When the Women’s Olympic Qualification Tournament groups were confirmed last December, everyone connected with handball in Argentina must have thought history was repeating.

In their two previous Women’s Olympic Qualification Tournament appearances, Argentina travelled to Spain both times in pursuit of the golden ticket – first to Guadalajara for a place at London 2012 and then to Liria in 2021, for the delayed Tokyo 2020.

In 2024, they are in Spain again, in Torrevieja, fighting for a place at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

But here history repeats again, as they prepare to face Spain and Netherlands, along with Czechia, meaning that three of the four teams which made up the London 2012 Women’s Qualification Tournament in Guadalajara are again together: Spain, Argentina and Netherlands.

And the South Americans will hope that history does not repeat once more having lost all five of their previous qualification tournament matches – two for Tokyo 2020 (vs Spain, 16:31 and Sweden, 21:34) and three back in 2012, against Spain (15:31), Croatia (21:31) and Netherlands (21:30).

Perennial runners-up to Brazil in the Pan American Games and with it, the continental direct ticket to the subsequent Olympic Games, Argentina have qualified for just one Olympic Games in their history – the 2016 edition held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

And this happened because, once again, they were runners-up at a Pan American Games to Brazil, this time in 2015, but as Olympic hosts the following year, that qualification spot won by Brazil moved down to the side who play in blue and white.

At Rio 2016, Argentina lost all five of their preliminary group games – including a 26:18 reverse against the Netherlands – and due to their goal difference compared to Montenegro, who also lost all five of their games, they finished last in the rankings, 12th.

Despite that disappointment it was a momentous moment in Argentina women’s handball history and provided a boost for the sport and the hopes of building a long-term progression plan.

Hoping to guide Argentina to their first Olympic Games competitive qualification is coach Eduardo 'Dady' Gallardo, but he knows it will be hard against at least two of the European sides who have both won Olympic medals in the recent past, despite the recent progression of his side off of the back of Rio 2016.

“At the last two IHF World Championships we made it into the main round,” he explained. “In 2021 we defeated Austria, our first official victory against any European nation, and we then repeated it in 2023, against Ukraine.

“We've been making great progress in the last few years, but we know there's still a long way to go,” he added. “However, with the Argentine Handball Confederation, we are working on a long-term project to develop athletes and we'll see the results of this in a few years. In the meantime, we expect to be a competitive team and to play on an equal footing against the top nations in the world.”

The development of athletes continues apace for Argentina with a large number of their players playing their club handball in Spain – currently 12 of the 16 named in the squad – and others with experience across Europe, including in Romania and France.

Evidence of how they could fare in Torrevieja comes with recent results at the end of last year in the 2023 IHF Women’s World Championship. Argentina played all three sides, losing against Spain (23:30), Czechia (22:31) and Netherlands (26:41).

Gallardo will only be able to gather his whole squad together on the eve of the Olympic Qualification Tournament, with the Argentina-based players joining together earlier at home for a preparation camp.

Two key figures will be missing for Gallardo’s side with the retirement of Luciana Mendoza at the end of last year due to injury, she was the historic top-scorer for the side (628 goals) and second for appearances (202). Captain Antonela Mena will also be missing due to injury (Achilles).

Coach: Eduardo Gallardo

Key players: Elke Karsten (left back), Marisol Carratu (goalkeeper)  

History at the Olympic Games: 2016 – 12th

Olympic Qualification Tournament #2 (in Torrevieja, Spain): Netherlands (NED), Czechia (CZE), Argentina (ARG), Spain (ESP)