# 2023 IHF Emerging Nations Championship

The 2023 IHF Emerging Nations Handball Championship was the fourth edition of the IHF Emerging Nations Championship held in Bulgaria under the aegis of International Handball Federation from 25 to 30 April 2023.
Cuba won the tournament for the first time by defeating Cyprus in the final.

## Participating teams

| Country | Previous appearances |
| Andorra | 2 (2015, 2017) |
| Australia | 1 (2015) |
| Azerbaijan | 2 (2017, 2019) |
| Bulgaria | 3 (2015, 2017, 2019) |
| Cuba | 1 (2019) |
| Cyprus | 1 (2017) |
| Great Britain | 3 (2015, 2017, 2019) |
| Guatemala | 0 (debut) |
| India | 1 (2019) |
| Malta | 3 (2015, 2017, 2019) |
| Moldova | 2 (2015, 2017) |
| Nigeria | 1 (2019) |
    $^1$ Bold indicates champion for that year. Italics indicates host.

## Draw

The draw was held on 10 March 2023.

## Preliminary round

All times are local (UTC+3).

### Group A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | India | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 59 | 54 | +5 | 4 | Semifinals |
| 2 | Andorra | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 52 | 53 | −1 | 2 | 5–8th place semifinals |
| 3 | Malta | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 58 | 62 | −4 | 0 | 9–12th place semifinals |
| 25 April 2023 12:15 | Malta | 27–29 | Andorra | Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 111 Referees: Linster, Rauchs (LUX) |
| 25 April 2023 12:15 | Gruppetta 10 | (12–12) | Ruiz 11 | Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 111 Referees: Linster, Rauchs (LUX) |
| 25 April 2023 12:15 | 2× 5× | Report | 6× | Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 111 Referees: Linster, Rauchs (LUX) |
| 26 April 2023 12:15 | Andorra | 23–26 | India | Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 52 Referees: Al-Wahibi, Al-Shahi (OMA) |
| 26 April 2023 12:15 | Ruiz 10 | (10–14) | Ankit 10 | Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 52 Referees: Al-Wahibi, Al-Shahi (OMA) |
| 26 April 2023 12:15 | 5× | Report | 5× 1× | Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 52 Referees: Al-Wahibi, Al-Shahi (OMA) |
| 27 April 2023 12:15 | Malta | 31–33 | India | Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 51 Referees: Doychinov, Goretsov (BUL) |
| 27 April 2023 12:15 | Spiteri 9 | (14–15) | Amit, Mohit 10 | Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 51 Referees: Doychinov, Goretsov (BUL) |
| 27 April 2023 12:15 | 1× 3× 1× | Report | 1× | Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 51 Referees: Doychinov, Goretsov (BUL) |

### Group B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Cyprus | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 59 | 52 | +7 | 4 | Semifinals |
| 2 | Australia | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 46 | 46 | 0 | 2 | 5–8th place semifinals |
| 3 | Moldova | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 53 | 60 | −7 | 0 | 9–12th place semifinals |
| 25 April 2023 14:30 | Cyprus | 35–31 | Moldova | Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 50 Referees: Doychinov, Goretsov (BUL) |
| 25 April 2023 14:30 | Charalambous 10 | (19–13) | Vasilatii 10 | Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 50 Referees: Doychinov, Goretsov (BUL) |
| 25 April 2023 14:30 | 2× 3× | Report | 5× | Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 50 Referees: Doychinov, Goretsov (BUL) |
| 26 April 2023 14:30 | Moldova | 22–25 | Australia | Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 70 Referees: Al-Enezi, Al-Naseem (KUW) |
| 26 April 2023 14:30 | Martalog 6 | (9–13) | Langenberg 7 | Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 70 Referees: Al-Enezi, Al-Naseem (KUW) |
| 26 April 2023 14:30 | 1× 5× | Report | 5× | Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 70 Referees: Al-Enezi, Al-Naseem (KUW) |
| 27 April 2023 14:30 | Cyprus | 24–21 | Australia | Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 63 Referees: Bozhinovski, Nachevski (MKD) |
| 27 April 2023 14:30 | Charalambous 8 | (11–11) | Warrener 6 | Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 63 Referees: Bozhinovski, Nachevski (MKD) |
| 27 April 2023 14:30 | 1× | Report | 1× 3× | Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 63 Referees: Bozhinovski, Nachevski (MKD) |

