Last month, the World Men’s Handball Championship took place in Poland and Sweden, with the winner qualifying for the Olympics.
However, GB did not qualify for the event. The 32 teams were:
- The two hosts (Poland and Sweden)
- The winners of the 2021 World Championship (which again we were absent from)
- The top three at the 2022 European Championship (which we didn’t qualify for)
- Fifteen from other regions
- Nine teams from European qualification
- Two wildcards
At the 2022 European Championships, we failed to emerge from Qualification Phase 1, coming third in our group, beating Ireland but losing to Luxembourg and Bulgaria. We went to the Emerging Nations Championship, a redemption competition, but came fourth after losing the semifinal to Georgia.
In European qualification for the 2023 Worlds, we came bottom of our first group, losing to Finland, Estonia, and Georgia.
In the end, Denmark were crowned world champion. Our next chance is at the 2024 European Championship, but we decided to not enter qualifying for this tournament. Therefore, the men’s team can formally rule themselves out of the Olympics in 2024. However, the path seems bright as they have got past the first 2026 qualifying stage, topping a group with Azerbaijan, Cyprus, and Malta.
GB Games 