2023 IHF Emerging Nations Championship

The 2023 IHF Emerging Nations Handball Championship was the fourth edition of the IHF Emerging Nations Championship held in Bulgaria under the aegis of International Handball Federation from 25 to 30 April 2023.^[1]

2023 IHF Emerging Nations Championship

Tournament details
Host country	Bulgaria
Venue(s)	1 (in 1 host city)
Dates	25–30 April
Teams	12 (from 5 confederations)
Final positions
Champions	Cuba (1st title)
Runners-up	Cyprus
Third place	Bulgaria
Fourth place	India
Tournament statistics
Matches played	24
Goals scored	1,261 (52.54 per match)
Attendance	3,623 (151 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Francesco Pereira (34 goals)
Awards
Best player	Hanser Rodríguez
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Cuba won the tournament for the first time by defeating Cyprus in the final.^[2]

Participating teams

Country	Previous appearances
Andorra	2 (2015, 2017)
Australia	1 (2015)
Azerbaijan	2 (2017, 2019)
Bulgaria	3 (2015, 2017, 2019)
Cuba	1 (2019)
Cyprus	1 (2017)
Great Britain	3 (2015, 2017, 2019)
Guatemala	0 (debut)
India	1 (2019)
Malta	3 (2015, 2017, 2019)
Moldova	2 (2015, 2017)
Nigeria	1 (2019)

¹ Bold indicates champion for that year. Italics indicates host.

Draw

The draw was held on 10 March 2023.^[3][4]

Preliminary round

All times are local (UTC+3).

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	India	2	2	0	0	59	54	+5	4	Semifinals
2	Andorra	2	1	0	1	52	53	−1	2	5–8th place semifinals
3	Malta	2	0	0	2	58	62	−4	0	9–12th place semifinals

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.

25 April 2023 12:15	Malta	27–29	Andorra	Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 111 Referees: Linster, Rauchs (LUX)
	Gruppetta 10	(12–12)	Ruiz 11
	2× 5×	Report	6×

---

26 April 2023 12:15	Andorra	23–26	India	Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 52 Referees: Al-Wahibi, Al-Shahi (OMA)
	Ruiz 10	(10–14)	Ankit 10
	5×	Report	5× 1×

---

27 April 2023 12:15	Malta	31–33	India	Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 51 Referees: Doychinov, Goretsov (BUL)
	Spiteri 9	(14–15)	Amit, Mohit 10
	1× 3× 1×	Report	1×

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Cyprus	2	2	0	0	59	52	+7	4	Semifinals
2	Australia	2	1	0	1	46	46	0	2	5–8th place semifinals
3	Moldova	2	0	0	2	53	60	−7	0	9–12th place semifinals

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.

25 April 2023 14:30	Cyprus	35–31	Moldova	Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 50 Referees: Doychinov, Goretsov (BUL)
	Charalambous 10	(19–13)	Vasilatii 10
	2× 3×	Report	5×

---

26 April 2023 14:30	Moldova	22–25	Australia	Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 70 Referees: Al-Enezi, Al-Naseem (KUW)
	Martalog 6	(9–13)	Langenberg 7
	1× 5×	Report	5×

---

27 April 2023 14:30	Cyprus	24–21	Australia	Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 63 Referees: Bozhinovski, Nachevski (MKD)
	Charalambous 8	(11–11)	Warrener 6
	1×	Report	1× 3×

Group C

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Cuba	2	2	0	0	59	45	+14	4	Semifinals
2	Great Britain	2	1	0	1	56	49	+7	2	5–8th place semifinals
3	Guatemala	2	0	0	2	34	55	−21	0	9–12th place semifinals

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.

25 April 2023 16:45	Great Britain	28–32	Cuba	Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 120 Referees: Bozhinovski, Nachevski (MKD)
	Vellenoweth 6	(14–13)	Rodríguez 7
	1× 3×	Report	5×

---

26 April 2023 16:45	Cuba	27–17	Guatemala	Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 103 Referees: Araújo, Perdomo (URU)
	Rodríguez 7	(15–5)	Herrera, Martínez 4
	1× 1×	Report	2×

---

27 April 2023 16:45	Great Britain	28–17	Guatemala	Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 72 Referees: Al-Enezi, Al-Naseem (KUW)
	Edgar, Pereira 8	(16–6)	Cetino, Soto 4
	5×	Report	4×

Group D

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Bulgaria (H)	2	2	0	0	53	38	+15	4	Semifinals
2	Nigeria	2	1	0	1	54	40	+14	2	5–8th place semifinals
3	Azerbaijan	2	0	0	2	36	65	−29	0	9–12th place semifinals

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

25 April 2023 19:00	Azerbaijan	19–30	Bulgaria	Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 488 Referees: Mikelič, Paradina (CRO)
	Guliyev 6	(9–14)	Sv. Dimitrov 7
	1×	Report	1× 2×

---

26 April 2023 19:00	Bulgaria	23–19	Nigeria	Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 250 Referees: Ismoilov, Ismoilov (UZB)
	Ivanov 7	(13–11)	F. Yusuf 6
	1× 7× 1×	Report	4× 1×

---

27 April 2023 19:00	Azerbaijan	17–35	Nigeria	Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 44 Referees: Linster, Rauchs (LUX)
	Nazaraliyev 4	(7–18)	F. Yusuf 13
	2×	Report	1×

Knockout stage

Bracket

	Semi-finals				Final
	29 April
	India	37
					30 April
	Cyprus	42
					Cyprus	18
	29 April
					Cuba	28
	Cuba	36
	Bulgaria	29
					Third place
					30 April
					India	18
					Bulgaria	47

