Italy men's national handball team

Italy
Shirt badge/Association crest
Information
AssociationItalian Handball Federation
CoachBob Hanning
Assistant coachJürgen Prantner
Colours
Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
1st
Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
2nd
Results
World Championship
Appearances2 (First in 1997)
Best result16th (2025)
European Championship
Appearances2 (First in 1998)
Best result11th (1998)
Last updated on Unknown.

The Italy national handball team is the national handball team of Italy. It only had 1 appearance in World championship 1997, and the next year hosted the European Championship (in both times coached by Lino Červar). It had poor result in both competitions. It never qualified for the Olympic Games. On 9th May 2024 Italy qualified for IHF World Men’s Handball Championship 2025 in Croatia, Denmark and Norway after beating Montenegro 66-58 in two legs. On 11th May 2025 Italy qualified for EHF Euro Men's Handball Championship 2026 in Denmark, Norway and Sweden after finishing second in the group of third-placed teams.

Competitive record

World Championship

World Championship record
Year Round Position GP W D L GS GA
Nazi Germany 1938 did not qualify
Sweden 1954
East Germany 1958
West Germany 1961
Czechoslovakia 1964
Sweden 1967
France 1970
East Germany 1974
Denmark 1978
West Germany 1982
Switzerland 1986
Czechoslovakia 1990
Sweden 1993
Iceland 1995
Japan 1997 Preliminary round 18 5 1 1 3 100 105
Egypt 1999 did not qualify
France 2001
Portugal 2003
Tunisia 2005
Germany 2007
Croatia 2009
Sweden 2011
Spain 2013
Qatar 2015
France 2017
Denmark/Germany 2019
Egypt 2021
Poland/Sweden 2023
Croatia/Denmark/Norway 2025 Main round 16 6 3 0 3 161 172
Germany 2027 to be determined
France/Germany 2029
Denmark/Iceland/Norway 2031
Total 2/32 11 3 3 5 261 277

European Championship

European Championship record
Year Round Position GP W D L GS GA
Portugal 1994 did not qualify
Spain 1996
Italy 1998 Preliminary round 11 6 2 0 4 133 148
Croatia 2000 did not qualify
Sweden 2002
Slovenia 2004
Switzerland 2006
Norway 2008
Austria 2010
Serbia 2012
Denmark 2014
Poland 2016
Croatia 2018
AustriaNorwaySweden 2020
Hungary/Slovakia 2022
Germany 2024
DenmarkNorwaySweden 2026 Preliminary round 18th 3 1 0 2 81 99
Portugal/Spain/Switzerland 2028 To be determined
Czech RepublicDenmarkPoland 2030
FranceGermany 2032
Total 2/20 9 3 0 6 214 247

Mediterranean Games

Team

Current squad

The squad for the 2026 European Men's Handball Championship.[1][2]

Head coach: Germany Bob Hanning

No. Pos. Name Date of birth (age) Height App. Goals Club
1 GK Domenico Ebner (1994-04-26) 26 April 1994 1.92 m 70 10 Germany SC DHfK Leipzig
2 RW Leo Prantner (2001-11-24) 24 November 2001 1.78 m 45 42 Germany Füchse Berlin
5 LW Gianluca Dapiran (1994-05-09) 9 May 1994 1.93 m 80 88 Italy Cassano Magnago HC
6 LB Davide Bulzamini (1995-02-03) 3 February 1995 1.94 m 93 115 Germany 1. VfL Potsdam
8 CB Giacomo Savini (1998-05-19) 19 May 1998 1.85 m 80 57 Italy Cassano Magnago HC
9 P Gabriele Sontacchi (2003-09-19) 19 September 2003 1.90 m 18 9 Germany 1. VfL Potsdam
10 CB Marco Mengon (2000-01-03) 3 January 2000 1.92 m 62 109 Germany 1. VfL Potsdam
11 RW Nicolo D'Antino (1999-06-22) 22 June 1999 1.72 m 55 43 Spain BM Atlético Valladolid
15 LB Simone Mengon (2000-01-03) 3 January 2000 1.92 m 54 99 Germany TVB Stuttgart
19 RB Thomas Bortoli (2002-02-20) 20 February 2002 1.94 m 56 60 France Istres Provence Handball
20 RB Davide Pugliese (2001-06-12) 12 June 2001 1.87 m 14 4 Spain Club Balonmano Nava
23 LB Christian Manojlovic (2005-08-14) 14 August 2005 1.87 m 25 22 Romania SCM Politehnica Timișoara
24 LB Mikael Helmersson (2003-09-29) 29 September 2003 1.99 m 23 44 Germany HSC 2000 Coburg
29 LW Jeremi Pirani (1994-01-18) 18 January 1994 1.78 m 17 23 France Tremblay Handball
30 P Tommaso Romei (2003-03-30) 30 March 2003 1.90 m 23 15 Austria Bregenz Handball
32 P Andrea Parisini (1994-11-18) 18 November 1994 1.94 m 109 183 France Limoges Handball
40 LW Simon Sirot (2007-04-18) 18 April 2007 1.78 m 3 1 Germany Füchse Berlin
51 GK Pau Panitti (2004-07-18) 18 July 2004 1.95 m 2 0 Spain Club Balonmano Granollers
90 GK Giovanni Pavani (2000-08-03) 3 August 2000 1.84 m 16 0 Italy Handball Sassari

Former head coaches

Notable players

  • Settimio Massotti (1360 goals in 302 international caps)
  • Alessandro Tarafino (14 times Italian Serie A Champion)
  • Zaim Kobilica
  • Franco Chionchio
  • Alessandro Fusina
  • Ivan Mestriner
  • Marcello “Air” Montalto
  • Tin Tokic

See also

References

  1. ^ "Italia verso gli EHF EURO 2026: convocati 20 azzurri dal 2 gennaio a Trieste". federhandball.it. Retrieved 23 December 2025.
  2. ^ "Team roster: Italy". ehf.eu. Retrieved 15 January 2026.