Debut Players to Watch at the 2025 World Men’s Handball Championship: Rising Stars in the Spotlight

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• The journeys of young players who excelled and developed into transitional talents have been documented in practically every World Men’s Handball Championship.
• The competition in the 2025 edition will feature more than 20 Under-21 players.
• The 2025 World Men’s Handball Championship will feature a new award called “Best Young Player Presented by Lidl”.

Photo: The logo of the 2025 IHF World Men’s Handball Championship (screenshot youtube.com/@ihfworldhandball)

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As the 2025 IHF World Men’s Handball Championship will be the first to ever be co-hosted by three nations, Croatia, Denmark, and Norway, the global handball flagship competition’s 29th edition will feature an award intended to recognize the top young player in the competition. We have a few on our minds that will be vying for the accolade.

The journeys of young players who excelled and developed into transitional talents during the past decades in handball have been documented in practically every IHF World Men’s Handball Championship. Let’s all recall Korean Kang Jae-won, the top scorer in 1986 at the age of 20, Swiss Marc Baumgartner, the top scorer in 1993 at the age of 21, and many others.

The competition in the 2025 edition, which takes place from January 14 to February 2, will feature more than 20 Under-21 players, but we focus on a few who have already accumulated significant experience over the years and appear to be future handball stars.

The “Best Young Player Presented by Lidl” Award

The 2025 IHF World Men’s Handball Championship will feature a new award called “Best Young Player Presented by Lidl”, which will be given to the best young player under the age of 21. This award highlights the values that the International Handball Federation (IHF) and its Official Fresh Food Partner, Lidl, share in fostering and developing the best young talent.

The accolade was really given out for the first time at the 2023 IHF World Women’s Handball Championship, which was the first to ever be co-hosted by three nations, Sweden, Denmark, and Norway, when it comes to the global handball flagship competition for women.

Since its debut at the 2017 IHF World Men’s Handball Championship, a German international discount retailer chain Lidl has been a steadfast supporter of handball as a sport and a longtime IHF partner.

Top 5 Debutants Ready to Shine at the 2025 World Men’s Handball Championship

# 1 Petar Cikuša (Spain)

At the youth level, Petar Cikuša (full name: Petar Cikuša i Jeličić) and his twin brother Djordje proved that they were the next big thing coming from Spain. They helped their side win the gold medal at the 2023 IHF Men’s U19 Handball World Championship. Petar is a versatile back who primarily plays center back and has a high handball IQ. He has been playing more and more club handball for FC Barcelona Handbol and was chosen for Spain’s expanded squad for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

He’ll surely be a key component of “Los Hispanos” as they rebuild their team, and he’s now prepared to make his senior debut in the World Championship. Petar, who’ll be a player to watch at the 2025 IHF World Men’s Handball Championship, where his national team is marked as a “dark horse” for taking the title by sports betting sites in Europe, is the second youngest player to play for Spain’s senior squad, along with his twin brother.

# 2 Gino Steenaerts (Switzerland)

Over the past few years, Switzerland has been cultivating new players as more attention has been paid to highlighting fresh potential, and the results are beginning to show right away. They’ve already achieved some outstanding results in the World Championships for U20 and U18 women’s players, but now they have a great candidate on the right wing in men’s competition.

Despite just being 19 years old, Gino Steenaerts has already made an impression at the club level. In the last season of the EHF European League, he scored 42 goals for HC Kriens-Luzern, one season after recording 16 goals in the same competition. In 2024, he also made his debut with the senior national team, scoring 19 goals in seven games thus far.

Steenaerts will move to the German Bundesliga for the upcoming season after being scouted by Rhein-Neckar Löwen, one of the top teams in the league, where he’ll begin playing this summer.

# 3 Renan Pinheiro (Brazil)

Renan Pinheiro, whose full name is Renan Iziquiel Pinheiro da Silva, appears to be the next player on the conveyor belt and has the potential to be a formidable force in the future. No wonder, given that Brazil has a history of producing top-notch line players throughout the years. He’s only 19 years old, but he’s expected to make an impression at the 2025 IHF World Men’s Handball Championship, his maiden international tournament.

Pinheiro hasn’t been a member of the winning team at the 2024 South and Central American Men’s Handball Championship, so breaking into Brazil’s squad is a big deal for him. However, the EC Pinheiros member possesses the strength and skill to be a good player for Brazil in the future.

# 4 Ian Barrufet (Spain)

Coach Jordi Ribera’s decision to include five players from the group that took home the title at the 2023 IHF Men’s U19 Handball World Championship highlights the Spanish team’s recompose. The son of goalkeeping great David Barrufet, left-wing Ian Barrufet Torrebejano, is one of them. He’s now prepared to make his senior debut in a significant international tournament.

Currently, a 20-year-old, Barrufet has scored 52 goals in the German top division this season while on loan from his parent club FC Barcelona Handbol, to Bundesliga leaders MT Melsungen. “Los Hispanos” will feature him and Dani Fernández, another young player, on the left wing.

# 5 Diogo Rêma (Portugal)

Portugal has enough skill at its disposal to compete in important international events in the upcoming 10 years, such was the case at the IHF World Men’s Handball Championships from 2003 to 2021. As the 20-year-old goalie prepares for his first appearance at the World Champs, Diogo Rêma Marques is undoubtedly one of the players who will keep the team strong.

Despite his youth and lack of experience, Rêma has become one of Portugal’s best goalkeepers, recording 57 saves for a 31% efficiency at the 2023 IHF Men’s U21 Handball World Championship. It’s only a matter of time before he’ll replace the jersey of FC Porto with the jersey of a club from Bundesliga, Liga ASOBAL, or LNH.

Pros and Cons of the Biggest Candidates for the Best Young Player Award

Based on experts’ opinions and the performance they showed in the last couple of years, we took out three players from our five-men list to showcase the biggest pros and cons in their play. Actually, all have one common flaw: the lack of experience on an international level, so we won’t be focusing on that here.