Portugal men's national handball team
Men's national handball team representing Portugal
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The Portugal men's national handball team is governed by the Portuguese Handball Federation and represents Portugal in international men's handball matches. They have appeared six times in the World Championship, reaching an all-time best fourth place in 2025, and nine times in the European Championship, with a fifth place in 2026 as their best result. The team participated for the first time in the Olympic handball tournament at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, finishing in ninth place.
| Portugal | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
| Information | |||
| Association | Portuguese Handball Federation | ||
| Coach | Paulo Pereira | ||
| Assistant coach | Jorge Fidalgo | ||
| Most caps | Carlos Resende (250) | ||
| Most goals | Carlos Resende (1444) | ||
| Colours | |||
| |||
| Results | |||
| Summer Olympics | |||
| Appearances | 1 (First in 2020) | ||
| Best result | 9th (2020) | ||
| World Championship | |||
| Appearances | 6 (First in 1997) | ||
| Best result | 4th (2025) | ||
| European Championship | |||
| Appearances | 9 (First in 1994) | ||
| Best result | 5th (2026) | ||
| Last updated on 30 January 2026. | |||
Competitive record
Portugal has competed six times at the World Championship (1997, 2001, 2003, 2021, 2023, 2025) and eight times at the European Championship (1994, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2020, 2022, 2024). They qualified automatically for the final tournaments of the World Championship in 2003 and of the inaugural European Championship in 1994 as the host team. Their best results are a fourth place at the World Championship in 2025, and a 5th place at the European Championship in 2026.[1][2]
- Legend
- Champions Runners-up Third place Fourth place
- Red-colored border indicates that tournament was held on home soil.
Olympic Games
| Year | Round | Position | GP | W | D | L | GS | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 1936 Berlin |
Did not qualify | |||||||
| Not held from 1948 to 1968 | ||||||||
 1972 Munich | Did not qualify | |||||||
 1976 Montreal | ||||||||
 1980 Moscow | ||||||||
 1984 Los Angeles | ||||||||
 1988 Seoul | ||||||||
 1992 Barcelona | ||||||||
| 1996 Atlanta | ||||||||
 2000 Sydney | ||||||||
 2004 Athens | ||||||||
 2008 Beijing | ||||||||
 2012 London | ||||||||
 2016 Rio de Janeiro | ||||||||
 2020 Tokyo | Preliminary round | 9 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 143 | 156 |
 2024 Paris | Did not qualify | |||||||
| 2028 Los Angeles | To be determined | |||||||
| 2032 Brisbane | ||||||||
| Total | 1/15 | – | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 143 | 156 |
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 | 19 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 119 | 123 |
 1999 | Did not qualify | |||||||
| 2001 | Round of 16 | 16 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 140 | 145 |
 2003 | Second round | 12 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 219 | 182 |
 2005 | Did not qualify | |||||||
| 2007 | ||||||||
 2009 | ||||||||
| 2011 | ||||||||
| 2013 | ||||||||
 2015 | ||||||||
| 2017 | ||||||||
| / 2019 | ||||||||
| 2021 |
Main round | 10 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 168 | 152 |
 / 2023 |
13 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 178 | 157 | |
// 2025 |
Semi-finals | 4 | 9 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 301 | 274 |
| 2027 |
Qualified | |||||||
| / 2029 |
To be determined | |||||||
| // 2031 | ||||||||
| Total | 7/32 | – | 39 | 20 | 2 | 17 | 1125 | 1033 |
European Championship
| Year | Round | Position | GP | W | D | L | GS | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Preliminary round | 12 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 117 | 154 |
| 1996 | Did not qualify | |||||||
 1998 | ||||||||
| 2000 | Preliminary round | 7 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 153 | 160 |
| 2002 | Second round | 9 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 173 | 174 |
 2004 | Preliminary round | 14 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 91 | 101 |
| 2006 | Preliminary round | 15 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 80 | 96 |
| 2008 | Did not qualify | |||||||
 2010 | ||||||||
 2012 | ||||||||
| 2014 | ||||||||
| 2016 | ||||||||
| 2018 | ||||||||
| // 2020 | 5th/6th place match | 6 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 228 | 220 |
 / 2022 | Preliminary round | 19 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 85 | 91 |
| 2024 | Main round | 7 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 224 | 223 |
| // 2026 | 5th/6th place match | 5 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 274 | 267 |
| // 2028 | Qualified as co-host | |||||||
| 2030 | ||||||||
| 2032 | ||||||||
| Total | 9/20 | – | 51 | 18 | 4 | 29 | 1425 | 1486 |
Team
Current squad
Squad for the 2026 European Men's Handball Championship.[3][4]
Head coach: Paulo Pereira
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Notable former coaches
Player statistics
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