The South American nation of Chile have never had a handball team qualify for an Olympic Games, but could they finally achieve it this year?

In the past two years they have beaten two of the three teams they face in Montenegro – Brazil (2019) and Republic of Korea (2021) – and if they repeat that in Podgorica, they could find themselves preparing for Japan in just under 150 days. Completing the group is European heavyweight Norway.

Facing three European sides for two places at the Olympic Games in Tokyo next summer is a tough task for any African side, but Tunisia remain upbeat before the Tokyo Handball Qualification 2020 in Montpellier, which will be staged from 12 to 14 March.

The Tunisian side finished a disappointing 25th at the 27th IHF Men’s World Championship in January, yet Sami Saidi’s side claimed four wins during the men’s flagship event, including a 37:33 victory against Austria to secure the President’s Cup.

Despite moving up to sit at the top table of international handball over the last four years thanks to two World Championship silver medals (2017, 2019) and a bronze European championship medal (2020), Norway’s men’s team have only ever appeared at one Olympic Games.

That solitary appearance was at the first-ever Olympic Games to feature indoor handball – the 1972 edition in Munich – a tournament they qualified for after finishing second in the then European qualification tournament. 

It is hard to look at any recent competitive action on the global stage for Republic of Korea ahead of their appearance at the Tokyo Handball Qualification 2020 Tournament 1 in Montenegro, where they will face Brazil, Norway and Chile.

A place at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games awaits the top two teams, but despite appearing – in some form at least – at the last two IHF Men’s World Championships in 2019 and 2021 after missing the previous two editions, little has been seen of the Korean team which will appear in Podgorica. 

A disappointing 27th IHF Men’s World Championship campaign in January rang the alarm bells for Croatia. Finishing 15th, their worst-ever placement in the history of the tournament, saw legendary coach Lino Cervar step down, despite his experience and tactical nous being next to none for the challenge up ahead.

Assistant coach Hrvoje Horvat took over and his honeymoon period was short as the Tokyo Handball Qualification 2020 lies ahead, with Croatia eyeing their fifth consecutive Olympic Games berth.

While Brazil were finishing second at the 2020 South and Central America Handball Confederation (SCAHC) Championship last January, their attention was also on both the European and African Championships, running concurrently.

The reason? They were hoping for Egypt to win the CAHB Men’s African Championship, which they did, and the following day were hoping for Norway, Germany, Sweden, Croatia or Spain to win the European Championship, and Spain did.

2016 was an exceptional year for the Germany men’s national team. At the EHF EURO in Poland, they surprised everyone and triumphed against Spain after an outstanding first half, where All-star goalkeeper Andreas Wolff conceded only six goals and paved the way for the commanding 24:17 victory in the final. 

Four-time winners at the IHF Men’s World Championship and four-time European champions, Sweden have long sought the holy grail to complete their hat-trick of medals. However, they have failed to win the gold medal at the Olympic Games in nine tries, finishing second four times.

The golden generation of Swedish handball is long gone, yet something special is brewing once again in Scandinavia under the leadership of Glenn Solberg.

Coach Christian Berge has pushed the Norwegian men’s team up the mountain of world handball in recent years, but they are yet to reach the summit, winning two World Championship silver medals (2017, 2019), a bronze European championship medal (2020) and claiming a fourth-place finish in at the EHF EURO 2016.