Fifth place bracket

	5–8th place semifinals				Fifth place game
	29 April
	Andorra	19
					30 April
	Australia	32
					Australia	22
	29 April
					Great Britain	34
	Great Britain	30
	Nigeria	20
					Seventh place game
					30 April
					Andorra	14
					Nigeria	36

Ninth place bracket

	9–12th place semifinals				Ninth place game
	29 April
	Malta	21
					30 April
	Moldova	25
					Moldova	21
	29 April
					Guatemala	14
	Guatemala	28
	Azerbaijan	20
					Eleventh place game
					30 April
					Malta	31
					Azerbaijan	20

9–12th place semifinals

29 April 2023 09:15	Malta	21–25	Moldova	Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 50 Referees: Al-Enezi, Al-Naseem (KUW)
	Seifert 6	(9–12)	Martalog 10
	2×	Report	1× 3×

---

29 April 2023 11:30	Guatemala	28–20	Azerbaijan	Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 50 Referees: Linster, Rauchs (LUX)
	Estrada 8	(14–11)	Nazaraliyev 6
	3×	Report	3×

5–8th place semifinals

29 April 2023 13:45	Andorra	19–32	Australia	Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 65 Referees: Al-Wahibi, Al-Shahi (OMA)
	Jiménez, Ruiz 5	(4–13)	Anderson 8
	1× 1×	Report	1×

---

29 April 2023 16:00	Great Britain	30–20	Nigeria	Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 85 Referees: Araújo, Perdomo (URU)
	Pereira 11	(14–11)	S. Yusuf 4
	1× 2×	Report	3×

Semifinals

29 April 2023 18:15	Cuba	36–29	Bulgaria	Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 787 Referees: Mikelič, Paradina (CRO)
	Rodríguez 9	(17–16)	Ivanov 8
	1× 3×	Report	2× 2×

---

29 April 2023 20:30	India	37–42	Cyprus	Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 100 Referees: Ismoilov, Ismoilov (UZB)
	S. Kumar 12	(23–21)	Charalambous 10
	5× 1×	Report	1× 4×

Eleventh place game

30 April 2023 09:15	Malta	31–20	Azerbaijan	Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 50 Referees: Araújo, Perdomo (URU)
	three players 5	(15–9)	J. Ismayilov 5
	2×	Report	1× 2×

Ninth place game

30 April 2023 11:30	Moldova	21–14	Guatemala	Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 66 Referees: Mikelič, Paradina (CRO)
	Sipulin 8	(8–5)	Estrada 5
	1× 3×	Report	1× 3× 1×

Seventh place game

30 April 2023 13:45	Andorra	14–36	Nigeria	Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 74 Referees: Ismoilov, Ismoilov (UZB)
	Ros 4	(6–17)	Salami 9
	3×	Report	1× 1×

Fifth place game

30 April 2023 16:00	Australia	22–34	Great Britain	Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 50 Referees: Bozhinovski, Nachevski (MKD)
	three players 4	(10–17)	Pereira 11
	4×	Report	2×

Third place game

30 April 2023 18:15	India	18–47	Bulgaria	Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 514 Referees: Al-Wahibi, Al-Shahi (OMA)
	Sahil 5	(7–25)	Sv. Dimitrov 11
		Report

Final

30 April 2023 20:30	Cyprus	18–28	Cuba	Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 258 Referees: Doychinov, Goretsov (BUL)
	Tartios 5	(9–14)	Almeida 8
	1×	Report	2×

Final ranking

The three best European teams advance to the EURO 2026 Qualification Relegation Round, except Great Britain, which already qualified as Winner of Euro 2026 Qualification Phase 1.

Rank	Team
	Cuba
	Cyprus
	Bulgaria
4	India
5	Great Britain
6	Australia
7	Nigeria
8	Andorra
9	Moldova
10	Guatemala
11	Malta
12	Azerbaijan

	Team advanced to the Relegation Round of qualification for EURO 2026
	Team already qualified to the Relegation Round of qualification for EURO 2026 (As winner of Euro 2026 Qualification Phase 1)

All-Star Team

The all-star team and awards was announced on 30 April 2023.^[5]

Position	Player
Goalkeeper	Craig McClelland
Right wing	Georgios Kritikos
Right back	Sebastian Edgar
Centre back	Alexandros Charalambous
Left back	Mihael Ivanov
Left wing	Sumit
Pivot	Karl Warrener
Best defender	Lidier Martínez
Most valuable player	Hanser Rodríguez

Statistics

Top goalscorers Rank Name Goals Shots % 1 Francisco Pereira 34 55 62 2 Alexandros Charalambous 32 48 67 3 Svetlin Dimitrov 29 40 73 4 Faruk Yusuf 28 44 64 5 Unai Ruiz 27 76 36 Hanser Rodríguez 34 79 7 Neil Gruppetta 26 55 47 8 Mihael Ivanov 25 35 71 Ankit 41 61 Vlad Martalog Source: IHF

Top goalkeepers Rank Name % Saves Shots 1 Craig McClelland 43 44 102 2 Magnol Suárez 42 43 103 3 Bjoern McCourt 39 46 119 4 Stefan Dimitrov 37 11 30 Serghei Buglis 13 35 6 Tripathi Amar 36 5 14 Clinton Mifsud 50 140 8 Babatunde Adamolugbe 35 45 129 9 Raul Muradov 33 12 36 Nikolay Petrov 36 108 Andrei Mitrofan 35 105 Source: IHF