Robert Garcia Parrondo and Egypt arrive to the three-nation tournament after a close loss (30:31) to France just a few days ago in Paris after a week-long training camp there.

The pulsating emotions of the partisan fans at the Future Arena back at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games propelled the Brazil men’s team to their best-ever ranking in their fifth Olympic experience.

However, their seventh-placed ranking could have been even higher had they not come up against the legendary French in the quarter-final. An emotionally drained Brazil were outclassed, losing 27:34, but that could fuel the fire of the squad going into Tokyo 2020.

Germany will arrive in Tokyo just seven months after their worst-ever ranking at an IHF Men’s World Championship – 12th place at Egypt 2021 – an incredible result considering that in all the championships since it started back in 1938, there has only been one occasion when a German side did not qualify, and that was for Japan 1997.