It is always a question which is hard to answer: does being host nation at a sporting event make it harder with the pressure and expectation or easier, with familiarity and friends and family close by?

One thing is for sure, Panos Gousios and his men’s youth team will find out pretty quickly. They throw off their home World Championship just 50 minutes after the Greece women start theirs on the central court in Heraklion.

Croatia will be looking to overcome immense disappointment following their frustrating fourth-place finish at the Men’s 17 EHF Beach Handball EURO 2021 in Bulgaria last July.

A strong early start saw them lose their semi-final against Spain and bronze-medal match against Ukraine 2-0, but Greece represents an opportunity to go for a medal again less than a year later and with nearly 12 months experience in the books since.

Preparation has been key for France ahead of Greece 2022 as they learned less than two months ago that they would be competing, with their seventh place in Europe last year ultimately being enough, after Russia’s ban from European competition was upheld. The Russians had finished in sixth spot.

Despite the short time period, France coach Patrick Teyssier secured a diverse preparation camp ahead of travelling to Heraklion.

Coach Martin Bilello was dealt a blow ahead of Greece with the news that key player and captain AJ Bulow will miss the championship because of injury, but the rest of the USA squad and the coach himself will make sure they give all on the sand despite the loss.

“AJ has been the heart of the team since we started putting it together, so not having him is a big blow for us,” said Bilello. “Having said that, I think we have been able to figure out a rotation with the current players that can still compete.”

Last July, Spain’s men’s youth beach handball team were as close as they could be to making history at the earliest opportunity with the almost-impossible ‘Triple Crown’.

They won the debut edition of the IHF Men’s Youth Beach Handball World Championship in 2017, plus the debut of beach handball at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, and, following an elongated break in the international calendar due to the COVID pandemic, they were a point away from European Championship gold in Bulgaria last year.

Germany put themselves into the top five European youth teams in men’s beach handball after an impressive set of results in Bulgaria last year which eventually would lead to a Wild Card spot at Greece 2022.

Early wins against Bulgaria (2-0) and Russia (2-1) saw them through to the main round, where a 2-0 win against France, combined with 0-2 losses against Croatia and Sweden, was not enough to make the last four.

Financial issues meant Brazil missed the debut edition of the IHF Men’s Youth Beach Handball World Championships back in 2017, with the team pulling out of the competition late on.

In 2022, no such issues exist and Jose Junior’s men’s side are fully-prepared for competition in Greece after a diverse and tough selection procedure.

Most recently, the squad grabbed silver at the delayed 2022 South American Youth Games, held in Rosario, Argentina last month.

It is no secret that Argentina beach handball is enjoying its best-ever period. Numerous medals at both continental and global level, added to recent victories against the spiritual nation of the sport, neighbours and fierce rivals, Brazil.

One of the key people behind-the-scenes of that is Leticia Brunati. The coach who oversaw the women’s youth team take an emotional gold medal at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games on home sand in Buenos Aires, is taking a dual role of both the men’s and women’s team in Greece.