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.

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.

With Christian Berge as Norway’s new head coach they’ve been rising like a Phoenix. After missing the 2015 World Championship, Norway made it to the EURO 2016 semi-final, where they unluckily were beaten by later-on champions Germany after extra time. By losing the bronze medal match against Croatia, they missed the direct qualification for the 2017 World Championship and then lost in the playoffs against Slovenia. Thanks to an IHF wildcard, they finally were part of the event in France - and made it to the final after leaving the Croats behind in the semi.

When the Olympic Games 2020 had been awarded to Tokyo in 2013, the Japanese Handball Federation immediately started their programme to have two competitive teams “on home ground”. They signed European coach Spaniard Carlos Antonio Ortega, but Japan changed their men’s coach after the 2017 World Championship and grabbed the chance to sign Dagur Sigurdsson for the “mission Olympic Games”. The Icelandic born had steered Germany to the European trophy in 2016 and German club Füchse Berlin to the EHF Cup trophy in 2015.

The men’s national team are still aiming for their second ever medal at major events since silver at the 1986 World Championship. In 2004 and 2012, they made it to the Olympic semi-finals, but finished fourth rank twice. At the 2017 World Championship in France, Hungary eliminated Olympic Champions Denmark. In 2017 Swedish Ljubomir Vranjes took over Veszprem and the national team after he had steered Flensburg to the 2014 Champions League title.

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.

For many years Egypt were the leading force in African handball – on and off the court, as the Egyptian Handball Federation had been the first African Federation to host a Men’s World Championship in 1999. Two years later, the Egyptian team - steered by legendary Hussain Zaky – were the first non-European team to make it to the semi-finals of the Men’s World Championship. But finally they left France without silver and fourth ranked. On continental stage Egypt always had been among the medalists since 1985.

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.

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.

Since hosting the EHF EURO 2010, ranking on the ninth position, the Austrians caused something like a handball euphoria in their country, qualifying for three World Championships (including 2019) and two more European Championships. On the way to Germany/Denmark, the team of Icelandic born head coach Patrekur Johannesson eliminated Belarus. Being part of the 2019 event is highly important to gain experience, as Austria (like Sweden and Norway) is one of the hosts of the 2020 European Championship.