2025 IHF Emerging Nations Championship

2025 IHF Emerging Nations Championship
Tournament details
Host country Bulgaria
Venue(s)1 (in 1 host city)
Dates11–16 March
Teams8 (from 4 confederations)
Final positions
Champions Great Britain (1st title)
Runners-up Bulgaria
Third place United States
Fourth place Nigeria
Tournament statistics
Matches played20
Goals scored1,128 (56.4 per match)
Attendance3,590 (180 per match)
Top scorer(s) Svetlin Dimitrov
(51 goals)
Awards
Best player Svetlin Dimitrov

The 2025 IHF Emerging Nations Handball Championship was the fifth edition of the IHF Emerging Nations Championship held in Bulgaria under the aegis of International Handball Federation from 11 to 16 March 2025.[1]

Great Britain defeated Bulgaria in the final to capture their first title.[2]

Participating teams

Country Previous appearances
 Azerbaijan 3 (2017, 2019, 2023)
 Bulgaria 4 (2015, 2017, 2019, 2023)
 Cyprus 2 (2017, 2023)
 Great Britain 4 (2015, 2017, 2019, 2023)
 Moldova 3 (2015, 2017, 2023)
 Nigeria 2 (2019, 2023)
 Paraguay 0 (debut)
 United States 1 (2019)
1 Bold indicates champion for that year. Italics indicates host.

Draw

The draw was held on 28 January 2025 in Oslo.[1][3]

Seeding

Pot 1 Pot 2 Pot 3 Pot 4
 United States
 Cyprus 		 Bulgaria
 Azerbaijan 		 Nigeria
 Great Britain 		 Moldova
 Paraguay

Preliminary round

All times are local (UTC+2).[4]

Group A

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Bulgaria (H) 3 3 0 0 104 59 +45 6 Semifinals
2  Great Britain 3 2 0 1 92 85 +7 4
3  Paraguay 3 1 0 2 75 91 −16 2 5–8th place semifianls
4  Cyprus 3 0 0 3 65 101 −36 0
Source: IHF
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) goal difference.
(H) Hosts
11 March 2025
18:30 		Bulgaria  35–18  Paraguay Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna
Attendance: 350
Referees: Balvan, El-Saied, Cournil
Sv. Dimitrov 12 (19–10) Ríos, Viana 4
 3× Report  3×
11 March 2025
20:45 		Cyprus  23–37  Great Britain Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna
Attendance: 80
Referees: Lončar, Pagh, Ismoilov
Karkalatos, Paraskeva 6 (15–20) Pereira, S. Vellenoweth 7
1× 4× Report  2×
12 March 2025
18:00 		Bulgaria  35–22  Great Britain Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna
Attendance: 400
Referees: Lončar, Thygesen, Fabryczny
Sv. Dimitrov 16 (21–13) Pereira 5
1× 4× Report  4×
12 March 2025
20:15 		Paraguay  30–23  Cyprus Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna
Attendance: 20
Referees: Lončar, Pagh, Ismoilov
Rojas 8 (14–12) Tartios 6
 3× 1× Report  4× 1×
13 March 2025
18:00 		Cyprus  19–34  Bulgaria Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna
Attendance: 400
Referees: Prastalo, Rawicki, Ismoilov
Melissas, Tartios 5 (10–18) Sv. Dimitrov 10
 2× 1× Report  3×
13 March 2025
20:15 		Great Britain  33–27  Paraguay Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna
Attendance: 50
Referees: El-Saied, Lamour, Fabryczny
Pereira 11 (17–14) Martínez 8
1× 2× Report  3×

Group B

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  United States 3 2 1 0 118 79 +39 5[a] Semifinals
2  Nigeria 3 2 1 0 85 70 +15 5[a]
3  Moldova 3 1 0 2 81 88 −7 2 5–8th place semifianls
4  Azerbaijan 3 0 0 3 60 107 −47 0
Source: IHF
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) goal difference.
Notes:
  1. ^ a b United States 31–31 Nigeria
11 March 2025
13:30 		Azerbaijan  21–33  Moldova Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna
Attendance: 100
Referees: Doychinov, Fabryczny, Ismoilov
Musayev 6 (8–14) Ledeniov 7
 3× Report  2×
11 March 2025
15:45 		United States  31–31  Nigeria Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna
Attendance: 50
Referees: Goretsov, Lončar, Thygesen
Amitovic 10 (18–12) Shagari 7
1× 4× Report  5×
12 March 2025
13:30 		Moldova  26–42  United States Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna
Attendance: 100
Referees: Cournil, Balvan, Rawicki
Zacaciurin 8 (14–18) Donlin 8
1× 3× Report  5×
12 March 2025
15:45 		Azerbaijan  17–29  Nigeria Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna
Attendance: 50
Referees: Prastalo, El-Saied, Lamour
Guliyev 6 (8–9) Shagari 7
 3× Report  3×
13 March 2025
13:30 		Nigeria  25–22  Moldova Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna
Attendance: 60
Referees: Goretsov, Lončar, Thygesen
Yusuf 8 (14–12) Baltean 5
 5× 1× Report  2×
13 March 2025
15:45 		United States  45–25  Azerbaijan Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna
Attendance: 40
Referees: Balvan, Doychinov, El-Saied
Binderis 7 (19–11) Mammadli, Mehdiyev 5
1× 1× Report 2× 9× 1×

