Handball

Vietnamese women receive gold of the Asian Beach Games 2026. They will take part in the Women’s Beach Handball World Championship next month in Croatia. Photo courtesy of VHF

HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam have been drawn into a challenging group at the 2026 IHF Women’s Beach Handball World Championship following the official draw held on May 3 in Croatia.

The top Asian side will compete in Group A, where they face defending champions Germany, European rivals the Netherlands and Uruguay.

Runners-up at the 2024 IHF Women’s World Championship and winners of the 2025 World Games, Argentina, are in Group D alongside Denmark, the Philippines and debutants Benin.

Fellow first-time participants the Cook Islands will play Puerto Rico, 2008 champions and hosts Croatia and 2016 gold medallists Spain in Group B. Meanwhile, Group C features former world champions Brazil, Norway and Greece, who together have won five world titles, along with recent North America and Caribbean champions the United States.

In Group A, Germany and the Netherlands are expected to pose the biggest challenges for Việt Nam, as both are regular contenders at world level. Germany have won the title twice, in 2022 and 2024 and also claimed European championships in 2006, 2021 and 2023.

The Netherlands finished third in the two most recent editions, while Uruguay are a strong side in South America, having appeared six times at the world championship, with a best result of sixth place in 2012.

This will be Việt Nam’s third appearance at the tournament, with their best finish ninth overall.

Their Asian championship title last year and recent Asian Beach Games gold are expected to provide strong motivation heading into the competition.

Teams will compete in a round robin format in the group stage. The top three teams in each group will advance to two main round groups of six teams, with the top four from each progressing to the quarter-finals, followed by the semi-finals, bronze medal match and final.

The bottom team in each preliminary group will enter the consolation round.

The tournament is scheduled to take place from June 23 to 28 at Jarun Lake in Zagreb, Croatia. — VNS