The European Men's Handball Championship is the official competition for senior men's national handball teams of Europe and takes place every two years since 1994, in the even-numbered year between the World Championship. In addition to crowning the European champions, the tournament also serves as a qualifying tournament for the Olympic Games and World Championship. The most successful team is Sweden who have won five titles. Spain, however, have won most medals.
Karl Aage Hansen was a Danish football player, who played as a forward. He won a bronze medal with the Denmark national football team at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London. He scored 17 goals in 22 games for the Danish national team, and was Danish team captain on 17 occasions. He got his breakthrough as an amateur player in Danish club Akademisk Boldklub, but moved abroad in 1948 to play professionally for a number of European clubs, including Juventus FC and UC Sampdoria in Italy and Huddersfield Town in England.
The France national handball team is supervised by the French Handball Federation, and represents France in international matches. It is the first handball team to have held all three titles twice, and the only national team in its sport to hold six world titles and a total of eleven medals at the World Men's Handball Championship. With a total of five medals, including three gold in 2008, 2012 and 2021, France is also the most successful Handball team at the Summer Olympics. As of January 2024, they are the defending Olympic and European Champions.
Ivano Balić is a Croatian former professional handballer who is currently part of the coaching staff at RK Split. Renowned for his speed, creativity, movement and charisma as a player, Balić won the 2003 World Championship and the Olympic gold medal in 2004 with the Croatian national team. He also won two World Championship silver medals, two silver and one bronze European Championship medals, and one Olympic bronze medal (2012) with the national team. At club level, Balić won thirteen titles during his career playing in Croatia, Spain and Germany.
The Denmark men's national handball team is controlled by the Danish Handball Association and represents Denmark in international matches. They are the team with the fourth most medals won in European Championship history on the men's side behind Sweden, France and Spain, with a total of seven medals. Two of these are gold medals, one silver (2014) and four bronze medals.
Guðmundur Þórður Guðmundsson is an Icelandic handball coach and former player. In 2016, he guided Denmark men's team to gold in the 2016 Olympics. In 2008, he won silver with the Icelandic men's national team at the 2008 Olympic games in China.
Lars Roslyng Christiansen is a former Danish team handball player. He is European Champion, winning the 2008 European Men's Handball Championship and 2012 European Men's Handball Championship with the Danish national handball team. He was top scorer at the 2008 championship together with Nikola Karabatic and Ivano Balić, and was also voted into the 2008 All-star team.
Hans Óttar Lindberg Tómasson is a Danish handball player of Icelandic descent for Füchse Berlin and the Danish national team. He has played the second most matches for the Danish national team, and measured in years he has the record for longest time on the national team ever as well as oldest player for the Danish team.
Rikke Erhardsen Skov is a former Danish team handball player and Olympic champion. She received a gold medal with the Danish national team at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. A loyal player of Viborg HK, Skov joined the club yet as a teenager in 1994 and it remained her lone team till she retired in 2016 and retired from active sports when she became pregnant in February 2017.
Henrik Toft Hansen is a Danish professional handball player for Mors-Thy Håndbold and the Danish national team.
Niklas Landin Jacobsen is a Danish handballer for Aalborg Håndbold and the Denmark national team.
Mikkel Hansen is a Danish professional handball player for Aalborg Håndbold and the Danish national team.
Jan Pytlick is a Danish handball coach, and trains Saudi Arabia national team. He was head coach for the Danish women's national handball team from 1998 to 2006, and again from 2007 to 2014. Pytlick has led the women's national team to victory in two Summer Olympics, as they became Olympic Champions in 2000, and again in 2004. After the team's flop at the 2014 European Women's Handball Championship, DHF and Pytlick agreed to end cooperation.
The 2015 World Men's Handball Championship was the 24th staging of the World Men's Handball Championship, organised by the International Handball Federation (IHF). The final tournament was held for the first time in Qatar, from 15 January to 1 February 2015. The Qatari bid was selected over those of Norway, Poland and France after a vote by the IHF Council on 27 January 2011, in Malmö, Sweden. This was the third time that the World Championship was hosted in the Middle East And North Africa, after Egypt in 1999 and Tunisia in 2005.
Laura van der Heijden is a Dutch handball player for Chambray Touraine Handball in France and the Dutch national team.
Luka Karabatic is a French professional handball player for Paris Saint-Germain and the French national team.
Nikolaj Bredahl Jacobsen is a Danish retired handball wing player and current coach of the Danish national team. He was named World Coach of the Year in 2021 by IHF. He is the first manager for a national team to win three world championships in a row (2019-2023).
Jóhan á Plógv Hansen is a Faroese-born Danish handballer for SG Flensburg-Handewitt and the Danish national team.
Kolbeinn Hermann Pálsson is an Icelandic former basketball player and a former member of the Icelandic national team. In 1966 he became the first basketball player to be named the Icelandic Sportsperson of the Year. He served as the chairman of the Icelandic Basketball Association from 1988 to 1996.
Mathias Gidsel is a Danish handball player for Füchse Berlin and the Danish national team.
