The Junior World Championship Comes to Macedonia Next Year, While Pelister, Alkaloid and Ohrid Carry Our Handball into Europe

A new name will be crowned in Romania, and next year the championship comes to us

Today Romania crowns a new champion of the Men's EHF EURO for players under 20. In the final it's Sweden and Hungary - both reaching this event for the first time. The Hungarians got there after beating Slovenia 31:24 in the semifinal, while Sweden edged past Denmark 38:35. But the most important detail for us isn't who lifts the trophy. This championship hands out 15 spots for the 2027 Junior World Championship (under 21) - which will be held right here in Macedonia. Hosting a championship like this is a rare chance to show we know how to organize, but also that handball here is still something more than nostalgia for the golden days.

Pelister back in Europe: a tough group, but the start is at home in Bitola

Bitola's Eurofarm Pelister learned their opponents in the EHF European League, and the group shows no mercy. In Group G, our representative will face Germany's VfL Gummersbach, Spain's La Rioja (Ciudad de Logroño) and Poland's Wybrzeże Gdańsk (PGE). The group stage runs over six rounds, from 29 September to 2 December 2026, with the top two from each group advancing to the playoffs. The good news: Pelister opens at home, and the first guest in Bitola will be La Rioja. A club with Champions League experience knows a hard draw in Bitola doesn't have to mean a hard outcome - home court in handball is still worth its weight in gold.

Alkaloid and Ohrid carry Macedonian handball into Europe

Pelister isn't alone. RK Alkaloid is among the 38 teams entering the first round of the EHF European Cup - the first legs are on the weekend of 12/13 September, the return legs a week later. And the season behind us left a story worth remembering: GRK Ohrid won its first European trophy, beating Hungary's Tatabánya in the European Cup final. When a small club from the lakeside town lifts a European trophy, it's no fluke - it's proof that even without the budgets of the big ones, with heart and organization you can reach the top. Macedonian handball rarely has more than one European story in a single season.

A shame for the juniors: a loss to Poland after seven-meter drama

From European club stories back to national-team pain. The Macedonian youth team (under 20) lost to Poland in the placement round of the European Championship in Romania - and in the cruelest way, after a seven-meter shootout. In regulation it was 28:28, and in the penalty series the Poles were more experienced, prevailing with a final 32:33. And the loss hurts because our lads played well - at halftime they led (16:15), and after a run of Polish goals and a deficit, they clawed back to a draw through a Krstevski seven-meter. Marin Krstevski was the top scorer with 7 goals, Hristijan Djurmeshevikj added 6, and goalkeeper Nikolovski had 16 saves. Now Macedonia plays off for 19th place. The talent is there - the question is whether the system supports it enough.

An emotional goodbye: a goalkeeper gave up handball at just 20

And finally, a story that says more about our sport than any result. Young international Matea Churlinovska, a talented goalkeeper, decided to put an end to her career at just 20 years old. In an emotional message she wrote that eight years of her life belonged to handball - „eight years filled with training, matches, injuries, tears and wins" - but also that sometimes „the injustice hurts more than any training session". She leaves, as she puts it, „with peace, not with hatred". When a young athlete with potential quits because effort and honesty went unrecognized, that isn't her defeat - it's the defeat of the system that was supposed to keep her. How many stories like this will we tolerate before we react?