Six teams will be making their debuts at the IHF Men’s Youth World Championship and Czechia are one of the three European sides to play for the first time in the competition, alongside Montenegro and the Faroe Islands.

While the other two sides earned their berths through the M18 EHF EURO 2022, Czechia secured their tickets to Croatia 2023 via one of the three M18 EHF Championships, clinching the title in a hard-fought final against Israel, 25:24, in Tel Aviv, after claiming four wins in their previous four matches.

Algeria will feature at the IHF Men's Youth World Championship only for the fifth time in history, but their performances have been far from what they expected prior to the competitions, ending up on the 14th place in 2007 and 2009 and on the 23rd place in 2015 and 2017.

For the first time in history, the Faroe Islands will participate in the IHF Men’s Youth (U19) World Championship. And they will be eager to finish at least in the top 10. 

At the last Men’s 18 EHF EURO 2022 in Montenegro, they finished ninth and the U21 squad just ranked seventh at the IHF Men’s Junior (U21) World Championship 2023 in Germany/Greece, which will inspire the team of head coaches Hjalti Mohr Jacobsen and Djóni Gaard Joensen.

After more than 20 years of absence, the men’s national team returned to the world stage this year, the men’s junior national team celebrated their third appearance at Germany/Greece 2023 this summer and it is now up to the youngest national team to enter the IHF Men’s Youth (U19) World Championship for the first time in history. 

Mexico made their debut at the IHF Men's Youth World Championship at Georgia 2017, and it was not an easy tournament for the Central American team, who lost all seven matches to finish 24th.

Six years later, the new generation of Mexicans is determined to do better and claim their maiden win at this level. They qualified for Croatia 2023 after earning silver at the 2022 North American and Caribbean Championship, which took place in Mexico City last November.

For a country with limited resources in terms of the number of handball players, Slovenia have constantly outdone themselves, with excellent talent being brought in front, true stalwarts being developed over the last years, which enabled the senior team to stay relevant, even in the context of a generational change.

The 10th IHF Men’s Youth (U19) World Championship in Croatia marks the second appearance for Saudi Arabia. They celebrated their premiere at North Macedonia 2019. 

Four years ago, Egypt became the first non-European side to clinch the trophy at the IHF Men's Youth World Championship, with an excellent generation spearheaded by Abdelrahman Mohamed, Hassan Walid and Ahmed Hesham.

It was a flawless performance delivered by the African side, which qualified for every edition of the world handball flagship competition at this younger age category but had never finished higher than the fifth place in 2007 and 2011.

For the first time in history, an Argentina U18 national team won the South and Central American Men’s Youth Handball Championship that took place on home soil in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in November 2022. 

Hungary have been establishing themselves as a true powerhouse in the younger age categories in both men's and women's handball, but they still have not won a medal yet at the IHF Men's Youth World Championship. Their best result was a fifth place at North Macedonia 2019, after finishing on the 10th place both in 2013 and 2015.