Macedonia's cadets are among Europe's best 16, and the World Championship is within reach

The under-18 cadet national team finished the group stage of the European Championship in Belgrade with two wins - over Italy and Turkey - securing a place among the continent's 16 best sides. That also guarantees survival in the elite bracket, the first goal of every one of our young generations. The second is bigger: finishing in the top 15 earns a ticket to the next World Championship, and if the World Championship host ends up in this group, then all 16 sides travel. The squad of head coach Goran Kuzmanovski now plays for places 9 to 16, with the Faroe Islands the first opponent. Also in the group are Portugal, Sweden, Serbia, Austria, Poland and Israel. Handball remains the sport in which Macedonia regularly appears on the European map - and that has never been an accident.

The Champions League is being rebuilt from the ground up: 24 teams in six groups

The EHF Champions League is undergoing its biggest overhaul in years. The group stage grows from 16 to 24 teams, split into six groups of four. The top two from each group go into the main round, which narrows to 12 teams in two groups of six; the remaining 12 continue in the EHF European League play-offs. Fifth-placed sides from the main round drop into the European League's Top 16, the last-placed are eliminated. This means all Final Four participants play the same 18 matches, instead of the previous unfairness where some played 20 and others 18. The group stage runs from 9 September to 29 October, the main round through to 4 March 2027, and the Final Four is on 12 and 13 June 2027. More teams, simpler maths - on paper at least.

Vardar is already changing kick-off times, Alkaloid is in Mavrovo with Lazarov

RK Vardar informed its fans of changes to the schedule for two Champions League group-stage matches - the second-round home game against Nantes on 16 September at the Jane Sandanski sports centre is being moved from its 20:45 slot. Schedule changes before the season even starts are part of this competition's folklore. At Alkaloid, meanwhile, the work is underway: the squad led by Kiril Lazarov is at full strength in Mavrovo, where it opened the second phase of preparations for the 2026/27 season. Eurofarm Pelister has gone to Slovenia for its camp. Three Macedonian clubs in three different European stories, all three with summer plans that begin long before the first competitive whistle.

Eurofarm Pelister in a group with Gummersbach, Logrono and Gdansk

The draw for the men's EHF European League placed Eurofarm Pelister in group G, alongside Germany's Gummersbach, Spain's Logrono and Poland's Gdansk. The group stage runs from 29 September to 2 December. Gummersbach is the biggest name in the group and the biggest obstacle, but this is not a draw the Bitola side should be running from - three away trips and three home nights in a hall that knows how to build pressure. Also in the competition from the region are Nexe, Sesvete and Izvidjac. Balkan handball rarely appears in Europe's headlines, but it is everywhere in the group stages. That is the difference between media presence and sporting presence.

Dabevska goes to Israel, Misevski to Croatia - the export continues

Macedonian international Sanja Dabevska has signed for Israel's Hapoel Ashdod, arriving from Bor in Montenegro. Occasional international Marko Misevski, a centre back, continues his career at Croatia's Sisak, after a spell at Israel's Maccabi Rishon. Two Macedonian handball players, two new addresses within the same few days. That our players find contracts abroad is good news for them and a question for the domestic league - why does the peak of Macedonian handball almost always happen outside Macedonia? A further picture of how tight the scene is: in Serbian handball the club Vranje 1093, seventh last season, withdrew from the ARKUS league over finances. The region plays excellent handball on budgets that do not survive a single season.