Russia men's national handball team

The Dissolution of the Soviet Union

The Russian national team was established after the Dissolution of the Soviet Union, when the Soviet Union men's national handball team was discontinued. The Handball Federation of Russia became the legal successor to the Soviet Union.^[2][3]

Initial success

The first major international tournament that Russia participated in was the 1993 World Men's Handball Championship, which they won.^[4] During the 1990's they became one of the best teams in the world, competing for that title with Sweden's 'Bengan Boys'. Russia won the 1996 European Men's Handball Championship and the handball tournament at the 2000 Olympics.^[5][6]

2000s

Russia's early success would not continue, however. During the 2000's and 2010's they did not reach a final again, although they did win bronze medals at the 2004 Olympics.^[7] The culmination came at the 2011 World Men's Handball Championship, where Russia missed qualification for the first time ever (as either Russia or the Soviet Union). At their next major international tournament, the 2012 European Championship, they were knocked out in the preliminary round with a disappointing 15th place, leading to the firing of legendary coach Vladimir Maximov.^[8]

At the 2021 World Men's Handball Championship Russia could not compete under their own flag as the World Anti-Doping Agency had on 9 December 2019 banned Russia from all international sports, after the Russian government was found to have tampered with laboratory data that it provided to WADA in January 2019 as a condition of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency being reinstated.^[9][10][11] Therefore they competed as a neutral team under the name "Russian Handball Federation Team".^[12][13]

Russian invasion of Ukraine

In reaction to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the International Handball Federation banned Russian athletes, and the European Handball Federation suspended all Russian clubs and the national team from competing in European handball competitions.^[14]

Summer Olympics

More information Year, Round ...

Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GS	GA
1972 – 1988	As  Soviet Union
1992	As  Unified Team
1996	Preliminary round	5th	6	4	0	2	166	132
2000	Champions	1st	8	7	0	1	219	195
2004	Third place	3rd	8	4	0	4	214	216
2008	Quarter-finals	6th	8	3	1	4	216	214
2012	Did not qualify
2016
2020
2024	Suspended
2028
2032	To be determined
Total	4/9	1 Title	30	18	1	11	815	757

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World Championship

1993		Champions
1995		5th place
1997		Champions
1999		Runners-up
2001		6th place
2003		5th place
2005		8th place
2007		6th place
2009		16th place
2011		Did not qualify
2013		7th place
2015		19th place
2017		12th place
2019		14th place
2021		14th place (played as RHF Team)
2023		Disqualified during qualification
2025		Suspended
2027
2029		TBD
2031		TBD

European Championship

More information Year, Round ...

Year	Round	Position	GP	W	D	L	GS	GA
1994	Runners-up	2	7	6	0	1	172	148
1996	Champions	1	7	6	1	0	172	141
1998	Fourth place	4	7	3	1	3	179	167
2000	Runners-up	2	7	5	0	2	189	175
2002	5th/6th place	5	7	5	1	1	197	172
2004	5th/6th place	5	7	5	1	1	206	190
2006	5th/6th place	6	7	4	0	3	208	204
2008	Preliminary round	14	3	0	1	2	74	88
2010	Main round	12	6	1	0	5	177	194
2012	Preliminary round	15	3	0	1	2	82	89
2014	Main round	9	6	2	0	4	168	179
2016	Main round	9	6	2	1	3	160	161
2018	Did not qualify
2020	Preliminary round	22	3	0	0	3	76	91
2022	Main round	9	7	3	1	3	194	190
2024	Disqualified during qualification
2026	Suspended
2028
2030	Future event
2032
Total	14/20	1 title	83	42	8	33	2254	2189

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Coaching staff

Notable players

• Andrey Lavrov
• Talant Dujshebaev
• Pavel Sukosyan
• Vyacheslav Gorpishin
• Eduard Koksharov
• Vasily Kudinov
• Dmitry Filippov
• Denis Krivoshlykov
• Serguei Pogorelov
• Dmitri Torgovanov
• Aleksandr Tuchkin
• Stanislav Kulinchenko
• Valeri Gopin
• Oleg Kisselev
• Alexey Kamanin
• Alexey Kostygov
• Alexander Chernoivanov
• Vitali Ivanov
• Vasily Filippov
• Lev Voronin
• Vyacheslav Atavin
• Oleg Grebnev
• Pavel Bashkin

Statistics