Netherlands women's national handball team

Netherlands
Information
Nickname	Oranje Dames
Association	Nederlands Handbal Verbond
Coach	Henrik Signell
Captain	Lois Abbingh
Most caps	Laura Robben (320)
Most goals	Olga Assink (954)
Colours
1st 2nd
Results
Summer Olympics
Appearances	3 (First in 2016 )
Best result	4th (2016)
World Championship
Appearances	14 (First in 1971 )
Best result	1st (2019)
European Championship
Appearances	10 (First in 1998 )
Best result	2nd (2016)
Last updated on Unknown.

Netherlands women's national handball team

Medal record
World Championship
	2019 Japan
	2015 Denmark
	2017 Germany
European Championship
	2016 Sweden
	2018 France

The Netherlands women's national handball team is the national handball team of the Netherlands. It is governed by the Nederlands Handbal Verbond (NHV).

The team won their first World Championship in 2019 in Japan after defeating Spain in the final. ^[1]

Competitive record

Olympic Games

Year	Position	GP	W	D	L	GS	GA	GD
1976	Did not qualify
1980
1984
1988
1992
1996
2000
2004
2008
2012
2016	4th	8	2	2	4	216	218	−2
2020	5th	6	4	0	2	191	175	+16
2024	5th	6	4	0	2	177	166	+11
Total	3/13	20	10	2	8	584	559	+25

World Championship

Year	Position	GP	W	D	L	GS	GA	GD
1957	Did not enter
1962
1965
1971	8th	4	1	0	3	31	46	−15
1973	12th	5	0	0	5	33	81	−48
1975	Did not qualify
1978	9th	5	1	0	4	87	97	−10
1982	Did not qualify
1986	10th	7	2	0	5	127	163	−36
1990	Did not qualify
1993
1995
1997
1999	10th	6	4	0	2	140	127	+13
2001	16th	6	1	1	4	138	144	−6
2003	Did not qualify
2005	5th	9	6	1	2	262	242	+20
2007	Did not qualify
2009
2011	15th	6	2	0	4	186	176	+10
2013	13th	6	2	0	4	170	150	+20
2015	2nd	9	7	1	1	298	217	+81
2017	3rd	9	6	1	2	252	214	+38
2019	1st	10	7	0	3	328	280	+48
2021	9th	6	4	1	1	270	145	+125
2023	5th	9	8	0	1	289	216	+83
2025	Qualified as co-host
2027	TBD
2029
2031
Total	14/30	97	51	5	41	2621	2298	+323

Record against other teams at the world championship

European Championship

Year	Position	GP	W	D	L	GS	GA	GD
1994	Did not qualify
1996
1998	10th	6	1	0	5	126	153	−27
2000	Did not qualify
2002	14th	3	0	0	3	73	80	−7
2004	Did not qualify
2006	15th	3	0	0	3	65	84	−19
2008	Did not qualify
2010	8th	6	2	0	4	131	145	−14
2012	Withdrew
2014	7th	6	2	1	3	161	158	+3
2016	2nd	8	6	0	2	227	201	+26
2018	3rd	8	6	0	2	207	196	+11
2020	6th	7	3	0	4	193	196	−3
2022	6th	7	3	1	3	214	196	+18
2024	Qualified
2026	TBD
2028
Total	10/18	54	23	2	29	1397	1409	–12

Record against other teams at the European Championship

Other tournaments

Netherlands during a friendly match against Sweden in 2016

• Carpathian Trophy 2004 – Third place
• Holland Handball Tournament 2006 – Fifth place
• Carpathian Trophy 2016 – Third place
• Intersport Cup 2022 - Winner

Team

Current squad

The squad chosen for Golden League in March 2025. ^[2]

Head coach: Henrik Signell

Caps and goals as of 9 March 2025.

No. Pos. Name Date of birth (age) Height App. Goals Club 1 GK Nikki van der Vorst (2006-06-20) 20 June 2006 (age 19) 1.79 m 3 0 OTTO Workforce/VOC Amsterdam 2 GK Bianca Schanssema (2005-01-06) 6 January 2005 (age 20) 1.90 m 10 0 København Håndbold 4 RB Alieke van Maurik (2005-05-11) 11 May 2005 (age 20) 1.81 m 6 12 OTTO Workforce/VOC Amsterdam 5 RW Donna Bakker (2004-02-06) 6 February 2004 (age 21) 1.66 m 3 0 Saint-Amand Handball 7 LW Robin van Galen (2006-07-10) 10 July 2006 (age 19) 1.70 m 1 1 OTTO Workforce/VOC Amsterdam 8 LB Lois Abbingh (c) (1992-08-13) 13 August 1992 (age 33) 1.78 m 228 922 Borussia Dortmund 9 CB Larissa Nüsser (2000-02-08) 8 February 2000 (age 25) 1.75 m 97 180 Gloria Bistrița 10 LB Isa Ternede (2001-01-26) 26 January 2001 (age 24) 1.68 m 15 18 Buxtehuder SV 11 P Pipy Wolfs (2002-04-26) 26 April 2002 (age 23) 1.60 m 20 8 Mosonmagyaróvári KC SE 12 LW Bo van Wetering (1999-10-05) 5 October 1999 (age 26) 1.71 m 112 369 Győri ETO KC 14 LB Judith van der Helm (2005-01-13) 13 January 2005 (age 20) 1.82 m 30 24 Team Esbjerg 15 RB Maud Horvers (2006-03-07) 7 March 2006 (age 19) 1.82 m 1 2 OTTO Workforce/VOC Amsterdam 17 LB Kim Molenaar (2002-04-28) 28 April 2002 (age 23) 1.78 m 43 35 København Håndbold 18 LB Kelly Dulfer (1994-03-21) 21 March 1994 (age 31) 1.85 m 198 321 Győri ETO KC 19 P Merel Freriks (1998-01-06) 6 January 1998 (age 27) 1.75 m 99 185 Team Esbjerg 21 CB Daphne Luchies (2004-05-23) 23 May 2004 (age 21) 1.74 m 5 9 Dunaújvárosi Kohász KA 23 LW Loïs van Vliet (2005-08-15) 15 August 2005 (age 20) 1.72 m 13 17 TuS Metzingen 24 P Romee Maarschalkerweerd (2004-09-24) 24 September 2004 (age 21) 1.78 m 20 33 HH Elite 28 P Jalisha Loy (2004-02-06) 6 February 2004 (age 21) 1.69 m 1 0 OTTO Workforce/VOC Amsterdam 31 RW Kelly Vollebregt (1995-01-01) 1 January 1995 (age 30) 1.67 m 49 94 Borussia Dortmund 38 GK Yara ten Holte (1999-11-23) 23 November 1999 (age 25) 1.75 m 76 4 Odense Håndbold 44 P Nikita van der Vliet (2000-03-14) 14 March 2000 (age 25) 1.71 m 58 105 Odense Håndbold 48 RB Dione Housheer (1999-09-26) 26 September 1999 (age 26) 1.80 m 111 375 Győri ETO KC 79 CB Estavana Polman (1992-08-05) 5 August 1992 (age 33) 1.73 m 192 659 CS Rapid București

