Hosts and PSG lead VELUX EHF Champions League presence in France

35 per cent of all players on court at the current IHF Men’s World Championship in France are contracted by clubs of the VELUX EHF Champions League.

In total, 378 players had been nominated by the 24 participating nations so far at France, and 133 of them are part of the current season’s group phase.

23 of 28 Champions League clubs have players on court at France, 18 of 24 nations count on Champions League experience, including all 14 European participants. Seven players are from non-European nations, led by Brazil with four. At EHF EURO 2016 in Poland, with 16 nations, 130 Champions League players took part.

This year, some big names such as Veszprem’s Aron Palmarsson (Iceland), Barcelona’s Raul Entrerrios (Spain), Kielce’s Michal Jurecki and Mariusz Jurkewicz (Poland) and Kiel’s Steffen Weinhold (Germany) are ruled out by injuries, others like for example a huge number of Kielce’s Polish players have retired from the national teams at the start of the new Olympic cycle.

In terms of nations, host France have the largest Champions League contingent in their squad, 15, as Luka Karabatic (PSG) has already been replaced after an injury in the match against Japan by Dika Mem (Barcelona). The second ranked nation is Slovenia (13) ahead of Hungary and Croatia with 12 Champions League players each.

In the club ranking it is no surprise that French champions PSG are on top with 12 players, ahead of Barcelona (11) and Zagreb (10). The only club from Groups A/B without a player at the event is Danish side Bjerringbro Silkeborg.

Barcelona share top position with Rhein-Neckar Löwen in terms of diversity, as both clubs have players from six nations at the World Championship.

VELUX EHF Champions League club ranking (number of players/countries):

12/5: Paris-Saint Germain Handball (7 FRA, 2 DEN, 1 CRO, 1 GER, 1 SWE)
11/6: FC Barcelona Lassa (4 ESP, 2 DEN, 2 FRA, 1 BRA, 1 MKD, 1 TUN)
10/3: HC PPD Zagreb (6 CRO, 3 SLO, 1 MKD)
9/3: Telekom Veszprem (6 HUN, 2 SLO, 1 SWE)
8/4: THW Kiel (3 GER, 2 DEN, 2 SWE, 1 CRO), Vive Tauron Kielce (4 POL, 2 CRO, 1 ESP, 1 GER), Montpellier HB (4 FRA, 2 SLO, 1 ARG, 1 TUN)
8/5: HC Vardar (2 ESP, 2 MKD, 2 RUS, 1 BRA, 1 CRO), Orlen Wisla Plock (4 POL, 1 BRA, 1 CRO, 1 RUS, 1 ESP)
7/6: Rhein-Neckar Löwen (2 SWE, 1 DEN, 1 GER, 1 ISL, 1 ESP, 1 MKD)
6/3: MOL-Pick Szeged (4 HUN, 1 RUS, 1 SLO), HC Meshkov Brest (4 BLR, 1 HUN, 1 RUS)
5/2: IFK Kristianstad (3 ISL, 2 SWE), HC Motor Zaporozhye (4 RUS, 1 BLR)
5/1: RK Celje Pivovarna Lasko (5 SLO)
4/3: SG Flensburg-Handewitt (2 DEN, 1 FRA, 1 SWE)
3/2: HBC Nantes (2 ESP, 1 FRA)
3/1: HC Metalurg (3 MKD)
2/2: Naturhouse La Rioja (1 EGY, 1 BRA)
2/1 Chekhovskie Medvedi (2 RUS)
1/1: Elverum Handball (1 NOR), TTH Holstebro (1 NOR), Kadetten Schaffhausen (1 HUN)
0 players: Bjerringbro Silkeborg, Tatran Presov, Besiktas Mogaz HT, Dinamo Bukarest, ABC/UMinho

Nations ranking (VELUX EHF Champions League players/different clubs):

15/5: France
13/5: Slovenia
12/4: Hungary
12/6: Croatia
11/5: Russia
11/7: Spain
9/6: Denmark
9/7: Sweden
8/2: Poland
8/5: FYR Macedonia
6/4: Germany
5/2 Belarus
4/4: Brazil
4/2: Iceland
2/2: Tunisia, Norway
1/1: Argentina, Egypt
0 players: Angola, Bahrain, Chile, Japan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia