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. As of 2026, after a long hiatus, the Azzurri qualified for three major competitions in a row (IHF 2025, EHF 2026 and IHF 2027).
Competitive record World Championship World Championship recordYearRoundPosition 1938 did not qualify 1954 1958 1961 1964 1967 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1993 1995 1997Preliminary round185113100105 1999 did not qualify 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 2017/ 2019 2021/ 2023// 2025Main round166303161172 2027qualified/ 2029to be determined// 2031Total3/32–11335261277
European Championship European Championship recordYearRoundPosition 1994 did not qualify 1996 1998Preliminary round116204133148 2000 did not qualify 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020/ 2022 2024 2026 Preliminary round 18th 3 1 0 2 81 99// 2028 To be determined 2030 2032Total2/20–9306214247
Mediterranean Games 1979 – 2nd 1991 – 3rd 1997 – 2nd 2013 – 4th 2018 – 10th 2022 – 7th
Team Current squad The squad for the 2026 European Men's Handball Championship.
Head coach: Bob Hanning
Former head coaches Lino Červar Francisco Javier Equisoain Azanza “Zupo“
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 Italy women's national handball team
References
External links
IHF profile