### Group C

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Cuba | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 59 | 45 | +14 | 4 | Semifinals |
| 2 | Great Britain | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 56 | 49 | +7 | 2 | 5–8th place semifinals |
| 3 | Guatemala | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 34 | 55 | −21 | 0 | 9–12th place semifinals |
| 25 April 2023 16:45 | Great Britain | 28–32 | Cuba | Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 120 Referees: Bozhinovski, Nachevski (MKD) |
| 25 April 2023 16:45 | Vellenoweth 6 | (14–13) | Rodríguez 7 | Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 120 Referees: Bozhinovski, Nachevski (MKD) |
| 25 April 2023 16:45 | 1× 3× | Report | 5× | Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 120 Referees: Bozhinovski, Nachevski (MKD) |
| 26 April 2023 16:45 | Cuba | 27–17 | Guatemala | Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 103 Referees: Araújo, Perdomo (URU) |
| 26 April 2023 16:45 | Rodríguez 7 | (15–5) | Herrera, Martínez 4 | Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 103 Referees: Araújo, Perdomo (URU) |
| 26 April 2023 16:45 | 1× 1× | Report | 2× | Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 103 Referees: Araújo, Perdomo (URU) |
| 27 April 2023 16:45 | Great Britain | 28–17 | Guatemala | Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 72 Referees: Al-Enezi, Al-Naseem (KUW) |
| 27 April 2023 16:45 | Edgar, Pereira 8 | (16–6) | Cetino, Soto 4 | Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 72 Referees: Al-Enezi, Al-Naseem (KUW) |
| 27 April 2023 16:45 | 5× | Report | 4× | Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 72 Referees: Al-Enezi, Al-Naseem (KUW) |

### Group D

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Bulgaria (H) | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 53 | 38 | +15 | 4 | Semifinals |
| 2 | Nigeria | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 54 | 40 | +14 | 2 | 5–8th place semifinals |
| 3 | Azerbaijan | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 36 | 65 | −29 | 0 | 9–12th place semifinals |
| 25 April 2023 19:00 | Azerbaijan | 19–30 | Bulgaria | Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 488 Referees: Mikelič, Paradina (CRO) |
| 25 April 2023 19:00 | Guliyev 6 | (9–14) | Sv. Dimitrov 7 | Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 488 Referees: Mikelič, Paradina (CRO) |
| 25 April 2023 19:00 | 1× | Report | 1× 2× | Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 488 Referees: Mikelič, Paradina (CRO) |
| 26 April 2023 19:00 | Bulgaria | 23–19 | Nigeria | Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 250 Referees: Ismoilov, Ismoilov (UZB) |
| 26 April 2023 19:00 | Ivanov 7 | (13–11) | F. Yusuf 6 | Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 250 Referees: Ismoilov, Ismoilov (UZB) |
| 26 April 2023 19:00 | 1× 7× 1× | Report | 4× 1× | Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 250 Referees: Ismoilov, Ismoilov (UZB) |
| 27 April 2023 19:00 | Azerbaijan | 17–35 | Nigeria | Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 44 Referees: Linster, Rauchs (LUX) |
| 27 April 2023 19:00 | Nazaraliyev 4 | (7–18) | F. Yusuf 13 | Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 44 Referees: Linster, Rauchs (LUX) |
| 27 April 2023 19:00 | 2× | Report | 1× | Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 44 Referees: Linster, Rauchs (LUX) |

## Knockout stage
### Bracket

| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final |
| 29 April | 29 April |
| India | 37 |
| India | 37 | 30 April | 30 April |
| Cyprus | 42 | 30 April | 30 April |
| Cyprus | 42 | Cyprus | 18 |
| 29 April | 29 April | | Cyprus | 18 |
| 29 April | 29 April | Cuba | 28 |
| Cuba | 36 | Cuba | 28 |
| Bulgaria | 29 | | |
| Bulgaria | 29 | Third place | Third place |
| | | 30 April | 30 April |
| | | India | 18 |
| | | Bulgaria | 47 |

