10. Veselin Vujović
Veselin Vujović is a former handball player of Montenegrin and is currently the coach of RK Vardar. He started his professional career with RK Metaloplastika, the team that won seven league titles, four cup titles, and two European Championships. He played for many teams like Barcelona and Granollers, but these teams didn’t win any title. He played in the national team of Yugoslavia, which won the Olympic gold in 1984 and bronze in 1988, scoring 28 and 29 goals in each Olympics, respectively. Veselin Vujović was named the Best Athlete of Yugoslavia and was the first player to win the IHF World Player of the Year.
9. Niklas Landin
Niklas Landin is a handball player who plays for the national team of Denmark and THW Kiel. He started his professional career with GOG Svendborg TGI but due to club’s financial distress Niklas Landin joined Bjerringbro-Silkeborg. He also played for Rhein-Neckar Lowen and now with THW Kiel. He has the 2015 Super Cup with THW Kiel in his first season with the club. Niklas Landin plays as a goalkeeper and is the captain of the Danish national handball team.
He has won a European Championship, silver medal at Men’s Handball championship. He was a part of the 2016 Olympic gold-winning Danish handball team. In 2021 Niklas Landin won the 2021 World’s Men Handball Championship.
8. Ólafur Stefánsson
Ólafur Stefánsson is a former handball player of the Iceland national team. He played the right-back position and was the captain of the Iceland national handball team for many years. Ólafur Stefánsson started his professional career with Valur, where he became five times Iceland Champion. As he gained popularity and developed skills, he played many times like SC Magdeburg, but the team where he got success was BM Ciudad Real. He won the Spanish title and Champions League many times with Ciudad.
He has over 1550 goals in his name, which is the third-highest in handball history. He is an Olympic silver-medalist, bronze medalist in the European championship, and won four times Iceland Sportsperson of the year.
7. Bernhard Kempa
Bernhard Kempa was a German handball player and coach who passed away in the year 2017. Bernhard Kempa started his professioanl career with Frisch Auf Goppingen. This team dominated all the handball matches in Germany, and Bernhard Kempa played an important role in this team’s success. Bernhard Kempa won the Europapokal in 1960. As a player, Bernhard Kempa won two German Championship, and when he became the coach of Goppinger, they won five German Championship.
Bernhard Kempa has a special trick called Kempa Trick. In this trick, a player goes inside the circle. When he gets into the circle, he jumps, catches the ball, and throws it on the gate.
6. Joachim Deckarm
Joachim Deckarm is a former West German handball player who played for the national team of Germany and VFL Gummersbach. He has played over 100 matches and has over 380 goals in his name. He was one of the best handball players during his active time. Joachim Deckarm has three German Championship, two European Championship, and one World Champion.
Joachim Deckarm was a great handball player, but he had an abrupt end in his career in 1979 when he collided with a defender of the opponent team. Joachim Deckarm fell down and went into a coma for 131 days. He never recovered completely, and one could not see him again in the handball court.
5. Mikkel Hansen
Mikkel Hansen is a Danish handball player who plays for the national team of Denmark and Paris Saint-German. Mikkel Hansen’s father was also a national handball player with over 100 matches, which made him develop a love for handball. He played for Helsingor IF and Virum-Sorgenfri HK before starting his international career. In 2005 Mikkel Hansen started his professional career with GOG German, where he won Danish Championship. Later he moved to FC Barcelona, AG Kobenhavn, and finally to Paris Saint-German. He has played over 230 matches and has over 1150 goals in his name.
He played as a left-back and was a skillful and hard-working player, which was shown when he won IHF World Player of the Year for three consecutive years, making him the only player to achieve this feat. Mikkel Hansen is two times Olympic Champion, four times World Championship, and two times European Championship.
4. Talant Dujshebaev
Talant Dujshebaev is a former Russian-Spanish handball player. He is the current handball coach of Lomza Vive Kielce. He started playing handball for CSKA Moscow, where he developed new skills and became a great player. He became a Unified Team member ( former Soviet Union Team), who won the gold medal in the 1992 Olympic games. Talant Dujshebaev was the leading scorer in that Olympic game. In 1993, as a member of the Russian Team, he won the 1993 World Championships.
After receiving Spanish citizenship, he joined the Spanish National Team. As a part of the Spanish National Team, Talant Dujshebaev won two Olympic bronze medals and one bronze and silver in the European Championships. He was IHF World Player of the Year two times and finished second in the IHF World Player of the Century.
3. Magnus Wislander
Magnus Wislander is a former handball player from Sweden. Magnus Wislander was nicknamed “The Hose” because he had the power and skill to slither any defense. He started his professional career by playing for the Swedish National Team from 1985 till he retired in 2004.
Magnus Wislander had a pretty long career of 19 years in which he played more than 380 international matches and with over 1000 international goals in his name. Magnus Wislander led Sweden to two world championships and four European Championships. In 1999, he was voted as the World Handball Player of the Century.
2. Nikola Karabatić
Nikola Karabatić is a handball player for the French National Team and Paris Saint-German. Nikola Karabatić started his professional handball career with the French club, Montpellier HB where he won four consecutive French Champions and EHF Champions League. Then he moved to THW Kiel, where he again won four consecutive German Champions and EHF Champions League.
Later, he got a chance to play with Montpellier HB, Pays d’Aix Universite Club handball, FC Barcelona and PSG Handball. Nikola Karabatić is an Olympic, World, and European Champion. He is two times World Championship, bronze medalist, three times Olympic gold medalist, and three golds in the European Championship.
1. Ivano Balić
Ivano Balić is a former handball player from Croatia. He is now working as the assistant coach of the Croatian national handball team. Ivano Balić started playing basketball, but after his father insisted, he began playing handball. He started his professional career with RK Brodomerkur Split, where he played for four seasons, and the team reached the top positions in the league.
Later in 2001, he moved to RK Metkovic Jambo, where he won the Croatian Cup and League championship in the first season. In Metkovic, Ivano Balić focussed on improving his game and worked on new skills that made him win the IHF World Player of the Year in 2004. He got a chance of playing with his idol Jackson Richardson for four years.
