Asian champions Vietnam to vie for trophy at Beach Handball World Championship

Vietnam, the Philippines and the hosts are three Asian representatives at the 16-team tournament.

Vietnam, the Asian champions, are in Group B with Spain, Argentina and Croatia in the preliminary round.

Argentinian coach Leticia Brunati said after the draw: “It's a very tough group. Spain are one of the best teams in the world and they have achieved the finals in all tournaments – IHF World Championship, EHF European Championship and European Games – since 2022. They have a lot of good players in attack and defence, plus really good goalkeepers too.

“Vietnam are also a very good team. The team plays very well, very fast and their attack is very strong. I had the opportunity to see them in competition in Asia last year.

“Finally, Croatia are a great team too. They have some players who were in the 2018 Youth Olympic Games and the Croatian team is growing – like us – with young players. The group will be very close.”

Group A features Portugal, China, the Philippines and Australia. Group C has the Netherlands, Norway, Denmark and the US. Group D features defending champions Germany, Brazil, Greece and Puerto Rico.

Three top teams of each group will advance to the main rounds consisting of two groups of six, facing the teams they have not met in the previous round. The last-placed teams will play a consolation round.

In the main round, teams will compete in round robin format with top four of each group qualifying for the quarter-finals and subsequent semi-finals, bronze medal, placement and final matches.

Currently, the Vietnamese coaching board are working with the best players picked from the 2024 national championship which closed in Ba Ria-Vung Tau province last month.