France arrive in Skopje for the 2019 IHF Men’s Youth World Championship as the back-to-back defending champions in this event, hoping to make their way to the podium once again. However, the task for France appears more difficult than in previous years – at least on paper. 

Seven athletes who will represent Chile at the North Macedonia 2019 IHF Men’s Youth World Championship also competed at the Junior World Championship, which took place in Spain from 16-28 July. This procedure is not new to them – and the last time they did so, the result was brilliant.

“At the last Youth World Championship in Georgia, we managed to rank among the best 16 teams – it was a dream come true!” declares Chile coach Claudio Lira. “If this time we can finish 19th or higher, that would be favourable conclusion.”

Portugal did not meet their expectations at the 2018 Men’s U18 EURO in Croatia. Their 11th place was not enough to qualify for the IHF Men’s Youth World Championship. However, as soon as their spot at North Macedonia 2019 was confirmed as substitute nation for Oceania, they changed their mindset and decided they are up for big things.

“Our primary goal is to finish in the top 16 teams. We would like to play as good as we can and get ready for the knock-out stage,” says coach Aleksandar Radosavljevic. “My wish is to win the eighth-final round and to get the maximum from this generation although we are missing three players who are with the junior team.”

They were close two times and their aim is to finally make it this year. Iceland were runners-up at the Tunisia 2009 IHF Men’s Youth World Championship and climbed the podium at Brazil 2015. But the gold medal is still missing, and they are ready to fight for it in North Macedonia.

Coach Heimir Rikardsson knows the potential of his team perfectly well. He led them to the final of the 2018 Men’s U18 EURO, where they lost to Sweden 32:27 – whom the Icelandic side had beaten 29:24 in the preliminary round.

Argentina’s campaign at the 2019 Men’s Youth South and Central American Championship was positive, despite not being able to close the tournament the way they would have wanted. It was the first time the team played together officially – after more than one year of training in three weekly sessions.

Tunisia enter North Macedonia 2019 as the second-best team from Africa after finishing behind Egypt at the 2018 CAHB Men's African Youth Championship in Morocco last September. The tournament took place in a round-robin format, with the Tunisians falling at the final hurdle, losing 22:16 to the Egyptians to effectively hand them the title but their place in Skopje had already been booked by then.

Racing for the World Championship title in youth categories is not enough for Sweden: “Our goal is to develop the players and give them important and memorable experiences,” said coach Dennis Sandberg. “We want to fight for the medals, but many teams have the same ambitions and only three of them will actually get a medal.”

Slovenia’s results at the IHF Men’s Youth World Championship have varied considerably. Most recently, the team that contested the 2017 edition in Georgia ranked 13th. That position followed a silver medal at Russia 2015, achieved by a strong generation that includes players who have already cemented their place in the Slovenia senior side, such as wing Blaz Janc and goalkeeper Urh Kastelic. 

Hosting any sporting championship provides its own additional pressure with an extra focus on the host nation and it can work both ways, especially in a positive way with a vociferous home crowd providing an ‘extra player’ on court.