#### Fifth place bracket

| 5–8th place semifinals | 5–8th place semifinals | Fifth place game | Fifth place game |
| 29 April | 29 April |
| Andorra | 19 |
| Andorra | 19 | 30 April | 30 April |
| Australia | 32 | 30 April | 30 April |
| Australia | 32 | Australia | 22 |
| 29 April | 29 April | | Australia | 22 |
| 29 April | 29 April | Great Britain | 34 |
| Great Britain | 30 | Great Britain | 34 |
| Nigeria | 20 | | |
| Nigeria | 20 | Seventh place game | Seventh place game |
| | | 30 April | 30 April |
| | | Andorra | 14 |
| | | Nigeria | 36 |

#### Ninth place bracket

| 9–12th place semifinals | 9–12th place semifinals | Ninth place game | Ninth place game |
| 29 April | 29 April |
| Malta | 21 |
| Malta | 21 | 30 April | 30 April |
| Moldova | 25 | 30 April | 30 April |
| Moldova | 25 | Moldova | 21 |
| 29 April | 29 April | | Moldova | 21 |
| 29 April | 29 April | Guatemala | 14 |
| Guatemala | 28 | Guatemala | 14 |
| Azerbaijan | 20 | | |
| Azerbaijan | 20 | Eleventh place game | Eleventh place game |
| | | 30 April | 30 April |
| | | Malta | 31 |
| | | Azerbaijan | 20 |

### 9–12th place semifinals

| 29 April 2023 09:15 | Malta | 21–25 | Moldova | Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 50 Referees: Al-Enezi, Al-Naseem (KUW) |
| 29 April 2023 09:15 | Seifert 6 | (9–12) | Martalog 10 | Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 50 Referees: Al-Enezi, Al-Naseem (KUW) |
| 29 April 2023 09:15 | 2× | Report | 1× 3× | Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 50 Referees: Al-Enezi, Al-Naseem (KUW) |
| 29 April 2023 11:30 | Guatemala | 28–20 | Azerbaijan | Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 50 Referees: Linster, Rauchs (LUX) |
| 29 April 2023 11:30 | Estrada 8 | (14–11) | Nazaraliyev 6 | Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 50 Referees: Linster, Rauchs (LUX) |
| 29 April 2023 11:30 | 3× | Report | 3× | Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 50 Referees: Linster, Rauchs (LUX) |

### 5–8th place semifinals

| 29 April 2023 13:45 | Andorra | 19–32 | Australia | Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 65 Referees: Al-Wahibi, Al-Shahi (OMA) |
| 29 April 2023 13:45 | Jiménez, Ruiz 5 | (4–13) | Anderson 8 | Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 65 Referees: Al-Wahibi, Al-Shahi (OMA) |
| 29 April 2023 13:45 | 1× 1× | Report | 1× | Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 65 Referees: Al-Wahibi, Al-Shahi (OMA) |
| 29 April 2023 16:00 | Great Britain | 30–20 | Nigeria | Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 85 Referees: Araújo, Perdomo (URU) |
| 29 April 2023 16:00 | Pereira 11 | (14–11) | S. Yusuf 4 | Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 85 Referees: Araújo, Perdomo (URU) |
| 29 April 2023 16:00 | 1× 2× | Report | 3× | Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 85 Referees: Araújo, Perdomo (URU) |

### Semifinals

| 29 April 2023 18:15 | Cuba | 36–29 | Bulgaria | Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 787 Referees: Mikelič, Paradina (CRO) |
| 29 April 2023 18:15 | Rodríguez 9 | (17–16) | Ivanov 8 | Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 787 Referees: Mikelič, Paradina (CRO) |
| 29 April 2023 18:15 | 1× 3× | Report | 2× 2× | Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 787 Referees: Mikelič, Paradina (CRO) |
| 29 April 2023 20:30 | India | 37–42 | Cyprus | Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 100 Referees: Ismoilov, Ismoilov (UZB) |
| 29 April 2023 20:30 | S. Kumar 12 | (23–21) | Charalambous 10 | Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 100 Referees: Ismoilov, Ismoilov (UZB) |
| 29 April 2023 20:30 | 5× 1× | Report | 1× 4× | Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 100 Referees: Ismoilov, Ismoilov (UZB) |

