Ahead of the final day of Preliminary Round action at Germany/Denmark 2019, coaches have been making changes to their squads.

Former IHF World Handball Player of the Year, Olympic, World and European champion Nikola Karabatic returns to Didier Dinart’s French squad, replacing the injured Cedric Sorhaindo. Karabatic will wear his famous number 13 shirt.

If Karabatic were to play against the Russian Federation tonight, it would be his 300th appearance for the French squad, for which he has scored 1,181 times.

Dinart has also made his second change of the competition, bringing in Montpellier centre back Melvyn Richardson for fellow centre back Nicolas Claire.

Russia have also made changes ahead of that game, with head coach Eduard Koksharov making his first replacement, exchanging pivots. SKI Krasnodar’s Maksim Mikhalin comes in for Gleb Kalarah with the 21-year-old Mikhalin, who has played nine times for his country, wearing the number 43 shirt.

In Group D, Hungary coach Istvan Csoknyai has made two out of his three replacements allowed ahead of their match against Sweden this evening. 19-year-old right back debutant Dominik Mathe comes in for Gabor Ancsin, while Iman Jamali is replaced by pivot Timuzsin Schuch, who has scored 180 goals in 168 games for his country.

Austria, who play Tunisia in Herning tonight, have made their second change of the tournament, swapping goalkeepers. In comes FC Porto’s 1,90m Thomas Bauer, who has played 142 times for his country, and out goes Nikola Marinovic.

Japan coach Dagur Sigurdsson has made his first change, bringing in left wing Naoki Sugioka. The 24-year-old plays his club handball for Toyota Auto Body and has scored once in two appearances for his country. He replaces left wing Daisuke Miyazki.

Saudi Arabia have also made a change, bringing in left wing Muneer Abu Alrahi for Abudullah Alhulaili.

The final change of the preliminary round involves Serbia, with head coach Nenad Perunicic making his third and final change, bringing back goalkeeper Vladimir Cupara in place of Svetislav Verkic. Cupara was himself replaced on Monday.

For previous replacements and late registrations click on the relevant date below.

Player Replacements

Thursday 17 January

Austria (AUT): #1 Thomas BAUER (Goalkeeper) IN, #12 Nikola MARINOVIC (Goalkeeper) OUT
2 of 3 Austria player replacements allowed at Germany/Denmark 2019

Saudi Arabia (KSA): #90 Muneer ABU ALRAHI (Left Wing) IN, #23 Abudllah ALHUAILI (Left Wing) OUT
2 of 3 Saudi Arabia player replacements allowed

Japan (JPN): #70 Naoki SUGIOKA (Left Wing) IN, #7 Daisuke MIYAZAKI (Left Wing) OUT
1 of 3 Japan player replacements allowed

Hungary (HUN): #23 Dominik MATHE (Right Back) IN, #33 Gabor ANCSIN (Right Back) OUT
1 of 3 Hungary player replacements allowed

Hungary (HUN): #5 Timuzsin SCHUCH (Pivot) IN, #22 Iman JAMALI (Left Back) OUT
2 of 3 Hungary player replacements allowed

Russian Federation (RUS): #43 Maksim MIKHALIN (Pivot) IN, #21 Gleb KALARASH (Pivot) OUT
1 of 3 Russia player replacements allowed

Serbia (SRB): #76 Vladimir CUPARA (Goalkeeper) IN, #12 Svetislav VERKIC (Goalkeeper) OUT
3 of 3 Serbia player replacements allowed

France (FRA): #13 Nikola KARABATIC (Centre Back) IN, #20 Cedric SORHAINDO (Pivot) OUT
1 of 3 France player replacements allowed

France (FRA): #9 Melvyn RICHARDSON (Centre Back) IN, #26 Nicolas CLAIRE (Centre Back) OUT
2 of 3 France player replacements allowed

Wednesday 16 January

Egypt (EGY): #25 Wisam NAWAR (Line) IN, #18 Mohammed MAHER (Line) OUT
2 of 3 Egypt player replacements allowed during Germany/Denmark 2019

Qatar (QAT): #97 Moustafa HEIBA (Centre Back) IN, #25 Kamal ADDIN MALLASH (Centre Back) OUT
3 of 3 Qatar player replacements allowed

Bahrain (BRN): #17 Ahmed HUSAIN (Centre Back) IN, #66 Komail MAHFOODH (Left Back) OUT
1 of 3 Bahrain player replacements allowed

Tuesday 15 January 2019

Saudi Arabia (KSA): #93 Abdullah AL HAMMAD (Left Back) IN, #33 Adnan RADNAH (Pivot) OUT
1 of 3 Saudi Arabia player replacements allowed

Tunisia (TUN): #20 Achraf SAAFI (Centre Back) IN, #42 Wael JALLOUZ (Left Back) OUT
1 of 3 Tunisia player replacements allowed

Tunisia (TUN): #93 Amine Ahmed BEDOUI (Goalkeeper) IN, #12 Marouan MAGGAIZ (Goalkeeper) OUT
2 of 3 Tunisia player replacements allowed

Monday 14 January 2019

Egypt (EGY): #22 Omar HAGAG (Left Back) IN, #53 Akram SAAD (Right Wing) OUT
1 of 3 Egypt player replacements allowed

Serbia (SRB): #29 Milan MILIC (Right Back) IN #25 Nemanja ZELENOVIC (Right Back) OUT
1 of 3 Serbia player replacements allowed

Serbia (SRB): #96 Dejan MILOSAVLJEV (Goalkeeper) IN, #76 Vladimir CUPARA (Goalkeeper) OUT
2 of 3 Serbia player replacements allowed

Norway (NOR): #9 Henrik JACOBSEN (Pivot) IN, #11 Petter OVERBY (Pivot) OUT
1 of 3 Norway player replacements allowed

Sunday 13 January

Austria (AUT): #45 Daniel DICKER (Left Back) IN, #6 Dominik SCHMID (Centre Back) OUT
1 of 3 Austria player replacements allowed.

Saturday 12 January

Qatar (QAT): #86 Mahmoud HASSABALLA (Left Wing) IN, #97 Moustafa HEIBA (Centre Back) OUT. 
1 of 3 Qatar player replacements allowed.

Qatar (QAT): #31 Ahmad MADADI (Left Wing) IN, #93 Hamdi AYED (Left Wing) OUT
2 of 3 Qatar player replacements allowed.

Denmark (DEN): #26 Johan HANSEN (Right Wing) IN, #18 Hans LINDBERG (Right Wing) OUT
1 of 3 Denmark player replacements allowed.

Late Registrations

Monday 14 January

Sweden (SWE): Hampus WANNE (Left Wing)

Saturday 12 January

Bahrain (BRN): Hasan ALFARDAN (Pivot)

All 24 teams had to register their final squads ahead of their opening games at Germany/Denmark 2019, for more information visit HERE. 

Photo: Marco Wolf