Qatar, who have remained unbeaten in Asia en route to five back-to-back continental handball titles, shocked pundits of the game when they finished as runners-up at the 2015 IHF Men’s Handball World Championships in Doha.

The team, which has since then struggled to reach those heady heights again, are set to return to the world stage when the 2023 competition kicks off in Poland/Sweden on Wednesday.

The tournament, which pits the world’s 32 best teams against one another, will see Qatar in Group E, along with Germany, Algeria and Serbia.

The last five teams join the line-up following the conclusion of the 2022 African Championship, and the groups for the 28th IHF Men's World Championship preliminary round are now finalised Here's what we have to look forward to in January 2023 #POLSWE2023 pic.twitter.com/DlazFzIqFA

— International Handball Federation (@ihf_info) July 19, 2022

Qatar, Asian champions in 2014, 2016, 2018, 2020 and 2022, will play all their 2023 World Championship matches in Katowice, Poland. At the Spodek Arena, they will take on Germany on January 13 before playing Algeria on January 15 and facing Serbia on January 17.

After a single round-robin first phase, 24 teams (top-three from eight groups) will progress to the Main Round. Two best sides from the four Main Round groups will then move to the knockout quarterfinal phase.

After announcing a 23-member squad last August, Qatar played several friendly games against Tunisia, Egypt and Montenegro in the run up to Poland/Sweden. 

Left wingers Ahmad Madadi and Mahmoud Zaki, right winger Allaeddine Berrached, left back Rafael Capote and pivot Youssef Benali are some of Qatar’s key players. Trained by legendary Spanish coach Valero Rivera, they have the potential to cause some upsets.

منتخبنا الوطني يصل بولندا للمشاركة في بطولة العالم الـ 28 للرجال التي تنطلق منافساتها غدا وتستمر لغاية 29 يناير الحالي#الاتحاد_القطري_لكرة_اليد#عنابي_اليد_في_كأس_العالم_2023 pic.twitter.com/AJXIVeOOMv

— الاتحاد القطري لكرة اليد (@Qatarhandball) January 10, 2023

Qatar Handball Association President Ahmed Mohammed Abdulrab Al Shaabi expressed hope the team could do well in Poland.

“Over the last 20 years, we’ve competed in eight World Championships. Each time, we’ve tried hard to raise the country’s name and this time will be no different. We faced some difficulties in terms of player injuries, but I’m hopeful we can still do well. We’re in a tough group, but we’ll fight with honour,” he said, during a recent Press conference.

Rivera, who coached Spain to the 2013 world title and helped Qatar finish as runners-up two years later, was also optimistic.

“We’ve a strong group of players who’ve been together for a long time and that’ll help us immensely. We played some friendly matches and we’re ready for the challenges ahead. While we’re in a difficult group, we’ll give it our best shot,” he said.

QATAR TEAM

Abdulrahman Al Abdullah, Mustafa Heiba, Ahmed Nader Naseem, Ahmad Madadi, Rafael Capote, Belal Lbenka, Allaeddine Berrached, Ali Hamed (all Al Duhail); Kamaleldin Mallash, Amin Zakkar, Eldar Memisevic, Ali Emad Al Diry (all Al Rayyan);  Rasheed Yussef, Mohamed Abdelmajid, Ibrahim Shebl (all Al Sadd); Mahmoud Zaki, Abdelhadi Medhat (all Al Gharafa); Belal Masoud (Al Ahli); Anis Zouaoui (Al Arabi); Yassine Sami (Al Wakrah); Youssef Benali (Pays Aix Universite Club Handball)

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Photo credit: QHA Twitter, Raya