his first stint in this position.

The lack of experience could have been an issue, but for a player with such an illustrious career, everything went perfectly – despite the huge pressure applied to him even though he was only making the first steps.

Montenegro will return to the IHF Men’s World Championship for the first time in 10 years after they finished 22nd in 2013. However, their progress has been visible and quite clear over the past few years. They qualified for five times in a row for the Men’s EHF EURO, sealing their best result in an international competition at the EHF EURO 2022 when they secured the 11th place.

When Alfred Gislason was appointed as their men’s national team coach in 2020, Germany knew they had a mountain to climb, as a serious rebuild was handed over to the Icelander.

In the short term, the first results were certainly not what Germany would have wanted and envisioned, as the 2021 IHF Men’s World Championship in Egypt brought the worst result in the team’s history: Germany finished 12th, just one place behind their previous worst outing, recorded in 2011.

Since 1993, when they won their first medal at the IHF Men’s World Championship, France have failed to reach the podium only four times. They raked up 11 medals in the process, becoming the most decorated team in the competition’s history with six titles, one silver medal and four bronze medals.

Generations come and go, but France have always been steady, continuously unearthing new talent and ushering in new players to fill the gaps. Even when top stars have retired, the team has always remained one of the best in the competition.

Starting from Czechoslovakia 1964, Egypt have participated in 16 IHF Men's World Championships. The fourth place in France 2001 still remains their all-time best result, and while it was followed by a certain crisis, the Pharaohs have shown a lot of signs of improvement in recent years and are again a force to be reckoned with.

There were scenes of joy and elation as Belgium sealed their first IHF Men’s World Championship berth in March 2022, winning 57:54 on aggregate against Slovakia in the Qualification Europe – Phase 2.

It was a totally unexpected win, especially after Belgium lost the first game of the doubleheader in Slovakia 28:26. However, they bounced back superbly to clinch a 31:26 win in the second match, as goalkeeper Jef Lettens shut down the goal with an amazing outing, saving 18 shots for a 40.9% saving efficiency.

There is a famous saying in sports: "You are only as good as your last result'". For Croatia, at IHF Men's World Championships, that result is their worst ranking in 14 appearances – 15th.
 
Those appearances have seen them as ever-present since 1995, and they collected five medals – one gold (2003), three silvers (1995, 2005, 2009) and one bronze (2013).
 

No team in history have won the IHF Men’s World Championship three consecutive times, with Sweden, Romania, France and Denmark coming the closest, each securing the title two times in a row.

Out of the four teams, it is Denmark who can write history in Poland and Sweden. The Scandinavian team have undoubtedly built a golden generation – a generation that won the previous two editions of the men’s flagship event without dropping a single game at Germany/Denmark 2019 and Egypt 2021.

Handball is certainly on the rise in Cape Verde. The island country of about 500,000 people, lying west of continental Africa, boasts a national team who have qualified for their second straight IHF Men's World Championship and hope to make a good impression at Poland/Sweden 2023.

Brazil have featured in every edition of the IHF Men's World Championship since 1995. However, their results have been mixed, with only one top-10 placement at Germany/Denmark 2019, where the South American side finished ninth after winning five of their eight games.

They definitely took a step back at Egypt 2021, where they only snatched one win, drew two matches and lost three. However, their draw against Spain to start the competition surely offered a glimpse of the South American side's potential.