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.

Three times – in 2014, 2016 and 2018 – the Angolan men’s team made it to the semi-finals of the African Championships twice (in 2016 and 2018) and they took the bronze medals home to Angola. Beating Morocco 29:26 at the 2018 African Championships at Gabon meant the fourth ticket straight to a Men’s World Championship for them. Almost all players are signed by clubs in the capital Luanda, few such as centre back Edvaldo Ferreira (Etoile de Tunis/Tunisia), play abroad. But coach Alexandre Diogo Machado formed a team, which is competitive on the continental stage.