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.