The 2025 IHF Men’s Youth World Championship is just around the corner, with the competition throwing off on 6 August in Egypt, with four venues ready to welcome the 32 participating teams in the competition.
As the clock is ticking, we are taking a walk throughout the players who have already proven themselves at the highest level, finding out who are the names to watch at the 2025 IHF Men’s Youth World Championship.
Slovenia’s tradition of producing talented centre backs is well-known in handball and the European country seems to have hit the jackpot with yet another fantastic prospect in Aljuš Anžič. The 17-year-old centre back was integrant for the junior team at the 2025 IHF Men’s Junior World Championship in Poland, delivering fantastic performances for the team which finished on the seventh place, scoring 61 goals and delivering 20 assists throughout the competition.
Anžič will now take his talent to the 2025 IHF Men’s Youth World Championship, where Slovenia will aim for a good finish, after extending his contract with RK Celje Pivovarna Laško. He will surely be one of the names to watch at Egypt 2025.
The 19-year-old left back is widely considered one of the best prospects in the last decades in Swedish handball. Hailing from a handball family – his father, Zoran, was the head coach of the Montenegro men’s handball team between 2018 and 2023 – he has been lighting up the board in the Swedish league, where he plays for Eskilstuna Guif.
Roganović, the MVP of the M18 EHF EURO 2024, has already made his debut for the Swedish senior national team this spring, in the EHF EURO Cup 2026, and has been his team’s top scorer in the Under-18 European Championship last year, with 53 goals. The left back was instrumental in helping his side secure the continental title, providing an excellent springboard for a team which has sealed three bronze medals at the IHF Men’s Youth World Championship in 2007, 2009 and 2011, but never made the semi-finals since.
His brother, Elmar, was one of Iceland’s key performers at the 2025 IHF Men’s Junior World Championship, while his sister, Sandra Erlingsdottir, also plays handball. Their father, Erlingur Richardsson, was the coach for the Icelandic, Dutch and Saudi Arabian national teams over the past 12 years.
But Erlingsson has a huge potential, underlined by the pursue of several important teams in Europe. One of those teams is Danish outfit GOG, known for their stacking of promising talent. Erlingsson, an intelligent centre back, is surely one of the players to watch, having already impressed in the Icelandic league in the past season.
World champions in 2019 and fourth in 2023 at the IHF Men’s Youth World Championship, Egypt will be counted out at one’s peril during this edition of the competition, especially as they will be the hosts and usually, the African side thrives whenever they play on their home court.
Laoloua was the captain of the Egypt side which sealed the gold medal at the 2024 CAHB African Men’s Youth World Championship, securing the gold medal in a fantastic comeback in the final against Tunisia, where Egypt clinched a 30:27 win. He was also present at the 2025 IHF Men’s Junior World Championship, but did not feature prominently, being one of the youngest players in the squad.
Since winning the inaugural edition of the IHF Men’s Youth World Championship in 2005, Serbia made the top-10 only once, in 2013, when they ended up on the seventh place. They also missed the last edition, but are back after six years and have a chip on their shoulder, aiming to provide a good finish, especially after finishing sixth at the M18 EHF EURO 2024.
Draško is considered to be one of the leaders of the side, as his penchant for scoring brings plenty to this Serbia team. Last year, in the European competition, he scored 63 goals, and has already made his debut for club side Vojvodina in the EHF European League Men, despite just turning 18 years old. If Serbia are to go far, they need Draško to perform once again at a high level.
His uncle, Albert, was one of the best right wings in Spain’s history, scoring 555 goals for “Los Hispanos” and winning the IHF Men’s World Championship twice. Quim has followed into his footsteps, but is not playing as a wing, rather as a centre back, dictating play and has already plenty of experience under his belt.
Spain have always produced hugely talented players and have dominated the younger age category competitions over the past years, as they enter Egypt 2025 as reigning champions. Rocas has been one of their top scorers in the past edition of the M18 EHF EURO, with 49 goals, providing excellent support as a scorer.
Twice have Japan finished in the top-10 at the IHF Men’s Youth World Championship, eighth in 2017 and ninth in 2019, but they made a step back in the previous edition, when they ended up on the 21st place. However, this time they will be coming with big expectations, after securing their maiden title at the AHF Asian Men’s Youth Handball Championship in 2024.
One of the main reasons why Japan had that success was Masato Ohashi, the centre back of the team, who was immense in some key moments. In the semi-final against Saudi Arabia, Ohashi scored 11 goals, helping Japan to seal a 30:27 win. And in the final against the Republic of Korea, 26:24, Ohashi added seven more goals and one assist, on his way to the MVP title.
The left wing was named in the All-Star team at the M18 EHF EURO 2024 and was the fifth best scorer in the competition, with 65 goals, underlining his penchant for scoring goals, with an excellent efficiency throughout the competitions as he progressed through the France national teams.
Peyrabout has been playing since 10 years old at HBC Nantes, and is quickly emerging through the ranks for the team which finished third in the previous season of the EHF Champions League Men, as he looks destined to be one of the options for the left wing for France in the future.