Netherlands men's national handball team

Netherlands
Shirt badge/Association crest
Information
NicknameGolden Boys
AssociationNetherlands Handball Association
CoachStaffan Olsson
Assistant coachGerrie Eijlers
Wong Wai
Most capsLambert Schuurs (312)
Colours
Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
1st
Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
2nd
Results
World Championship
Appearances3 (First in 1961)
Best result11th (1961)
European Championship
Appearances3 (First in 2020)
Best result10th (2022)
Last updated on 28th December 2023.

The Netherlands national handball team is the national handball team of Netherlands and is controlled by the Netherlands Handball Association. Unlike the very successful women's team, The Netherlands men's team qualified just twice for the World Championships (1961, 2025) and three times for the European Championships (2020, 2022 and 2024). For the 2023 World Men's Handball Championship The Netherlands received a wildcard and reached the Main Round finishing 14th overall.

The team is steadily closing the gap with the leading European teams. In only their second ever appearance at EHF EURO 2022 the Dutch men's team won three matches and drew one. The Dutch did qualify for the Main Round as well and finished as 10th overall.

Competitive record

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World Championship

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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 Preliminary round 11 2 0 0 2 18 54
Czechoslovakia 1964 did not qualify
Sweden 1967
France 1970
East Germany 1974
Denmark 1978
West Germany 1982
Switzerland 1986
Czechoslovakia 1990
Sweden 1993
Iceland 1995
Japan 1997
Egypt 1999
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 Main round 14 6 3 0 3 177 165
Croatia/Denmark/Norway 2025 Qualified
Germany 2027 Future events
France/Germany 2029
Denmark/Iceland/Norway 2031
Total 3/32 8 3 0 5 195 219

European Championship

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European Championship record
Year Round Position GP W D L GF GA
Portugal 1994 did not qualify
Spain 1996
Italy 1998
Croatia 2000
Sweden 2002
Slovenia 2004
Switzerland 2006
Norway 2008
Austria 2010
Serbia 2012
Denmark 2014
Poland 2016
Croatia 2018
Austria/Norway/Sweden 2020 Preliminary round 17th 3 1 0 2 80 94
Hungary/Slovakia 2022 Main round 10th 7 3 1 3 200 215
Germany 2024 Main round 12th 7 2 1 4 224 222
Denmark/Norway/Sweden 2026 Future events
Portugal/Spain/Switzerland 2028
Total 3/18 17 6 2 9 504 531

Team

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Current squad

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Squad for the 2024 Men's European Handball Championship.[1][2]

Head coach: Staffan Olsson

No. Pos. Name Date of birth (age) Height App. Goals Club
1 GK Bart Ravensbergen injured (1993-03-14) 14 March 1993 (age 31) 1.90 m 105 16 Germany Frisch Auf Göppingen
3 CB/LB Ivar Stavast (1998-01-13) 13 January 1998 (age 26) 1.91 m 44 57 Germany HC Elbflorenz Dresden
4 RB Janik van Zundert (2002-09-08) 8 September 2002 (age 22) 1.91 m 3 0 Netherlands Bevo HC
5 LW Rutger ten Velde (1997-03-05) 5 March 1997 (age 27) 1.78 m 66 183 Germany TuS Nettelstedt-Lübbecke
6 LB/CB Niko Blaauw (2002-01-15) 15 January 2002 (age 22) 1.90 m 12 3 Germany VfL Lübeck-Schwartau
7 LB Robin Schoenaker (1995-08-23) 23 August 1995 (age 29) 1.98 m 56 8 Belgium Sporting Pelt
11 RB Iso Sluijters (1990-07-24) 24 July 1990 (age 34) 1.92 m 115 200 Switzerland GC Amicitia Zürich
13 P Samir Benghanem injured (1993-12-10) 10 December 1993 (age 31) 1.94 m 68 126 Netherlands Green Park/Handbal Aalsmeer
14 RW Bobby Schagen (1990-01-13) 13 January 1990 (age 34) 1.90 m 136 410 Germany TBV Lemgo
15 P Lars Kooij (2000-08-11) 11 August 2000 (age 24) 1.99 m 19 29 Germany TV Emsdetten
17 LW Kaj Geenen (2003-05-06) 6 May 2003 (age 21) 1.84 m 15 10 Germany VfL Lübeck-Schwartau
20 RB/RW Niels Versteijnen (2000-02-03) 3 February 2000 (age 24) 2.00 m 44 85 Germany TBV Lemgo
21 P Martijn Kleijkers (2001-02-22) 22 February 2001 (age 23) 1.88 m 4 4 Netherlands Limburg Lions
22 CB Luc Steins (1995-03-22) 22 March 1995 (age 29) 1.73 m 110 311 France Paris Saint-Germain
23 LB Jorn Smits (1992-09-03) 3 September 1992 (age 32) 1.93 m 70 97 Denmark Lemvig-Thyborøn Håndbold
27 RW Alec Smit (1999-05-15) 15 May 1999 (age 25) 1.82 m 56 66 Denmark SønderjyskE Elite
28 P Tim Claessens (1999-01-09) 9 January 1999 (age 25) 1.97 m 16 5 Belgium Achilles Bocholt
30 GK Arjan Versteijnen (2000-02-03) 3 February 2000 (age 24) 1.93 m 27 1 Netherlands Bevo HC
33 CB Thomas Houtepen injured (2002-05-15) 15 May 2002 (age 22) 1.83 m 11 10 Germany TBV Lemgo
77 CB Dani Baijens (1998-05-05) 5 May 1998 (age 26) 1.82 m 79 213 Germany HSV Hamburg

Extended team

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No. Pos. Name Date of birth (age) Height App. Goals Club
8 P Evert Kooijman (1996-01-28) 28 January 1996 (age 28) 1.96 m 42 36 Netherlands KRAS/Volendam
12 GK Matthias Dorgelo (2002-10-31) 31 October 2002 (age 22) 1.99 m 2 1 Denmark GOG
31 RB Kay Smits injured (1997-03-31) 31 March 1997 (age 27) 1.85 m 80 368 Germany SG Flensburg-Handewitt
34 RB Tom Jansen injured (1998-06-08) 8 June 1998 (age 26) 1.99 m 29 49 Germany VfL Gummersbach
38 RW Rob Schmeits (1994-06-11) 11 June 1994 (age 30) 1.85 m 6 6 Netherlands KEMBIT/LIONS

References

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  1. ^ "Bondscoach Staffan Olsson maakt EK-selectie compleet" (in Dutch). handbal.nl. 28 December 2023. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  2. ^ "Team roster: Netherlands". res.ehf.eu. 12 January 2024. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
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