With six World Championship trophies since 1995, France are record holders in this category - and they are mainly dominant since becoming EURO champions in 2006. From that trophy on, they took four world titles, three continental trophies and twice Olympic gold. In 2010 they were the first male handball team ever to hold all three major titles at the same time.

They were Olympic Champions, World Champions and European Champions - since the 2004 Olympic bronze medal, Russia haven’t made it to the semi-final at major events. After missing the EURO qualification for Croatia, former Olympic, World and European Champion (as a player) Eduard Koksharov took over the team and they made it from the pre-qualification through the playoffs against the Czechs to the 2019 World Championship. Parallel, Koksharov is sports director of 2017 Champions League winner HC Vardar - and it is the Russian plan to give talents playing time at this club.

In 2007 Germany celebrated the World Championship title on home ground. At the 2019 event they hope for the same extra power provided from the stands in Berlin, Cologne and hopefully Hamburg. The new coach Christian Prokop took over the team in 2017 from Dagur Sigurdsson, who had steered the Germans to the 2016 EURO title (the second one after 2004). Though they missed the 2017 World Championship semi-final and the 2018 EURO semis, the expectations are high to make it to Herning.

During the EURO 2012 Serbia, also nicknamed the Eagles, had extra wings and took the silver medal after losing the final against Denmark. Serbia didn’t qualify for the 2015 and 2017 World Championships, but now with interim coach Ljubomir Obradovic steering the rejuvenated team, Serbia qualified for the 2019 event by leaving the surprise team of Portugal behind, which before had eliminated 2015 bronze medallists, Poland.

For the 2016 Olympic Games on home ground, Brazil had invested all resources to make their fans happy – but all were sure that the women’s team (World Champions in 2013) would make it at least to the semi-final. Both teams ended in the quarter-finals – a great result for the men’s team, which had been build up by Spaniard Jordi Ribera for many years. After the Olympic Games, he returned to his home country – and steered Spain to their first ever European title in 2018. Since 2016, Washington Nunes Silva is the new coach and he started a transition.

In almost two decades Spain has belonged in the top of world class handball. First, it were Spanish clubs which dominated European handball, then the national team grew and grew. In 2005 Spain won their first major title, the trophy of the World Championship, which they again rose in 2013. After an overall of four silver medals at European Championships, the team of new head coach Jordi Ribera won gold in 2018. First they dethroned defending EURO champions Germany by eliminating them from the final at Zagreb, followed by the victories against France in the semi and Sweden in the final.

The double Olympic Champions (1996 and 2004) and 2003 World Champions have waited for their next trophy more than 14 years. Since then, the Croats had almost been part of all semi-finals at major tournaments and took two silver medals on the world stage (2005, 2009), two on the European stage (2008, 2010) and even more bronze medals. At their EURO on home ground in 2018, finally the pressure was too huge and the early injury of their mastermind Domagoj Duvnjak hit them hard - the Croats missed the semis and finished on the fifth position.

When talking about Macedonian handball, it is mostly about Kiril Lazarov. The 38 years old shooter is a national legend - and a record-breaking star: No player ever scored more goals during a single World Championship like Lazarov in 2009 (92) and at a single EURO event (2012). Still, he is the mastermind behind all success in the Macedonian team, though others such as goalkeeper Borko Ristovski, line player Stojanche Stoilov or left wing Dejan Manaskov take more and more responsibility.

Rarely, a national bank holiday is given to a country from it’s government because of handball - this history happened in Iceland one day after the handball team won their first ever Olympic silver for their country in 2008 in Beijing. Some of those Olympic heroes are still in the current team, including Icelandic record player and scorer Gudjon Valur Sigurdsson and goalkeeper Björgvin Pal Gustavsson. Besides, both won the 2010 EURO bronze medal at Vienna with Iceland. Iceland re-engaged the mastermind behind the 2008 silver medal, former Danish national team coach Gudmundur Gudmundsson.

Since the former FC Barcelona player and Champions League winner Matteo Garralda took over the Chilean team, they have developed a lot. Under his leadership, they took their biggest success on continental level by making it to the final of the Pan American Championship on home ground in 2016. At the World Championship in France 2017, they made history by their first ever group phase win, beating Belarus. Three brothers imprinted the Chilean team in the previous years – the Feuchtmanns.