### Eleventh place game

| 30 April 2023 09:15 | Malta | 31–20 | Azerbaijan | Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 50 Referees: Araújo, Perdomo (URU) |
| 30 April 2023 09:15 | three players 5 | (15–9) | J. Ismayilov 5 | Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 50 Referees: Araújo, Perdomo (URU) |
| 30 April 2023 09:15 | 2× | Report | 1× 2× | Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 50 Referees: Araújo, Perdomo (URU) |

### Ninth place game

| 30 April 2023 11:30 | Moldova | 21–14 | Guatemala | Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 66 Referees: Mikelič, Paradina (CRO) |
| 30 April 2023 11:30 | Sipulin 8 | (8–5) | Estrada 5 | Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 66 Referees: Mikelič, Paradina (CRO) |
| 30 April 2023 11:30 | 1× 3× | Report | 1× 3× 1× | Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 66 Referees: Mikelič, Paradina (CRO) |

### Seventh place game

| 30 April 2023 13:45 | Andorra | 14–36 | Nigeria | Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 74 Referees: Ismoilov, Ismoilov (UZB) |
| 30 April 2023 13:45 | Ros 4 | (6–17) | Salami 9 | Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 74 Referees: Ismoilov, Ismoilov (UZB) |
| 30 April 2023 13:45 | 3× | Report | 1× 1× | Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 74 Referees: Ismoilov, Ismoilov (UZB) |

### Fifth place game

| 30 April 2023 16:00 | Australia | 22–34 | Great Britain | Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 50 Referees: Bozhinovski, Nachevski (MKD) |
| 30 April 2023 16:00 | three players 4 | (10–17) | Pereira 11 | Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 50 Referees: Bozhinovski, Nachevski (MKD) |
| 30 April 2023 16:00 | 4× | Report | 2× | Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 50 Referees: Bozhinovski, Nachevski (MKD) |

### Third place game

| 30 April 2023 18:15 | India | 18–47 | Bulgaria | Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 514 Referees: Al-Wahibi, Al-Shahi (OMA) |
| 30 April 2023 18:15 | Sahil 5 | (7–25) | Sv. Dimitrov 11 | Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 514 Referees: Al-Wahibi, Al-Shahi (OMA) |
| 30 April 2023 18:15 | | Report | | Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 514 Referees: Al-Wahibi, Al-Shahi (OMA) |

### Final

| 30 April 2023 20:30 | Cyprus | 18–28 | Cuba | Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 258 Referees: Doychinov, Goretsov (BUL) |
| 30 April 2023 20:30 | Tartios 5 | (9–14) | Almeida 8 | Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 258 Referees: Doychinov, Goretsov (BUL) |
| 30 April 2023 20:30 | 1× | Report | 2× | Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 258 Referees: Doychinov, Goretsov (BUL) |

## Final ranking

The three best European teams advance to the EURO 2026 Qualification Relegation Round, except Great Britain, which already qualified as Winner of Euro 2026 Qualification Phase 1.
| Rank | Team |
| | Cuba |
| | Cyprus |
| | Bulgaria |
| 4 | India |
| 5 | Great Britain |
| 6 | Australia |
| 7 | Nigeria |
| 8 | Andorra |
| 9 | Moldova |
| 10 | Guatemala |
| 11 | Malta |
| 12 | Azerbaijan |
* Team advanced to the Relegation Round of qualification for EURO 2026
* Team already qualified to the Relegation Round of qualification for EURO 2026 (As winner of Euro 2026 Qualification Phase 1)

## All-Star Team

The all-star team and awards was announced on 30 April 2023.
| Position | Player |
| Goalkeeper | Craig McClelland |
| Right wing | Georgios Kritikos |
| Right back | Sebastian Edgar |
| Centre back | Alexandros Charalambous |
| Left back | Mihael Ivanov |
| Left wing | Sumit |
| Pivot | Karl Warrener |
| Best defender | Lidier Martínez |
| Most valuable player | Hanser Rodríguez |