It will be business as usual for Morocco’s coach, Noureddine Bouhadioui, as the ‘Atlas Lions’ are back at the IHF Men’s World Championship for the first time in 14 years.

Morocco have six World Championship appearances, the last in 2007, all under Bouhadioui.

“It is an important tournament for us and the objective is to display a good handball, which can honour our tradition. If we can pinpoint an objective, then it would be progressing to the main round, which would be a first for our team,” said Bouhadioui.

Democratic Republic of Congo are one of three debutants set to contest the 27th IHF Men’s World Championship, having qualified by way of a seventh-place finish at the 2020 CAHB Men’s African Championship in January. 

Seventh place was enough to qualify thanks to the expanded number of teams, with 32 ready to play the Men’s World Championship for the first time in history, as well as the fact that a nation from Africa are hosts. As a result, six tickets to Egypt 2021 were up for grabs at the 2020 African Championship. 

Cape Verde qualified for Egypt 2021 – their first-ever IHF Men’s World Championship – when they finished fifth in Tunisia at the CAHB Men’s African Championship, held in January 2020.

With 16 teams instead of 12, the newly-expanded African continental championship meant a debut appearance for Cape Verde and just the second time a team from the island nation had qualified through to even a continental championship.

Czech Republic return to the IHF Men’s World Championship for the second time since 2009, reflecting what has been a tough period for the team – but one that seems to be ending, as they have reasserted themselves as one of the nations to watch in Europe in recent years. 

Over the last couple of years in particular, Czech Republic have shown they are to be taken very seriously. Most notably, at the 2018 European championship, they equalled their best result in history, sixth place (previously in 1996), thanks to a campaign that forced their continental rivals to take notice. 

Missing the 2019 World Championship was the price Belarus had to pay for renewing their side. Two years later, their young prospects are experienced enough and the team are eager to present a fresh face to the world.

Between 2008 and 2016, Algeria were prominent in African handball, even winning the 2014 CAHB Men’s African Championship.

However, ‘Les Fennecs’ have taken a step back in recent years, including missing out on the IHF World Championship since 2015.

With French coach Alain Portes on their bench, Algeria are now back and look to proceed to the main round of the World Championship after failing to win a game in their last appearance.

Despite boasting two powerhouses in their domestic league, the form of the national team has dipped since Poland’s fourth-place finish at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

A bronze medal at the Qatar 2015 IHF Men’s World Championship has been the swansong of the golden generation of Polish handball, as key players aged, with young guns failing to break through.

Now, after a four-year hiatus, Poland are back at the IHF Men’s World Championship, before being one of the co-hosts for the next edition, alongside Sweden.

It’s been almost four years since Slovenia climbed the podium for the first time at an IHF Men’s World Championship. No handball fan in Slovenia will ever forget the way they clinched the bronze medal versus Croatia at France 2017 – after trailing by seven goals into the 44th minute, an incredible comeback propelled the Slovenians to a 31:30 victory.

“Our group is very competitive,” says Angola coach Nelson Damião Catito. In Group C, his team and Japan might appear as the underdogs next to Men’s EHF EURO 2020 silver medallists Croatia and reigning Asian champions Qatar. However, Angola have already proven they are more than capable of winning matches.

When a nation bids to host a major international event, part of the hope is that their own team will be able to put on a strong showing that does the championship justice. Looking at the Egypt men’s national team results over the last years and how their players are progressing on an individual level, 2021 may be just the culmination of perfect circumstances needed for the World Championship hosts to see a noteworthy result.