Malta are one of three teams alongside Great Britain and Bulgaria entering their fourth IHF Men's Emerging Nations Championship. However, the eighth place at the inaugural competition at Kosovo 2015 remains their best achievement.

Now the European team hope to do better and have been drawn into Group A with Andorra and India. They have a chance to be competitive. While Malta have never faced India at this level, they comfortably defeated Andorra 36:25 in the 13th place match of the 2017 tournament.

Four years ago, at the previous edition of the IHF Men’s Emerging Nations Championship, India made their debut and ended up in ninth place, saving something from their tournament in the Placement Matches after ending the group phase in last place, with five losses in five matches and the worst defence in the competition, 204 goals conceded in five matches, roughly an average of 41 conceded goals per game.

At Bulgaria 2023, Guatemala are the only team who are making their debut at the IHF Men's Emerging Nations Championship. For each of their players, it is the first opportunity to participate in an event of this calibre.

In Group C, they will face Cuba and Great Britain, and while the debutants are facing a challenging task, the team coached by Carlos Alvarez hope to put on a good performance and make their fans happy with some positive results. 

2023 has started with a big success for the Great Britain men’s national team, which delivered an excellent performance in the Qualification Phase 1 of the EHF EURO 2026, securing the berth for the Qualification Phase 2 after a draw against Cyprus and wins against Azerbaijan and Malta.

The team of Cyprus is heading into their second IHF Men's Emerging Nations Championship after 2017. Six years ago, the tournament was also held in Varna, and the Cypriots took the fourth position, narrowly missing a podium finish. In the semi-final, Turkey defeated them only in extra time (32:35) before losing to Kosovo in the third-place encounter (25:32).

Cuba have taken part in seven editions of the IHF Men’s World Championship, with their best-ever finish coming in 1999 when they ended up in eighth place. However, despite producing excellent talent time and time again, Cuba have taken a step back and have never made it to the world handball flagship competition since 2009.

Bulgaria are one of the three sides which have taken part in each and every edition of the IHF Men's Emerging Nations Championship, with solid growth recorded since the maiden edition in 2015. Back then, Bulgaria finished in 11th place, prompting a change in their preparations, which yielded a fifth place in 2017 and a bronze medal in 2019.

For Azerbaijan, it will be the third straight participation in the IHF Men's Emerging Nations Championship. Their debut took place at Bulgaria 2017, where the team finished tenth, and they took the same position two years later in Georgia.

Australia will return to an international tournament organised under the aegis of the International Handball Federation for the first time since 2015 when they ended up in 12th place at the inaugural edition of the IHF Men’s Emerging Nations Championship.

In the past, Andorra played at the IHF Men's Emerging Championship twice, finishing 15th in 2015 and 14th two years later. The European side claimed one win in each tournament, beating Armenia and Albania.

Andorra also played at the 2021 Men's IHF/EHF Trophy, where they lost against both Cyprus and Bulgaria in the group stage before the 5/6 placement match against Azerbaijan was cancelled.