Only two of the eight quarter-finalists do not rely on players from LIQUI MOLY HBL clubs - Egypt and France. However, these two teams have a former Bundesliga player and a current HBL coach as their respective head coaches: Frenchman Guillaume Gille (Olympic champion as a player and coach) played for HSV Handball for many years, Egypt’s Spanish coach Roberto Garcia Parrondo (Champions League winner as a player and coach and world champion as a player) is the current coach of MT Melsungen. At least in the French squad there are three former HBL stars: Nikola Karabatic (formerly Kiel), Kentin Mahe (formerly Hamburg and Flensburg) and Romain Lagarde (formerly Rhein-Neckar Löwen) and one future Bundesliga pro -  goalkeeper Vincent Gerard (from summer 2023 at THW Kiel). On Wednesday (20:30 CET in Gdansk), France are the quarter-final opponent of the German side, which now has 16 HBL professionals from eleven different clubs in the 17-man squad thanks to the late nomination of Erlangen’s Tim Zechel.

At the same time, Egypt are playing in Stockholm against World Championship hosts and European champions Sweden with nine current and five former Bundesliga professionals in the 16-strong squad. Sweden's Norwegian coach Glenn Solberg used to be a player in Nordhorn and Flensburg and later also war part of the coaching staff of the SG.

Eleven current LIQUI MOLY HBL pros will play on Wednesday at 18:00 CET in the first quarter-final in Gdansk for a spot in the semi-finals, when Norway (eight current HBL pros and three former ones) take on Spain (three Bundesliga players including captain Gedeon Guardiola from TBV Lemgo Lippe, Agustin Casado/Melsungen and Daniel Fernandez/Stuttgart, as well as Ex-HBL star Joan Canellas, now Schaffhausen). Although the new Norwegian coach Jonas Wille has no connection to the Bundesliga, his assistant coach Martin Boquist (formerly THW Kiel) and goalkeeper coach Steinar Ege (formerly Kiel and Gummersbach) used to be professionals in the LIQUI MOLY HBL.

In the first semi-final in Stockholm, Egon Hanusz from TVB Stuttgart is the only Hungarian from an German club to lock horns with 13 current and one former HBL pro at the defending champions Denmark. With a win, the Danes would set a new, all-time World Championship record, as they are currently undefeated in 25 consecutive games, which previously (2015 to 2019) only France had managed to do. The coach of the Danes is well-known in Germany: Nikolaj Jacobsen, a former player in Kiel and later the successful coach of the Rhein-Neckar Löwen.

Since the winners of the quarter-finals Norway vs Spain and Denmark vs Hungary face in the semifinal, it is definitely ensured that LIQUI MOLY HBL is also represented at the medal games. If Germany and Sweden also make it to the last four, a quartet of sides with HBL players would be complete.

And it is also not unlikely that the World Championship top scorer will come from the LIQUI MOLY HBL. Emil Feuchtmann, a Chilean with German roots, is currently leading the top scorer list with 46 goals ahead of  former Lemgo and Berlin player Bjarki Mar Elisson (Iceland/45) and Dutchman Kay Smits (44) from Magdeburg - but for this trio, the World Championship has already ended. Next comes Füchse Berlin star Mathias Gidsel (Denmark/42 goals), the first HBL player still in the tournament, one position ahead of Germany's Juri Knorr (37), and the Dane Mikkel Hansen, who has 32 goals on his current tally and could still be dangerous for Gidsel and Knorr.

Among the top 50 are six other players from German clubs: Milos Vujovic (Hanover/Montenegro/34 goals), Eric Johanesson (Sweden/Kiel/29), Sander Sagosen (Norway/Kiel/27), the German duo Johannes Golla (Flensburg)/Jannik Kohlbacher (Löwen) and Göran Sögard (Norway/Flensburg/all 23). Alongside Gisli Kristjansson from Magdeburg, Juri Knorr leads the ranking of assists, with 74 scorer points (goals and assists) the Löwen playmaker is the sole number 1 in this respective ranking.

The quarter-finals on Wednesday will see the following duels:
in Stockholm:
18:00 CET: Denmark vs Hungary
20:30 CET: Sweden vsEgypt
in Gdansk:
18:00 CET: Norway vs Spain
20:30 CET: France vs Germany

It is not yet clear where the German team will go next if they reach the semi-finals as they depend on the parallel game Sweden vs Egypt. If the Swedes win, the semifinal will be in Stockholm on Friday; if Egypt wins, the German team stays in Gdansk. If Germany lose against France, the placement round 5-8 continues for them in Stockholm on Friday. In all constellations, it is certain that Golla & Co. will play their last tournament match on Sunday in Stockholm, either for places 5/6, 7/8 or for bronze, silver and gold.

And: Since France made it into the quarter-finals, all seven other quarter-finalists have either a direct ticket for the 2024 Olympic Games at Paris (only the world champion) or participate in an Olympic qualification tournament - and because Egypt currently has no competitor in Africa is the huge favourite of becoming African champions in January 2024 which would make them clinch their berth for Paris 2024,  even the ninth ranked side at the World Championship, Croatia, will also be at the qualifying tournaments. In addition, with the World Cup quarter-finals confirmed, it is also clear that Africa and Europe each have a second additional starting place in the Olympic qualifying tournaments - as the best continents at this World Championship.

Photo: Klahn