IHF Emerging Nations Championship

The IHF Emerging Nations Championship is a men's handball tournament organized by the International Handball Federation since 2015, directed to play with emerging teams. Its first edition was held in Kosovo from June 20 to 26.^[1][2]

IHF Emerging Nations Championship

Current season, competition or edition: 2025 IHF Emerging Nations Championship
Sport	Handball
Founded	2015; 10 years ago (2015)
No. of teams	16
Most recent champion(s)	Great Britain (1st title)
Most titles	Faroe Islands (2 titles)

Countries that currently participate are those in the “Four-year plan” of the European Handball Federation and the best ranked countries from other continents that did not qualify for the World Men's Handball Championship.

Of the teams that competed in the Emerging Nations Championship, three would later go on to play in the European Men's Handball Championship: Faroe Islands, Georgia, and Latvia. Two went on to play in the World Men's Handball Championship: Uruguay and United States (the latter on a wildcard).

Tournaments

Year	Host country		Gold medal game				Bronze medal game
			Gold	Score	Silver		Bronze	Score	Fourth place
2015	Kosovo		Faroe Islands	27–24	Latvia		Kosovo	28–16	Uruguay
2017	Bulgaria		Faroe Islands	26–25	Turkey		Kosovo	32–25	Cyprus
2019	Georgia[3]		Georgia	31–21	Cuba		Bulgaria	47–31	Great Britain
2021			Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic[4]				Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic[4]
2023	Bulgaria[5]		Cuba	28–18	Cyprus		Bulgaria	47–18	India
2025	Bulgaria[6]		Great Britain	29–25	Bulgaria		United States	31–28	Nigeria

Medal count

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Faroe Islands	2	0	0	2
2	Cuba	1	1	0	2
3	Georgia	1	0	0	1
	Great Britain	1	0	0	1
5	Bulgaria	0	1	2	3
6	Cyprus	0	1	0	1
	Latvia	0	1	0	1
	Turkey	0	1	0	1
9	Kosovo	0	0	2	2
10	United States	0	0	1	1
Totals (10 entries)		5	5	5	15

Participation details

Team	2015	2017	2019	2023	2025	Total
Albania	14th	15th				2
Andorra	15th	14th		8th		3
Armenia	16th	16th				2
Australia	12th			6th		2
Azerbaijan		10th	10th	12th	8th	4
Bulgaria	11th	5th	3rd	3rd	2nd	5
Cameroon	7th					1
China	10th	6th	6th			3
Colombia			8th			1
Cuba			2nd	1st		2
Cyprus		4th		2nd	6th	3
Estonia	5th					1
Faroe Islands	1st	1st				2
Georgia		8th	1st			2
Great Britain	9th	11th	4th	5th	1st	5
Guatemala				10th		1
India			9th	4th		2
Ireland	13th	12th	11th			3
Kosovo	3rd	3rd				2
Latvia	2nd					1
Luxembourg		7th				1
Malta	8th	13th	12th	11th		4
Moldova	6th	9th		9th	7th	4
Nigeria			7th	7th	4th	3
Paraguay					5th	1
Turkey		2nd				1
United States			5th		3rd	2
Uruguay	4th					1
Total	16	16	12	12	8