Tuesday 16 / June / 2026
Muscat: Our national beach handball team is participating in the Men's Beach Handball World Championships, hosted by Croatia from June 23 to 28. This marks the team's ninth appearance in the tournament, and they are aiming to continue their strong presence on the world stage and achieve positive results in this international event.
The team, led by national coach Hamoud bin Salem Al-Hasani and his assistant Jaber bin Yaqoub Al-Balushi, includes ten players: Asaad bin Saeed Al-Hasani, Saeed bin Hamad Al-Hasani, Ali bin Salem Al-Jami, Al-Yazan bin Yahya Al-Busaidi, Abdul Hakim bin Abdullah Al-Siyabi, Yasser bin Saeed Al-Harthi, Mahdi bin Salem Al-Sulaimani, Muhannad bin Saeed Al-Zarrafi, Hudhaifa bin Suwaid Al-Siyabi, and Hamad bin Hamoud Al-Hasani.
This marks the national team's ninth appearance in the Beach Handball World Championships, following previous participations that began in Hurghada, Egypt in 2004 (fourth place), then Taipei in 2009 (eighth place), Musannah, Oman in 2012 (sixth place), Brazil in 2014 (seventh place), Hungary in 2016 (sixth place), Thailand in 2017 (ninth place), and Russia in 2018. The 2020 edition, scheduled for Italy, was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The team then participated in the most recent edition in China in 2023, finishing fifteenth.
Before the start of the World Cup, the national team will hold an overseas training camp in Croatia, which will include participation in an international friendly tournament from June 19 to 21. The tournament will feature the national teams of Croatia, Iran, Australia, and the United States, and will serve as a final preparatory stage aimed at enhancing the players' technical and physical readiness and providing them with further competitive experience before the World Cup.
The national team began its World Cup preparation program last March, which included training camps and participation in the Asian Beach Games held in China in April, as part of the coaching staff's plan to prepare the team in the best possible way.
The tournament draw placed the national team in Group D alongside the host nation, Croatia, as well as France and Australia. The team will begin its campaign against Croatia on June 23 at 3:00 PM Muscat time, followed by a match against France at 11:00 PM the same day. They will conclude their first-round matches against Australia on June 24 at 3:00 PM.
Group A consists of Spain, Portugal, Iran, and the United States, while Group B includes Hungary, Denmark, Tunisia, and Puerto Rico. Group C comprises Germany, Brazil, Argentina, and Italy.
The tournament will be played in a single round-robin format during the preliminary round. The top three teams from each group will advance to the main round, which will be divided into two groups. The knockout stage will then commence, culminating in the quarterfinals and the final.
The 2026 Croatia edition will be the sixth time a European country has hosted the IHF Beach Handball World Championships, following Spain in 2008, Turkey in 2010, Hungary in 2016, Russia in 2018, and Greece in 2022.
