Croatia & Germany stay top of beach handball national rankings
Croatia remain in first place in the men’s beach handball national ranking, while Germany have held onto top spot in the women's ranking having taken their place atop the standings in early 2024. The official rankings take into account all major senior and YAC national team events from the past three years.
Winning the 2024 IHF Beach Handball World Championship – defending the title they won in 2022 – cemented Croatia's position at the top of the men's rankings and adding to the under-18 world title their youth team took in 2022. Fourth place at the EHF Men's 16 Beach Handball EURO 2024 was another of many strong results between 2022 and 2024 that count towards the ranking.
With 804 points, Croatia have extended their lead from 16 to 40 points since March over Spain, who defended their second position in the men’s nations ranking, although Hungary have closed the gap, thanks in part to beating Spain in the EHF Men's 16 Beach Handball EURO 2024 final. Third at the YAC event and fourth at the World Championship helped Germany stay fourth.
Portugal have built on their superb 2023 by cracking the top five in 2024 as they took bronze in China at the World Championship, while Ukraine did enough this year to make the top 10, with France slipping out.
On the women’s side, their is no stopping Germany, whose terrific winning run at senior level continued in 2024, winning another IHF World Championship title, as both the men's and women's titles were successfully defended in China. While their 2021 win no longer contributes, they still have their EHF Beach Handball EURO 2023 gold medal adding to their total of 848 points.
Despite their dominance, they are only 28 points clear of the Netherlands, who took gold at the Women's 16 Beach Handball EURO 2024 to help them overtake Spain and move into second place. A strong year for the Dutch also saw them win bronze in China, while Spain were eliminated in the quarter-finals.
It's been a positive year for Portugal on the women's side, too, moving above Norway and Hungary into fourth. New entrants to the top 10 are Croatia, who have pushed out Ukraine owing to a bronze at the YAC event and a quarter-final appearance at the World Championship.
