Montenegro men's national handball team

Montenegro
Information
NicknameZlatni lavovi
(The Golden Lions)
AssociationHandball Federation of Montenegro
CoachDidier Dinart
Assistant coachLazar Simić
CaptainMirko Radović
Most capsNemanja Grbović (80)
Most goalsVasko Ševaljević (258)
Colours
1st
2nd
Results
World Championship
Appearances2 (First in 2013)
Best result18th (2023)
European Championship
Appearances8 (First in 2008)
Best result11th (2022)
Last updated on Unknown.

The Montenegro national handball team represents Montenegro in international handball competitions. The national team was formed in 2006 shortly after Montenegro regained independence.

Montenegro played their first official match on 3 January 2007 in Vantaa and beat Finland (28:26). Since then, Montenegro have qualified for nine big competitions – twice for the World Cup (2013 and 2023) and for the European Championship in 2008, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2020, 2022, 2024 and 2026.

History and records

Main article: List of official matches of the Montenegro handball team

The national side first appeared in the Euro 2008 qualifiers, which started in January 2007. After the great success in the qualifying matches, Montenegro participated at the European Championship 2008, where they finished in the second group phase.
A year later, Montenegro failed to qualify for the World Championship 2009 and after that, there was a crisis in the results of national team.
From 2012, results improved. After a surprise win against Sweden in the qualifiers, Montenegro qualified for the World Championship 2013.
In June 2013, Montenegro eliminated Germany in the final round of qualifiers for the European Championship 2014. At the Championship, Montenegro was eliminated in the first phase.
Two years later, the Montenegrin team appeared at the European Championship 2016, but was eliminated after the first phase of the competition, without any win in three matches. Same result, Montenegro made on European Championship 2018. Finally, on European Championship 2020, Montenegro made historical victory against Serbia (22-21), but failed to qualify to the second round of tournament.

Records

Main article: List of official matches of the Montenegro handball team § Records
Largest victory
41:27,  Montenegro –  Finland, 6 January 2007, Budva
Largest defeat
39:23,  Poland –  Montenegro, 24 January 2011, Stavanger
Highest home attendance
approx. 6,000,  Montenegro –  Greece 33:25, 17 April 2022, Podgorica
Highest away attendance
11,835,  Denmark –  Montenegro 37:26, 13 April 2019, Copenhagen

Competitive record

World Championship

The national team of Montenegro made their first appearance at the World Cup in 2013, from their 3rd qualifying attempt. Their first World Cup match was played on 12 January 2013 against Argentina in Granollers, Spain.

World Championship Qualification
Year Pos. Pld W D L Pld W D L
2009 did not qualify 2 1 0 1
2011 2 1 0 1
2013 22nd 7 1 0 6 6 5 0 1
2015 did not qualify 2 1 0 1
2017 2 0 0 2
/ 2019 2 0 1 1
2021 Cancelled
/ 2023 18th 6 2 0 4 2 1 0 1
// 2025 did not qualify 2 0 0 2
2027 TBD TBD
/ 2029
// 2031
Total 13 3 0 10 16 11 1 10

European Championship

Debut on the European Championship, Montenegrin national team made after first attempt.
They participated at the Euro 2008 and made successful appearance in their first match against Russia (25:25). They qualified for the Main Phase of the European Championship.
Their second appearance was in 2014, after Montenegro sensational eliminated Germany during the qualifiers. At the tournament, Montenegro lost all three games, with elimination after the first phase.
Montenegro hoped for a better result in 2016, but it was pretty much deja vu from two years ago as they once again lost all three games and finished in last place in their group, as well as last place in the tournament claiming 16th place out of 16 teams.

