Portuguese international right-back Francisco Costa was elected this Friday, February 13, the best young world handball player of 2025, becoming the first national player to receive such a high-level distinction from the International Handball Federation (IHF).
The 20-year-old Sporting player beat centerback Óli Mittún, from the Faroe Islands, and winger Nikola Roganovic, from Sweden, the other finalists for the award created in 2023 by the IHF, whose voting for the current edition took place between January 25th and February 10th, 2026.
“He confirmed his credentials as handball’s next big promise in 2025, proving to be one of the best young right-backs in the world, with an explosive score and an excellent ability to create plays”, highlights the IHF.
Francisco Costa was the main figure of the Portuguese team that finished fifth in the recent 2026 European Championship (the best classification of all time), in which he was the best young player, best right back and the third best scorer, behind the Danes Mathias Gidsel, distinguished today as the best handball player in the world in 2025, and Simon Pytlick.
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