Egypt men's national handball team

History

After Egypt started developing their handball infrastructure, Egypt qualified for the 1993 tournament at Sweden. They were able to win a game this time, against Czechoslovakia and they were able to qualify to the second round.

Egypt's performance at the 1995 Championship rose Egypt to a respectable team. Egypt won all three matches in the first round, beating Brazil, Kuwait and Belarus. The team was widely expected not to survive the knockout stage, but beat four-time World Champions Romania in the round of 16. While they were later beaten at the quarterfinals against Croatia, the team was praised back home.

Egypt advanced to the quarterfinals every time between 1995 and 2001. They also reached 6th place at the 1996 Olympics and 7th at 2000. Egypt hosted the World Championship in 1999 for the first time, failing to reach the semi-finals after a loss against Russia.

In the 2001 IHF World Championship, Egypt beat Morocco, Portugal and Iceland, drew with the Czech Republic and lost to Sweden. At the knockout stage, Egypt beat fellow Africans, Algeria. At the quarterfinals, where Egypt has been knocked out three times prior, Egypt faced Russia again, winning the close game 21–19. After losses against France and Yugoslavia, Egypt placed fourth. This was the best performance by a non-European team until it was equaled by Tunisia in 2005 and beaten by Qatar in 2015.

Between 2003 and 2017, Egypt qualified to every tournament save for the 2012 Olympics, but failed to impress, never advancing to the quarterfinal. Egypt broke this streak at the 2019 World Championship, where they placed eighth. Egypt then went on to host the first 32-team Championship in 2021, finishing seventh after losing to reigning World Champions, Denmark on penalties, who later won the tournament.

Egypt beat their rivals Tunisia in their own court, qualifying to the 2020 Olympics. In the group stage, Egypt finished 2nd, after beating Portugal, Sweden, Bahrain and Japan, and losing to World Champions Denmark once again. They then won against Germany in the quarterfinals, progressing to the semifinals. They lost to France by a 4-goal margin, despite having had a 4-goal lead early on. In the Bronze Medal match, Egypt lost to Spain, placing 4th overall.

At the 2026 African Men's Handball Championship in Rwanda, Egypt secured its 10th continental title. In the final held on January 31, 2026, Egypt defeated Tunisia with a score of 37–24. This victory allowed Egypt to equal the Tunisian record for the most championships in the history of the competition.

Competitive record

Summer Olympics

World Championship

African Championship

All-Africa Games

• 1965 –
• 1973 –
• 1987 –
• 1991 –
• 1995 –
• 1999 –
• 2003 –
• 2007 –
• 2011 –
• 2015 –
• 2019 –
• 2023 –

Mediterranean Games

• 1979 – 6th
• 1991 –
• 1993 – 4th
• 1997 – 6th
• 2005 – 5th
• 2013 –
• 2022 –

Unofficial tournaments

MENA Games

• 1961 –
• 1965 –
• 1992 –
• 1999 –
• 2007 –
• 2011 –

Islamic Solidarity Games

• 2005 –

Team

Current squad

Roster for the 2025 World Men's Handball Championship.

Head coach: ESP Juan Carlos Pastor

Notable former coaches

• SRB Zoran Živković
• CRO Irfan Smajlagić
• ESP David Davis
• ESP Roberto García Parrondo
• ESP Juan Carlos Pastor

References

References

1. (January 31, 2026). "Match Results".
2. (January 31, 2026). "Handball: Egypt win 10th African title after cruising past Tunisia".
3. "استبعاد خالد وليد من قائمة منتخب اليد في بطولة إسبانيا الودية". darelhilal.com.
4. (15 January 2025). "Team Roster Egypt".