European Championship Qualification
Year Pos. Pld W D L GS GA Pld W D L
2008 12th 6 0 1 5 149 188 8 7 1 0
2010 did not qualify 8 4 0 4
2012 6 1 0 5
2014 16th 3 0 0 3 66 84 6 4 0 2
2016 16th 3 0 0 3 76 90 6 3 1 2
2018 16th 3 0 0 3 66 89 6 2 3 1
// 2020 18th 3 1 0 2 70 84 6 3 1 2
/ 2022 11th 7 3 0 4 195 216 6 3 0 3
2024 14th 3 1 0 2 84 86 6 3 0 3
// 2026 23rd 3 0 0 3 90 121 6 4 1 1
// 2028 To be determined TBD
2030
2032
Total 8/13 31 5 1 25 796 958 64 34 7 23

Team

Current squad

Squad for the 2026 European Men's Handball Championship.[1][2]

Head coach: Didier Dinart

No. Pos. Name Date of birth (age) Height App. Goals Club
2 LW Filip Vujović (1996-04-07) 7 April 1996 1.88 m 14 11 RK Sutjeska Nikšić
6 LW Miloš Vujović (1993-09-05) 5 September 1993 1.81 m 71 195 VfL Gummersbach
7 RB Stefan Čavor (1994-11-03) 3 November 1994 1.97 m 47 78 HSG Wetzlar
9 CB Radojica Čepić (2002-07-29) 29 July 2002 1.94 m 31 82 HC Kriens-Luzern
10 P Miodrag Ćorsović (2000-02-22) 22 February 2000 1.98 m 13 27 Dijon Métropole Handball
11 RB Branko Vujović (1998-04-20) 20 April 1998 1.96 m 29 143 Dinamo București
12 GK Haris Suljević (2001-02-26) 26 February 2001 1.94 m 6 0 RK Zagreb
13 RW Mirko Radović (1990-06-15) 15 June 1990 1.85 m 66 39 RK Lovćen
17 LB Vasilije Kaluđerović (1998-10-03) 3 October 1998 1.91 m 28 31 Al-Qurain SC
20 LB Stevan Vujović (1990-04-07) 7 April 1990 1.90 m 55 47 Al-Nassr
22 P Luka Vujović (2000-04-11) 11 April 2000 1.93 m 8 9 CSM Sighişoara
24 LB Miloš Božović (1994-12-10) 10 December 1994 1.99 m 44 67 Győri ETO-UNI FKC
26 RB Risto Vujačić (1993-12-04) 4 December 1993 1.90 m 31 42 SCM Politehnica Timișoara
36 P Admir Pelidija (1994-08-26) 26 August 1994 1.93 m 13 7 Corotop Gwardia Opole
37 LB Milorad Bakić (2005-02-09) 9 February 2005 2.01 m 3 0 Eskilstuna Guif
77 RW Luka Radović (1997-12-29) 29 December 1997 1.80 m 15 37 Saran Loiret Handball
85 GK Mile Mijušković (1985-10-08) 8 October 1985 1.92 m 30 5 OAR Coruña
87 LB Vuko Borozan (1994-04-09) 9 April 1994 2.02 m 28 52 RK Vardar 1961

Coaching staff

Role Name
Head coach Didier Dinart
Assistant coach Vasko Ševaljević
Assistant coach Goran Musić
Team manager Petar Kapisoda
Strength coach Anton Claesson
Team official Maksim Šćekić
Physiotherapist Andrija Damjanović
Physiotherapist Hamza Mehović

Head coaches

Since independence, Montenegro was led by eight different coaches. Most matches as a Montenegro coach has Zoran Roganović (34).

Coach From To Record* Championship
M W D L Win %
Pero Milošević October 2006 June 2007 8 7 1 0 087.50
Ranko Popović August 2007 November 2009 16 5 1 10 031.25 EC 2008
Kasim Kamenica November 2009 April 2010 2 1 0 1 050.00
Miodrag Popović April 2010 March 2011 4 1 0 3 025.00
Zoran Kastratović May 2011 February 2014 24 10 0 14 041.67 WC 2013, EC 2014
Ljubomir Obradović March 2014 November 2016 13 4 1 8 030.77 EC 2016
Dragan Đukić November 2016 July 2018 11 3 3 5 027.27 EC 2018
Zoran Roganović August 2018 January 2023 34 12 1 21 035.29 EC 2020, EC 2022, WC 2023
Vlado Šola February 2023 May 2024 7 2 0 5 028.57 EC 2024

* Data is only for official matches (qualifiers, European Championship, World Championship).

Notable former players

See also

References

  1. ^ "Dinar objavio konačan spisak, četiri debitanta putuju u Oslo" (in Montenegrin). rscg.me. 13 January 2026. Retrieved 13 January 2026.
  2. ^ "Team roster: Montenegro". ehf.eu. Retrieved 15 January 2026.
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