Coaching staff

Role	Name	Start date
Head coach	Henrik Signell	2024
Assistant coach	Ricardo Clarijs	September 2021
Goalkeeping coach	Jasmina Janković	September 2022
Team Leader	Maike Willems	September 2019
Physiotherapist	Rinke van den Brink	September 2021

Notable players

MVP

• Nycke Groot (centre back), 2016 European Championship
• Estavana Polman (centre back), 2019 World Championship

Top Scorer

• Lois Abbingh (left back) with 71 goals, 2019 World Championship

All-Star Team members

• Pearl van der Wissel (left back), 2005 World Championship
• Tess Wester (goalkeeper), 2015 World Championship, 2019 World Championship
• Nycke Groot (centre back), 2016 European Championship
• Lois Abbingh (left back), 2017 World Championship
• Yvette Broch (line player), 2016 European Championship, 2017 World Championship
• Kelly Dulfer (defender), 2018 European Championship
• Estavana Polman (centre back), 2019 World Championship

Coaches

• Toon Wijdeveld (1956–1957)
• Paul Broere (1960)
• Jan Kloen (1961–1966, 1968)
• Jaroslav Mráz (1968–1971)
• Jo Gerris (1971–1973)
• Jan Alma (1973–1974)
• Heinz Henneberg (1974–1975)
• George van Noesel (1975–1976)
• Jan Alma (1976–1978)
• Simon Flendrie (1979)
• Ilona Venema-Ignácz (1979–1981)
• Jan Kecskeméthy (1982–1986)
• Jan Tuik (1986)
• Ton van Linder (1987–1990)
• Bert Bouwer (1990–2003)
• Kari Aagaard (2003)
• Olaf Schimpf (2003–2004)
• Sjors Röttger (2004–2008)
• Henk Groener (2009–2016)
• Helle Thomsen (2016–2018)
• Emmanuel Mayonnade (2019–2021)
• Monique Tijsterman (2021) ^[3]
• Ricardo Clarijs (2022)
• Per Johansson (2022–2024) ^[4]
• Henrik Signell (2024–)

Individual all-time records

  Still active players are highlighted

Most matches played Total number of matches played for the senior national team. [5] # Player Matches Goals 1 Laura Robben 320 10 2 Diane Lamein 302 632 3 Laura van der Heijden 297 875 4 Monique Feijen 246 591 5 Angela Malestein 234 842 6 Lois Abbingh 232 925 7 Carla Kleintjens 225 756 8 Pearl van der Wissel 217 560 9 Diane Roelofsen 212 300 10 Natasja Burgers 209 559 Last updated: 16 October 2025

Most goals scored Total number of goals scored in official matches only. [5] # Player Goals Matches Average 1 Olga Assink 954 203 4.69 2 Lois Abbingh 925 232 3.99 3 Laura van der Heijden 875 297 2.94 4 Angela Malestein 842 234 3.60 5 Carla Kleintjens 756 225 3.36 6 Estavana Polman 663 196 3.38 7 Saskia Mulder 627 176 3.56 8 Diane Lamein 623 302 2.06 9 Monique Feijen 591 246 2.40 10 Pearl van der Wissel 560 221 2.58 Last updated: 16 October 2025

References

1. "Netherlands take first world title with last-second penalty". ihf.info. 15 December 2019.
2. "Henrik Signell maakt selectie Golden League bekend". Nederlands Handbal Verbond . Retrieved 9 March 2025.
3. "Monique Tijsterman no longer national handball women's coach | Sport". Netherlands News Live. 31 December 2021. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
4. "Zweed Johansson (53) nieuwe bondscoach Nederlandse handbalvrouwen". nos.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 22 February 2022.
5. "TEAM ROSTER – NETHERLANDS" (PDF). International Handball Federation . Retrieved 15 December 2019.

External links

• Official website
• IHF profile