04.10.2021, 12:00
Barça seek fourth straight Super Globe title

PREVIEW: Aalborg and Magdeburg are the other European contenders in the 10-team field for this week’s tournament

The IHF Super Globe returns from a one-year absence this week, with Barça seeking a record-extending fourth straight title.

The Spanish trophy holders arrive in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, as the reigning EHF Champions League Men champions.

The 10-team field for the 14th edition of the unofficial club Word Championship includes two more European contenders: Danish side Aalborg Håndbold, who lost the Champions League final to Barça in June, and SC Magdeburg from Germany, the winners of the inaugural EHF European League Men last season.

All six continental confederations are represented at the Super Globe, which starts Tuesday with two play-off matches ahead of the quarter-final and ends Saturday evening with the final.

Barça have won the Super Globe every year it has been held since 2017, and five times in total. No other team has triumphed more than twice.

European teams have dominated the competition through the years, lifting the trophy on 12 of the previous 13 occasions, with Al-Sadd from Qatar the only non-European winners – back in 2002.

The tournament was called off in 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic, and now returns at a new venue: the King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah. It marks the second straight time the event is staged in Saudi Arabia, after the previous 11 editions had taken place in Qatar.

All matches of the Super Globe 2021 will be streamed live on the IHF-Competitions YouTube channel. More information is available on the event's website.

IHF Super Globe 2021 playing schedule (all times CEST):

Tuesday 5 October, quarter-final qualification:
15:30 – Sydney University (AUS) vs SC Magdeburg (GER)
19:30 – Al-Wehda FC (SAU) vs San Francisco Calheat (USA)

Wednesday 6 October, quarter-final:
12:15 – Al Duhail SC (QAT) vs Sydney/Magdeburg [QF1]
14:30 – Al-Nour (SAU) vs EC Pinheiros (BRA) [QF2]
16:45 – Aalborg Håndbold (DEN) vs Al-Wehda/San Francisco [QF3]
19:00 – Barça (ESP) vs Zamalek SC (EGY) [QF4]

Thursday 7 October, semi-final:
17:15 – winners QF1 vs winners QF2
19:30 – winners QF3 vs winners QF4

Saturday 9 October, medal matches:
17:15 – third-place match
19:30 – final

TEXT: European Handball Federation