Handball at the 1996 Summer Olympics – Men's tournament

1996 Men's Olympic handball tournament
Tournament details
Host country	United States
Venue(s)	Georgia Dome Final; Georgia World Congress Center
Dates	24 July – 4 August 1996
Teams	12
Final positions
Champions	Croatia (1st title)
Runners-up	Sweden
Third place	Spain
Fourth place	France
Tournament statistics
Matches played	38
Goals scored	1,822 (47.95 per match)
Attendance	305,100 (8,029 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Patrik Ćavar ; (43 goals)
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Last updated August 28, 2025

The men's handball tournament at the 1996 Summer Olympics was contested by twelve teams divided in two groups, with the top two proceeding to the semifinals and the bottom four proceeding to placement matches.^[1]

Qualification

Mean of qualification	Date	Host	Vacancies	Qualified
Host nation	18 September 1990	Tokyo	1	United States
1995 Pan American Games	16–25 March 1995	Mar del Plata	1	Brazil
1995 World Championship	7–21 May 1995	Iceland	7	France Croatia Sweden Germany Russia Egypt Switzerland
1995 Asian Championship	25 September – 6 October 1995	Kuwait City	1	Kuwait
1996 European Championship	24 May – 2 June 1996	Spain	1	Spain
African qualification tournament	6-12 October 1995	Cairo	1	Algeria
Total			12

Squads

Preliminary round

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Sweden	5	5	0	131	94	+37	10	Semifinals
2	Croatia	5	4	1	132	122	+10	8	Semifinals
3	Russia	5	3	2	137	106	+31	6	Fifth place game
4	Switzerland	5	2	3	126	115	+11	4	Seventh place game
5	United States (H)	5	1	4	111	142	−31	2	Ninth place game
6	Kuwait	5	0	5	100	158	−58	0	Eleventh place game

Source: ^{[ citation needed ]}
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) goal difference.
(H) Hosts

24 July 1996 10:00	Russia	32–20	Kuwait	Georgia World Congress Center Referees: Thomas, Thomas (GER)
	Kuleshov 7	(18–10)	S. Al-Marzouq 6

24 July 1996 14:30	Croatia	23–22	Switzerland	Georgia World Congress Center Referees: Dăncescu, Mateescu (ROU)
	Ćavar 8	(12–14)	Baumgartner 5

24 July 1996 19:00	Sweden	23–19	United States	Georgia World Congress Center Referees: Gedvilas, Guterman (LTU)
	Wislander 5	(11–9)	Heath 4

25 July 1996 10:00	Kuwait	22–31	Croatia	Georgia World Congress Center Referees: Gallego, Lamas (ESP)
	S. Al-Marzouq 6	(11–16)	Ćavar 10

25 July 1996 14:30	Switzerland	19–26	Sweden	Georgia World Congress Center Referees: Garcia, Moréno (FRA)
	Baumgartner 5	(8–14)	Hajas 6

25 July 1996 20:45	Russia	31–16	United States	Georgia World Congress Center Referees: Moelle Mabounda, Mvoula (CGO)
	Kudinov 10	(16–9)	Penn 4

27 July 1996 11:45	Switzerland	33–16	Kuwait	Georgia World Congress Center Referees: Gedvilas, Guterman (LTU)
	Barth, Spengler 6	(18–8)	Al-Ali 4

27 July 1996 14:30	Sweden	22–20	Russia	Georgia World Congress Center Referees: Gallego, Lamas (ESP)
	M. Andersson 5	(11–11)	Gopin, Torgovanov 5

27 July 1996 19:00	Croatia	35–27	United States	Georgia World Congress Center Referees: Garcia, Moréno (FRA)
	Smajlagić 11	(20–9)	Brown 8

29 July 1996 11:45	Sweden	33–18	Kuwait	Georgia World Congress Center Referees: Brussel, van Dongen (NED)
	Petersson 10	(16–7)	Al-Ali 4

29 July 1996 16:15	Russia	24–25	Croatia	Georgia World Congress Center Referees: Elbrønd, Løvqvist (DEN)
	Gopin 7	(13–11)	Jović 7

