The Most Famous

HANDBALL PLAYERS from Croatia

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This page contains a list of the greatest Croatian Handball Players. The pantheon dataset contains 420 Handball Players, 27 of which were born in Croatia. This makes Croatia the birth place of the 6th most number of Handball Players behind Russia, and Sweden.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Croatian Handball Players of all time. This list of famous Croatian Handball Players is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Croatian Handball Players.

Photo of Ivano Balić

1. Ivano Balić (b. 1979)

With an HPI of 50.38, Ivano Balić is the most famous Croatian Handball Player.  His biography has been translated into 38 different languages on wikipedia.

Ivano Balić (pronounced [ǐʋano bǎːlitɕ, - bǎ-]; born 1 April 1979) is a Croatian former professional handballer who is currently part of the coaching staff at RK Split. Renowned for his speed, creativity, movement and charisma as a player, Balić won the 2003 World Championship and the Olympic gold medal in 2004 with the Croatian national team, and thirteen titles playing for clubs in Croatia, Spain and Germany. He also earned two World Championship silver medals (2005, 2009), two European Championship silver medals and one bronze medal (2008, 2010, 2012), and one Olympic bronze medal (2012) with the national team. Regarded as one of the greatest players in handball history, Balić was voted the most valuable player in five consecutive major international competitions and is one of only four male handball players to receive the IHF World Player of the Year award on more than one occasion (2003, 2006). In 2010, he was voted the best handball player in history in an online poll organized by the International Handball Federation (IHF). Balić was inducted into the European Handball Hall of Fame in 2023.

Photo of Albin Vidović

2. Albin Vidović (1943 - 2018)

With an HPI of 46.34, Albin Vidović is the 2nd most famous Croatian Handball Player.  His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Albin Vidović (11 February 1943 – 8 March 2018) was a Croatian handball player who competed in the 1972 Summer Olympics. He was part of the Yugoslav team which won the gold medal. He played one match.

Photo of Mirza Džomba

3. Mirza Džomba (b. 1977)

With an HPI of 42.04, Mirza Džomba is the 3rd most famous Croatian Handball Player.  His biography has been translated into 26 different languages.

Mirza Džomba (born 28 February 1977) is a Croatian former professional handball player, World champion in 2003 and Olympic champion in 2004. He played for RK Zamet, Badel 1862 Zagreb, Fotex Veszprém, BM Ciudad Real and Vive Targi Kielce before retiring in 2011. He was also a member of the Croatia national team from 1997 to 2008. He holds the national team's top goal scorer record with 719 goals. He was part of the golden generation that won the 2003 World Championship and 2004 Summer Olympics. He is noted by many critics as one of the best right wings ever. In 2013 Džomba was awarded the best right wing in the history of the EHF Champions League by the European Handball Federation. Džomba has also played in six EHF Champions League finals while winning one with Ciudad Real. Among other awards, he was nominated three times for the IHF World Player of the Year award reaching third place in 2004 and 2005 and second place in 2006. He is currently a handball pundit on RTL Television usually with former teammate Goran Šprem.

Photo of Mirko Bašić

4. Mirko Bašić (b. 1960)

With an HPI of 41.52, Mirko Bašić is the 4th most famous Croatian Handball Player.  His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Mirko Bašić (born 14 September 1960) is a Croatian former handball player who competed for Yugoslavia in the 1984 Summer Olympics and in the 1988 Summer Olympics. He has also played six EHF Champions League finals winning two in 1984–85 and 1985–86 as part of the famous RK Metaloplastika which dominated European handball in the 1980s (often referred to as Handball Aliens). Bašić was a big influence on Thierry Omeyer who is regarded as the greatest goalkeeper in handball history.

Photo of Bruno Gudelj

5. Bruno Gudelj (b. 1966)

With an HPI of 41.49, Bruno Gudelj is the 5th most famous Croatian Handball Player.  His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Bruno Gudelj (born 8 May 1966) is a Croatian handball player. He played for the Croatia men's national handball team at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, where Croatia won the gold medal.

Photo of Domagoj Duvnjak

6. Domagoj Duvnjak (b. 1988)

With an HPI of 40.74, Domagoj Duvnjak is the 6th most famous Croatian Handball Player.  His biography has been translated into 26 different languages.

