Handball is a fast, physical team sport played by two teams of seven players, who score by throwing a ball into the other team’s goal. It is like a mix of basketball and soccer, but played entirely with the hands. It is one of the most popular team sports in Europe but is less well-known in places like the United States or India.
There are three major trophies a national team can win in handball: the IHF World Championship, the Olympic Games gold medal, and the EHF EURO.
Because World Championships and Olympic gold medals are open to every country on Earth, they are usually considered the two biggest global prizes in the sport.
So in this list, countries are mainly ranked by how many of those two trophies they’ve won, with EHF EURO titles noted as an extra accomplishment.
Top 10 Most Successful National Handball Teams
| Rank | Country | World Titles | Olympic Golds | Total Global Golds |
| 1 | France | 6 | 3 | 9 |
| 2 | Denmark | 4 | 2 | 6 |
| 3 | Soviet Union / Russia | 3 | 4 | 7 |
| 4 | Sweden | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| 5 | Romania | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| 6 | Germany | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| 7 | Croatia | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 8 | Yugoslavia | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 9 | Spain | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 10 | Czechoslovakia | 1 | 0 | 1 |
1. France
France is the greatest handball nation in history. They have won the World Championship six times in 1995, 2001, 2009, 2011, 2015, 2017 and Olympic gold three times in2008, 2012, and the delayed Tokyo Games in 2021.
On top of that, they have also won four European Championships, including a recent title in 2024. They were also nicknamed as ‘Les Experts’ during their most dominant stretch in the 2000s and 2010s, France has produced some of the sport’s biggest stars, including Nikola Karabatic, who has won more international titles.
2. Denmark
Denmark is handball’s current superpower. In 2025, they made history by becoming the first team ever to win four World Championships in a row, 2019, 2021, 2023, 2025. They also won Olympic gold in 2016 and again in 2024 on home soil in Paris.
During their 2019-2025 World Championship streak, Denmark went unbeaten for 37 matches in a row, an incredible run for any team in any sport.
3. Soviet Union / Russia
This is a country that changed forms over time: the Soviet Union, won Olympic gold four times in1976, 1988, 1992, 2000 and the World Championship three times, 1982, 1993, 1997. The Soviet teams were known for being physically powerful and extremely well-drilled, dominating international handball for over two decades.
4. Sweden
Swedens were the team to beat throughout the 1990s. Sweden won World Championships in 1954, 1958, 1990, and 1999, and remains the most successful nation in EHF EURO history with five European titles.
Strangely, Sweden has never won Olympic gold but finished as the runner-up four separate times.
5. Romania
Long before France or Denmark existed as handball powers, Romania ruled the sport. Between 1961 and 1974, they won four out of five World Championships available, using fast, innovative tactics that were ahead of their time.
Their first title, in 1961, was won by the closest possible score in tournament history, which was 9-8 after extra time. Romania’s men’s team has not reached that level since, but their historic dominance in the 1960s and ’70s remains one of the sport’s great stories.
6. Germany
Germany is where organized handball began, hosting and winning the very first World Championship in 1938. Their trophy history is a little complicated because Germany was divided into East and West Germany for part of the 20th century, but here we will talk about them being combined.
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Altogether, Germany has three World titles and one Olympic gold. As the sport’s birthplace, Germany remains one of its most competitive nations to this day, regularly drawing over a million fans to EHF EURO tournaments held there.
7. Croatia
Croatia became a handball powerhouse almost immediately after becoming an independent country in the early 1990s. They won Olympic gold twice, in 1996 and 2004, plus one World Championship in 2003. Croatia is also famous for producing Ivano Balić, widely considered one of the most creative and skilful players the sport has ever seen.
8. Yugoslavia
Before splitting into several separate nations in the 1990s, Yugoslavia was already a major handball force. They won Olympic gold in 1972 and 1984, plus one World Championship in 1986.
Many of the players and coaching methods that later made Croatia so successful actually trace back to the youth systems Yugoslavia built decades earlier.
9. Spain
Spain has been one of the most consistently strong teams of the last 20 years, winning World Championships in 2005 and 2013. Interestingly, despite all this consistency, Spain has never won Olympic gold; they hold the record for the most Olympic bronze medals instead, showing just how difficult it is to win that final gold-medal match.
10. Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia, a country that peacefully split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1993, won the World Championship in 1967, famously beating out both Romania and Sweden, the two dominant teams of that era, to claim the title.
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