Italy men's national handball team

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).

Italy
Information
Association	Italian Handball Federation
Coach	Bob Hanning
Assistant coach	Jürgen Prantner
Colours
Results
World Championship
Appearances	3 (First in 1997)
Best result	16th (2025)
European Championship
Appearances	2 (First in 1998)
Best result	11th (1998)
Last updated on Unknown.

Competitive record

World Championship

World Championship record
Year	Round	Position	GP	W	D	L	GS	GA
1938	did not qualify
1954
1958
1961
1964
1967
1970
1974
1978
1982
1986
1990
1993
1995
1997	Preliminary round	18	5	1	1	3	100	105
1999	did not qualify
2001
2003
2005
2007
2009
2011
2013
2015
2017
/ 2019
2021
/ 2023
// 2025	Main round	16	6	3	0	3	161	172
2027	qualified
/ 2029	to be determined
// 2031
Total	3/32	–	11	3	3	5	261	277

European Championship

European Championship record
Year	Round	Position	GP	W	D	L	GS	GA
1994	did not qualify
1996
1998	Preliminary round	11	6	2	0	4	133	148
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
2032
Total	2/20	–	9	3	0	6	214	247

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

No. Pos. Name Date of birth (age) Height App. Goals Club 1 GK Domenico Ebner (1994-04-26) 26 April 1994 1.92 m 70 10 SC DHfK Leipzig 2 RW Leo Prantner (2001-11-24) 24 November 2001 1.78 m 45 42 Füchse Berlin 5 LW Gianluca Dapiran (1994-05-09) 9 May 1994 1.93 m 80 88 Cassano Magnago HC 6 LB Davide Bulzamini (1995-02-03) 3 February 1995 1.94 m 93 115 1. VfL Potsdam 8 CB Giacomo Savini (1998-05-19) 19 May 1998 1.85 m 80 57 Cassano Magnago HC 9 P Gabriele Sontacchi (2003-09-19) 19 September 2003 1.90 m 18 9 1. VfL Potsdam 10 CB Marco Mengon (2000-01-03) 3 January 2000 1.92 m 62 109 1. VfL Potsdam 11 RW Nicolo D'Antino (1999-06-22) 22 June 1999 1.72 m 55 43 BM Atlético Valladolid 15 LB Simone Mengon (2000-01-03) 3 January 2000 1.92 m 54 99 TVB Stuttgart 19 RB Thomas Bortoli (2002-02-20) 20 February 2002 1.94 m 56 60 Istres Provence Handball 20 RB Davide Pugliese (2001-06-12) 12 June 2001 1.87 m 14 4 Club Balonmano Nava 23 LB Christian Manojlovic (2005-08-14) 14 August 2005 1.87 m 25 22 SCM Politehnica Timișoara 24 LB Mikael Helmersson (2003-09-29) 29 September 2003 1.99 m 23 44 HSC 2000 Coburg 29 LW Jeremi Pirani (1994-01-18) 18 January 1994 1.78 m 17 23 Tremblay Handball 30 P Tommaso Romei (2003-03-30) 30 March 2003 1.90 m 23 15 Bregenz Handball 32 P Andrea Parisini (1994-11-18) 18 November 1994 1.94 m 109 183 Limoges Handball 40 LW Simon Sirot (2007-04-18) 18 April 2007 1.78 m 3 1 Füchse Berlin 51 GK Pau Panitti (2004-07-18) 18 July 2004 1.95 m 2 0 Club Balonmano Granollers 90 GK Giovanni Pavani (2000-08-03) 3 August 2000 1.84 m 16 0 Handball Sassari

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

External links

• Official website
• IHF profile