Drahy t1_j6i5239 wrote on January 30, 2023 at 2:34 PM

Reply to comment by JayNN in Denmark handball world champions 2023. The first country to ever win 3 in a row. Invincible. by Qytil

It's a big sport most places except North America and UK, actually.

ChapitoDito t1_j6icenx wrote on January 30, 2023 at 3:26 PM

Came back to say please excuse my North Americanism , TIL also that handball is a huge sport everywhere but 2 spots on the globe and I happen to be from one.

GravelLot t1_j6jp2t4 wrote on January 30, 2023 at 8:32 PM

Is it really? Looking at the wiki page for it, it seems like it is overwhelmingly European. There is almost no presence in SA, NA, and a small presence in Asia and Africa.

Seems more accurate to say it's big in Europe and not very big in most of the rest of the world.

Drahy t1_j6jrtl5 wrote on January 30, 2023 at 8:49 PM

Men 2023:

NA: USA was there
SA: Argentina, Chile, Brazil and Uruguay
ME: 4 teams
Africa: 5 teams
Asia: Korea

Women 2021:

NA: Puerto Rico (US)
SA: Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay
ME: Iran
Africa: 4 teams
Asia: 5 teams

You're right that handball like football is very much rooted in Europe. Football has the WC every fourth year and handball has the WC every second year.

I don't know any other sport than football and handball, that can't have the WC every year.

GravelLot t1_j6ju5ew wrote on January 30, 2023 at 9:04 PM

Thanks, yeah, seems like it is not especially popular outside of Europe. It doesn't seem much like football, which is genuinely popular everywhere. Seems like tennis, golf, basketball, ice hockey, and baseball and maybe more have as much or more widespread popularity.