29 July 1996 20:45	United States	20–29	Switzerland	Georgia World Congress Center Referees: Thomas, Thomas (GER)
	Heath 7	(9–12)	Baumgartner 13

31 July 1996 11:45	Russia	30–23	Switzerland	Georgia World Congress Center Referees: Garcia, Moréno (FRA)
	Kuleshov 9	(14–11)	Spengler 8

31 July 1996 14:30	Croatia	18–27	Sweden	Georgia World Congress Center Referees: Thomas, Thomas (GER)
	Mikulić 6	(7–10)	Hajas, Thorsson 7

31 July 1996 20:45	Kuwait	24–29	United States	Georgia World Congress Center Referees: Dăncescu, Mateescu (ROU)
	S. Al-Marzouq 9	(10–13)	DeGraaf 13

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	France	5	4	0	1	145	114	+31	8^[a]	Semifinals
2	Spain	5	4	0	1	114	97	+17	8^[a]	Semifinals
3	Egypt	5	3	0	2	113	103	+10	6^[b]	Fifth place game
4	Germany	5	3	0	2	121	112	+9	6^[b]	Seventh place game
5	Algeria	5	0	1	4	95	117	−22	1^[c]	Ninth place game
6	Brazil	5	0	1	4	100	145	−45	1^[c]	Eleventh place game

Source: ^{[ citation needed ]}
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) goal difference.
Notes:

1 2 France 27–25 Spain
1 2 Germany 22–24 Egypt
1 2 Algeria 20–20 Brazil

24 July 1996 11:45	France	27–25	Spain	Georgia World Congress Center Referees: Vujnović, Mladinić (CRO)
	Kervadec 6	(10–9)	Urdiales 8

24 July 1996 16:15	Egypt	19–16	Algeria	Georgia World Congress Center Referees: Elbrønd, Løvqvist (DEN)
	El-Geioushy 8	(7–9)	Saidi 5

24 July 1996 20:45	Germany	30–20	Brazil	Georgia World Congress Center Referees: Bojsen, Boehne (USA)
	Löhr 7	(12–7)	Barros 4

25 July 1996 11:45	Algeria	22–33	France	Georgia World Congress Center Referees: Øie, Høgsnes (NOR)
	Lamali 5	(10–13)	Stoecklin 9

25 July 1996 16:15	Spain	22–20	Germany	Georgia World Congress Center Referees: Brussel, van Dongen (NED)
	Garralda, Urdiales 5	(11–10)	Zerbe 6

25 July 1996 19:00	Brazil	20–31	Egypt	Georgia World Congress Center Referees: Al-Houli, Al-Enezi (KUW)
	Barros 5	(10–15)	Waress 6

27 July 1996 10:00	Spain	20–14	Algeria	Georgia World Congress Center Referees: Al-Houli, Al-Enezi (KUW)
	Guijosa, Urdiales 6	(12–5)	Khalfallah 3

27 July 1996 16:15	Germany	22–24	Egypt	Georgia World Congress Center Referees: Dăncescu, Mateescu (ROU)
	Schwalb 6	(9–11)	El-Attar 5

27 July 1996 20:45	France	37–23	Brazil	Georgia World Congress Center Referees: Moelle Mabounda, Mvoula (CGO)
	Volle 14	(16–10)	Pelissari 7

29 July 1996 10:00	Egypt	20–25	France	Georgia World Congress Center Referees: Øie, Høgsnes (NOR)
	Soliman 5	(9–12)	Lathoud 8

29 July 1996 14:30	Germany	25–23	Algeria	Georgia World Congress Center Referees: Vujnović, Mladinić (CRO)
	Kretzschmar 5	(13–12)	Saidi 6

29 July 1996 19:00	Brazil	17–27	Spain	Georgia World Congress Center Referees: Bojsen, Boehne (USA)
	Hoffelder 7	(10–12)	Urdangarín 6

31 July 1996 11:45	Egypt	19–20	Spain	Georgia World Congress Center Referees: Gedvilas, Guterman (LTU)
	Soliman 6	(8–11)	Urdiales 8

