After departing in 2018 for the Iceland job, Guðmundur Guðmundsson was replaced by Aron Kristjánsson, who ensured that the Icelandic influence continued at all levels, bringing in fellow Icelander Halldór Jóhann Sigfússon as youth and junior coach to ensure smooth progression between the teams.
Morocco are no newcomers at the World Championship. The Atlas Lions have already participated in seven editions of the competition, all under head coach Noureddine Bouhadiou, who will now prepare the North African team for their eighth campaign at this level.
There is a famous saying in sports: "You are only as good as your last result'". For Croatia, at IHF Men's World Championships, that result is their worst ranking in 14 appearances – 15th.
Those appearances have seen them as ever-present since 1995, and they collected five medals – one gold (2003), three silvers (1995, 2005, 2009) and one bronze (2013).
Starting from Czechoslovakia 1964, Egypt have participated in 16 IHF Men's World Championships. The fourth place in France 2001 still remains their all-time best result, and while it was followed by a certain crisis, the Pharaohs have shown a lot of signs of improvement in recent years and are again a force to be reckoned with.
It is a new dawn for the North Macedonia men’s senior national team, as their top scorer and legend Kiril Lazarov met an end to his playing career. Yet Lazarov did not call it quits on North Macedonia, becoming the side’s coach in his first stint in this position.
The lack of experience could have been an issue, but for a player with such an illustrious career, everything went perfectly – despite the huge pressure applied to him even though he was only making the first steps.