This is not the first time when New Zealand take part in the IHF Men’s Youth World Championship, with their first appearance coming at Argentina 2011, when they ended up on the last place, the 20th, with six losses from six matches and a big gap in terms of the goal difference, 97:307.

After 13 years of absence, the Islamic Republic of Iran return to the IHF Men’s Youth (U19) World Championship. This will be their fourth appearance on the world stage. They took part in the first three tournaments of this competition with good rankings between eight and twelve. 

Over the last years, a key emphasis was put on youth development for Portugal, as underlined at the last editions of the IHF Men’s Youth World Championship, the IHF Men’s Junior World Championship and the M20 EHF EURO. While a trophy has still eluded the European side, they have been actively becoming better and better, developing excellent players who made the step towards the senior team.