31 July 1996 16:15	France	23–24	Germany	Georgia World Congress Center Referees: Brussel, van Dongen (NED)
	Prandi, Stoecklin 6	(10–12)	Fegter 7

31 July 1996 19:00	Algeria	20–20	Brazil	Georgia World Congress Center Referees: Moelle Mabounda, Mvoula (CGO)
	Loukil, Nedjel Hammou 5	(9–11)	Pinheiro 5

Final round

Bracket

Semifinals		Final

2 August

Sweden	25
		4 August
Spain	20
		Sweden	26
2 August
		Croatia	27
France	20

Croatia	24
		Bronze medal match

		4 August

		Spain	27

		France	25

Eleventh place game

2 August 1996 10:00	Kuwait	25–31	Brazil	Georgia World Congress Center Referees: Boehne, Bojsen (USA)
	Al-Harbi, Al-Zadah 5	(13–16)	Nascimento 7

Ninth place game

2 August 1996 11:30	Algeria	26–27 (ET)	United States	Georgia World Congress Center Referees: Al-Houli, Al-Enezi (KUW)
	Saidi 6	(12–10)	Brown 7

	FT: 22–22 ET: 4–5

Seventh place game

2 August 1996 14:30	Switzerland	16–23	Germany	Georgia World Congress Center Referees: Elbrønd, Løvqvist (DEN)
	Scharer 6	(10–12)	Scheffler, Stephan 5

Fifth place game

2 August 1996 19:00	Egypt	26–29	Russia	Georgia World Congress Center Referees: Gallego, Lamas (ESP)
	El-Attar 10	(11–15)	Gopin 6

Semifinals

2 August 1996 16:15	Sweden	25–20	Spain	Georgia World Congress Center Referees: Brussel, van Dongen (NED)
	Thorsson 7	(11–12)	Guijosa 5

2 August 1996 20:45	France	20–24	Croatia	Georgia World Congress Center Referees: Høgsnes, Øie (NOR)
	Stoecklin 8	(8–12)	Ćavar 8

Bronze medal game

4 August 1996 11:00	Spain	27–25	France	Georgia World Congress Center Referees: Elbrønd, Løvqvist (DEN)
	three players 5	(13–12)	Cordinier 7

Final

4 August 1996 12:45	Sweden	26–27	Croatia	Georgia Dome Attendance: 35,000 Referees: Gallego, Lamas (ESP)
	Thorsson 8	(11–16)	three players 6

Rankings and statistics

Final rankings
1	Croatia
2	Sweden
3	Spain
4	France
5	Russia
6	Egypt
7	Germany
8	Switzerland
9	United States
10	Algeria
11	Brazil
12	Kuwait

Top goalscorers
Player	Games	Goals	Attempts
1. Patrik Ćavar (CRO)	6	43	60
2. Stéphane Stoecklin (FRA)	6	36	68
3. Frédéric Volle (FRA)	7	35	58
4. Marc Baumgartner (SUI)	6	35	71
5. Alberto Urdiales (ESP)	7	31	47
6. Irfan Smajlagić (CRO)	6	31	48
7. Valery Gopin (RUS)	6	30	42
7. Erik Hajas (SWE)	6	30	42
7. Pierre Thorsson (SWE)	6	30	42

**All-star team**
Mats Olsson (SWE)
Irfan Smajlagić (CRO)	Magnus Andersson (SWE)	Stéphane Stoecklin (FRA)
Dmitri Torgovanov (RUS)	Patrik Ćavar (CRO)	Frédéric Volle (FRA)

References

↑ "Handball at the 1996 Atlanta Summer Games: Men's Handball". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 22 March 2020.

External links

Handball & Olympic Games 1936-2000, International Handball Federation , pp. 35–37
Atlanta 1996: Handball at marcolympics.org

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[table_hth_FRA0.37324895028642-2] 1 2 France 27–25 Spain

[table_hth_EGY0.37324895028642-3] 1 2 Germany 22–24 Egypt

[table_hth_ALG0.37324895028642-4] 1 2 Algeria 20–20 Brazil

[SR-1] "Handball at the 1996 Atlanta Summer Games: Men's Handball". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 22 March 2020.

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