Domagoj Duvnjak (born 1 June 1988) is a Croatian professional handball player for THW Kiel and the Croatia national team. Duvnjak is regarded as one of the best handball players of all time alongside fellow Croatian Ivano Balić. He became a member of the Croatia national team at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. He also represented Croatia at the 2012, where Croatia won bronze, and 2016 Olympics. On 26 January 2014, he was named the IHF World Player 2013. In August 2009, Duvnjak signed a three-year contract with HSV Hamburg worth €2.25 million, including a transfer fee of €1.1 million, making him – at age 21 – the most expensive handball player in history of the sport.

Photo of Igor Vori

7. Igor Vori (b. 1980)

With an HPI of 40.57, Igor Vori is the 7th most famous Croatian Handball Player.  His biography has been translated into 25 different languages.

Igor Vori (born 20 September 1980) is a Croatian handball coach and former player who is currently the coach of Croatian club MRK Sesvete. Regarded as one of the best line players in handball history and renowned for his defensive and attacking abilities, Vori won the 2003 World Championship and the Olympic gold medal in 2004 with the Croatian national team, and over thirty club titles playing for RK Zagreb, FC Barcelona, HSV Hamburg and Paris Saint-Germain. He holds the record for most appearances for the Croatian national team with 246 caps. Voted most valuable player at the 2009 World Championship and best defensive player at the 2008 European Championship, Vori also earned two World Championship silver medals and one bronze medal (2005, 2009, 2013), two silver European Championship medals and one bronze medal (2008, 2010, 2012), and one Olympic bronze medal (2012) with the Croatian national team. He was previously the sporting director of the Croatian national teams.

Photo of Alvaro Načinović

8. Alvaro Načinović (b. 1966)

With an HPI of 38.69, Alvaro Načinović is the 8th most famous Croatian Handball Player.  His biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Alvaro Načinović (born 22 March 1966) is a former Croatian handball player who competed for Yugoslavia and Croatia respectively. He played for his hometown club Zamet Rijeka with whom he entered into the Yugoslav First League in 1987 after winning the Second League in Kać. The same year he won the IHF Men's Junior World Championship with Yugoslavia U-21 in his club's home venue in Rijeka. Yugoslavia beat Spain in the final. In 1992 Načinović played for RK Zagreb Loto with whom he won the European Champions Cup. He also spent six years in Slovenia playing for RK Pivovarna Laško Celje with a brief season at Zamet before coming to RK Crikvenica. Načinović spent five years in Crikvenica before retiring in 2006. He won the bronze medal with Yugoslavia at the 1988 Summer Olympics and also captained the national team of Croatia to a gold medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics, silver medal at the 1995 World Championship and a bronze medal at the 1994 World Championship. He made 105 appearances for the national team scoring 165 goals. Since April 2016 he is the sports director of RK Kozala.

Photo of Petar Metličić

9. Petar Metličić (b. 1976)

With an HPI of 37.97, Petar Metličić is the 9th most famous Croatian Handball Player.  His biography has been translated into 23 different languages.

Petar Metličić (born 25 December 1976) is a Croatian former handball player. He was captain of the Croatian national team from 2006 to 2009, after the departure of Slavko Goluža. He won the gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens as well as at the 2003 World Championship in Portugal. At club level he played in the top tier in Croatia, Spain, Slovenia and France. He has won the EHF Champions League three times and the EHF Champions Trophy twice with BM Ciudad Real as well as the IHF Super Globe and EHF Cup Winner's Cup with CB Ademar León, and the EHF Cup with RK Metković Jambo. In September 2007 he opened, alongside his former colleague Ivano Balić, the "Balić-Metličić" handball academy. Metličić is also a coach in the academy. From February 2015 to January 2017 he served as an assistant coach to Željko Babić in the Croatia men's team.

Photo of Ivan Čupić

10. Ivan Čupić (b. 1986)

With an HPI of 37.16, Ivan Čupić is the 10th most famous Croatian Handball Player.  His biography has been translated into 23 different languages.

Ivan Čupić (born 27 March 1986) is a Croatian former handball player.

People

Pantheon has 31 people classified as Croatian handball players born between 1943 and 1990. Of these 31, 30 (96.77%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Croatian handball players include Ivano Balić, Mirza Džomba, and Mirko Bašić. The most famous deceased Croatian handball players include Albin Vidović. As of April 2024, 4 new Croatian handball players have been added to Pantheon including Renato Sulić, Tonči Valčić, and Denis Špoljarić.

Living Croatian Handball Players

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Deceased Croatian Handball Players

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Newly Added Croatian Handball Players (2024)

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