Knockout stage

Bracket

 
Semi-finalsFinal
 
      
 
15 March
 
 
 Bulgaria30
 
16 March
 
 Nigeria23
 
 Bulgaria25
 
15 March
 
 Great Britain29
 
 United States25
 
 
 Great Britain29
 
Third place
 
 
16 March
 
 
 Nigeria28
 
 
 United States31
Fifth place bracket
 
5–8th place semifinalsFifth place game
 
      
 
15 March
 
 
 Paraguay34
 
16 March
 
 Azerbaijan22
 
 Paraguay37
 
15 March
 
 Cyprus28
 
 Moldova23
 
 
 Cyprus24
 
Seventh place game
 
 
16 March
 
 
 Azerbaijan28
 
 
 Moldova29

5–8th place semifinals

15 March 2025
13:00 		Paraguay  34–22  Azerbaijan Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna
Attendance: 50
Referees: Goretsov, El-Saied, Cournil
Rojas 8 (14–8) Nazaraliyev 6
 1× Report  4×
15 March 2025
15:15 		Moldova  23–24  Cyprus Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna
Attendance: 80
Referees: Doychinov, Lamour, Ismoilov
Caraman 8 (11–11) Karkalatos 7
 4× 1× Report  2×

Semifinals

15 March 2025
17:30 		Bulgaria  30–23  Nigeria Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna
Attendance: 550
Referees: Lončar, El-Saied, Rawicki
Sv. Dimitrov 13 (15–8) Yusuf 8
 5× Report 1× 6×
15 March 2025
20:15 		United States  25–29  Great Britain Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna
Attendance: 60
Referees: Prastalo, Pagh, Ismoilov
Hansen 8 (14–13) Pereira 8
1× 6× Report 1× 3×

Seventh place game

16 March 2025
13:00 		Azerbaijan  28–29  Moldova Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna
Attendance: 20
Referees: Balvan, Pagh, Ismoilov
Mammadli, Nazaraliyev 7 (14–20) Ledeniov 9
 3× Report  4×

Fifth place game

16 March 2025
15:15 		Paraguay  37–28  Cyprus Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna
Attendance: 30
Referees: Goretsov, Lončar, El-Saied
Rojas 8 (17–16) Hadjipetrou 6
 4× Report

Third place game

16 March 2025
17:30 		Nigeria  28–31  United States Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna
Attendance: 100
Referees: Doychinov, Thygesen, Cournil
Yusuf 13 (14–19) Hansen, Stromberg 8
1× 2× Report  1×

Final

16 March 2025
20:15 		Bulgaria  25–29  Great Britain Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna
Attendance: 1,000
Referees: El-Saied, Fabryczny, Ismoilov
Vasilev 7 (13–15) Pereira 7
2× 4× 1× Report 2× 4×

Final ranking

Rank Team
 Great Britain
 Bulgaria
 United States
4  Nigeria
5  Paraguay
6  Cyprus
7  Moldova
8  Azerbaijan

Statistics

All-Star Team

The all-star team and awards was announced on 16 March 2025.[5]

Position Player
Goalkeeper Nikolay Petrov
Right wing Gary Phillips
Right back Francisco Pereira
Centre back Kristian Vasilev
Left back Sebastian Vellenoweth
Left wing Louis Christy
Pivot Andrew Donlin
Best defender Andrew Donlin
Most valuable player Svetlin Dimitrov

References

  1. ^ a b "Eight teams to compete at the 2025 IHF Men's Emerging Nations Championship". www.ihf.info. Retrieved 27 January 2025.
  2. ^ "Great Britain deliver masterclass performance against Bulgaria to clinch title at the 2025 IHF Men's Emerging Nations Championship". www.ihf.info. Retrieved 16 March 2025.
  3. ^ "Teams find out their fate at the 2025 IHF Men's Emerging Nations Championship draw". IHF. 28 January 2025. Retrieved 28 January 2025.
  4. ^ "2025 IHF Men's Emerging Nations Championship schedule revealed". IHF. 7 March 2025. Retrieved 7 March 2025.
  5. ^ "2025 IHF Men's Emerging Nations Championship: All-Star team revealed". competition.ihf.info. 16 March 2025.
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