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U21 Handball World Cup: Germany relies on familiar faces!
Find out everything about the U21 World Cup in handball: Germany's squad decisions, preparations and exciting group information.
U21 Handball World Cup: Germany relies on familiar faces!
The anticipation is growing for the U21 Handball World Championship, which starts on June 18th. National coach Heuberger is optimistic about the squad composition for the tournament, reports handball-world.news. This year's squad closely resembles the line-up used at the recent Airport Trophy in Switzerland. New to the team is Elias Newel, who was unable to play in previous competitions due to an injury. The Germans' goal is to survive against strong opponents in the preliminary round and to move into the main round without losing points.
The focus of team planning is a strong defense, which is particularly focused on the 6-0 variant. Heuberger has nominated Frederik Höler and Julian Buchele in goal. While Höler was able to impress at the European Championships last year, Buchele only shone at the U19 World Cup two years ago. Despite the positive developments, there are still some “building sites”, as Heuberger emphasizes, as players like Magnus Grupe, Elias Newel and Anton Preußner have recently been injured.
Preliminary round and test matches
The German U21 will face Serbia, Switzerland and Tunisia in the preliminary round of the World Cup in Kielce. The game against Tunisia, which takes place on June 21st at 6 p.m., will be particularly challenging, followed by another preliminary round game against Algeria on June 23rd. The final preparatory course begins on June 9th at the Barsinghausen sports school, followed by test matches against Portugal on June 12th and 14th. Heuberger sees these games as crucial in order to be well prepared.
A look at their most recent performances shows that Germany narrowly lost twice in the Airport Trophy against France and Spain, but was also able to win against the hosts. The team had previously also suffered friendly defeats against Egypt and France. At the last U19 World Cup in 2023, Germany took fifth place.
World Cup structure and opponents
The 2023 U21 World Cup will be held in Germany and Greece, a fact that should give the German team additional motivation. The German team can rely on a squad with match practice in the first league. Players like David Móré and Tim Gömmel have already gained experience at this level. The last title win was celebrated in Berlin in 2023, where Germany secured the title in the final against Hungary, which means additional pressure but also motivation for the team.
| position | player |
|---|---|
| goal | Frederik Höler, Julian Buchele |
| Outside | David Móré, Florian Drosten, Tim Gömmel, Max Günter |
| Backcourt | Felix Göttler, Magnus Grupe, Leif Haack, Fritz Haake, Linus Kutz, Elias Newel, Henri Pabst, Anton Preußner |
| Circle | Jan Schmidt, Georg Löwen |
A total of 32 teams are competing, divided into 8 groups of 4 teams each. Germany has secured the title three times so far and now wants to continue their successful story. The record winner is Russia, with 7 titles, and even though Germany is currently the title holder, they have to assert themselves against strong opponents.
The games in the main round and the quarter-finals will take place in the Max-Schmeling-Halle in Berlin, the semi-finals and the final day are also scheduled there. With a lot of fighting spirit and good preparation, the German U21 hopes to be at the top again and defend the title again after 2023. The appointments are as follows:
- Vorrunde: Deutschland – Tunesien (21. Juni, 18 Uhr)
- Vorrunde: Deutschland – Algerien (23. Juni, 18 Uhr)
- Hauptrunde: 25. und 26. Juni in der GETEC-Arena in Magdeburg
- Viertelfinals: 29. Juni in der Max-Schmeling-Halle in Berlin
- Finaltag: 2. Juli in der Max-Schmeling-Halle in Berlin
With this strong line-up and the right feeling, Germany will try to win the U21 World Cup again and thereby confirm its status as a serious competitor in international handball.