Kuwait men's national handball team

Kuwait
Shirt badge/Association crest
Information
NicknameAl Azraq (The Blue)
AssociationKuwait Handball Association
CoachAron Kristjánsson
Assistant coachCheikh Aymen
Heine Jensen
Marouen Maggaiz
Most capsMohamed Messaoudene
Colours
Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
1st
Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
2nd
Results
Summer Olympics
Appearances2 (First in 1980)
Best result12th (1980, 1996)
World Championship
Appearances10 (First in 1982)
Best result15th (1982)
Asian Championship
Appearances18 (First in 1977)
Best result1st place, gold medalist(s) 1st (1995, 2002, 2004, 2006)
Last updated on Unknown.
Kuwait men's national handball team
Medal record
Asian Games
Gold medal – first place2006 DohaTeam
Silver medal – second place1998 BangkokTeam
Silver medal – second place2002 BusanTeam
Bronze medal – third place2022 HangzhouTeam

The Kuwait national handball team is controlled by the Kuwait Handball Association. It is highly regarded as one of the most successful national handball teams in Asia and the Arab World. Kuwait has enjoyed great handball success at both the national and club level. The sport is widely considered to be the national icon of Kuwait, although football is more popular among the overall population. Kuwait's golden decade existed from the late 1990s to the late 2000s. Kuwait is also the founding member of the Asian Handball Federation, the Asian Championship and Club Champions League.

On 15 September 2015, the International Handball Federation suspended Kuwait Handball Association.[1]

Results

Summer Olympics

World Championship

Asian Championship

Year Round
Kuwait 1977Fourth place
China 1979Third place
South Korea 1983Third place
Jordan 1987Third place
China 1989Third place
Japan 1991Eighth place
Bahrain 1993Runners-up
Kuwait 1995Champions
Japan 2000Withdrew
Iran 2002Champions
Qatar 2004Champions
Thailand 2006Champions
Iran 2008Runners-up
Lebanon 2010Suspended
Saudi Arabia 2012Eighth place
Bahrain 2014Seventh place
Kuwait 2020Eighth place
Saudi Arabia 2022Seventh place
Bahrain 2024Fourth place
2026 KuwaitThird place
**Gold background color indicates that the tournament was won.
Red border color indicates tournament was held on home :soil.
***Following the IOC decision to suspend the NOC of Kuwait which came in force on 1 January 2010, the International Handball Federation decided to suspend handball in Kuwait in all categories.

Asian Games

Team

Current squad

Roster for the 2025 World Men's Handball Championship.[2][3]

Head coach: Said Hadjazi

No. Pos. Name Date of birth (age) Height App. Goals Club
5 CB Abdullah Al-Khamees (1992-06-23) 23 June 1992 1.86 m 54 42 Kuwait Kuwait SC
6 RW Saleh Ali (1990-09-28) 28 September 1990 1.73 m 45 67 Kuwait Kuwait SC
7 LW Abdulaziz Al-Shammari (1992-08-08) 8 August 1992 1.81 m 32 35 Kuwait Kuwait SC
18 P Mohammad Al-Sanea (1996-05-21) 21 May 1996 1.87 m 7 14 Kuwait Qadsia SC
19 RB Mohammad Al-Hendal (1997-10-19) 19 October 1997 1.88 m 17 30 Kuwait Al-Fahaheel SC
20 RW Mishaal Al-Harbi (1992-06-08) 8 June 1992 1.74 m 37 35 Kuwait Kuwait SC
22 GK Hasan Safar (1998-12-07) 7 December 1998 1.87 m 25 2 Kuwait Kuwait SC
23 LB Saif Al-Adwani (2002-04-17) 17 April 2002 1.89 m 25 63 Kuwait Kuwait SC
24 LB Mohammad Radhei (1996-07-02) 2 July 1996 1.93 m 26 24 Kuwait Kuwait SC
37 CB Saleh Al-Raghaib (2005-08-26) 26 August 2005 1.79 m 15 28 Kuwait Burgan SC
44 P Mohammad Ghadnafar (1996-06-25) 25 June 1996 1.91 m 12 13 Kuwait Burgan SC
49 LB Fawaz Mubarak (1998-08-19) 19 August 1998 1.95 m 15 18 Kuwait Al-Arabi SC
66 CB Abdulaziz Salmeen (1999-05-31) 31 May 1999 1.74 m 19 26 Kuwait Qadsia SC
72 P Abdulrahman Al-Shammari (2002-09-16) 16 September 2002 1.94 m 15 31 Kuwait Kazma SC
79 RB Ali Jaafar (2002-12-07) 7 December 2002 1.79 m 13 34 Kuwait Al-Arabi SC
80 GK Abdulaziz Al-Thafiri (1993-07-11) 11 July 1993 1.89 m 32 1 Kuwait Kazma SC
84 LW Haider Dashti (2000-12-05) 5 December 2000 1.92 m 26 34 Kuwait Al-Salmiya SC
97 GK Mohammad Buyabes (1997-06-09) 9 June 1997 1.92 m 18 0 Kuwait Burgan SC

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Notable National coaches

References

  1. ↑ "IHF suspends Kuwait Handball Association". ihf.info. 15 September 2015.
  2. ↑ @KHAkuwait (3 January 2025). "قـــائمة #ازرق_اليد المشاركة في كأس العالم الـ29 للرجال والتي ستقام في كرواتيا - النرويج - الدنمارك خلال الفترة من 14 يناير الى 2 فبراير" (Tweet) (in Arabic) – via X (formerly Twitter).
  3. ↑ "Team Roster Kuwait" (PDF). ihf.info. 14 January 2025. Retrieved 14 January 2025.