The Most Famous
HANDBALL PLAYERS from Serbia
This page contains a list of the greatest Serbian Handball Players. The pantheon dataset contains 420 Handball Players, 13 of which were born in Serbia. This makes Serbia the birth place of the 10th most number of Handball Players behind Germany, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Top 10
The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Serbian Handball Players of all time. This list of famous Serbian 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 Serbian Handball Players.
1. Nikola Karabatić (b. 1984)
With an HPI of 51.85, Nikola Karabatić is the most famous Serbian Handball Player. His biography has been translated into 42 different languages on wikipedia.
Nikola Karabatić (born 11 April 1984) is a French former professional handball player. He is regarded as one of the greatest players in handball history. With the French national handball team, he won three Olympic gold medals (Summer Olympics of 2008, 2012 and 2020), four World Championship gold medals (2009, 2011, 2015 and 2017) as well as four gold medals in the European Championship (2006, 2010, 2014 and 2024). He also won L'Équipe Champion of Champions in 2011. He is regarded as one of the greatest players in handball history, and he was IHF World Player of the Year for a male record-tying three times, in 2007, 2014, and 2016.
2. Branislav Pokrajac (1947 - 2018)
With an HPI of 48.38, Branislav Pokrajac is the 2nd most famous Serbian Handball Player. His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.
Branislav Pokrajac (Serbian Cyrillic: Бранислав Покрајац; 27 January 1947 – 5 April 2018) was a Serbian handball coach and player who competed for Yugoslavia in the 1972 Summer Olympics and in the 1976 Summer Olympics.
3. Zoran Živković (b. 1945)
With an HPI of 46.43, Zoran Živković is the 3rd most famous Serbian Handball Player. His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.
Zoran "Tuta" Živković (Serbian Cyrillic: Зоран Тута Живковић; born 5 April 1945) is a Serbian former handball coach and player.
4. Arpad Sterbik (b. 1979)
With an HPI of 44.50, Arpad Sterbik is the 4th most famous Serbian Handball Player. His biography has been translated into 27 different languages.
Arpad Sterbik Capar (Hungarian: Sterbik Árpád, pronounced [ˈʃtɛrbik ˈaːrpaːd]; Serbian: Арпад Штербик/Arpad Šterbik; born 20 November 1979) is a retired handball player who represented the national teams of Yugoslavia (later known as Serbia and Montenegro) and Spain. Internationally he has represented FR Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro) and Spain, winning a World Championship bronze medal and one gold. On club level, he has league and cup titles both in Hungary and Spain, and most notably he won the EHF Champions League, the premier continental club competition in Europe. His performances were acknowledged several times, having been named Hungarian Handballer of the Year in 2002 and IHF World Player of the Year in 2005.
5. Zlatko Portner (1962 - 2020)
With an HPI of 43.60, Zlatko Portner is the 5th most famous Serbian Handball Player. His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.
Zlatko Portner (Serbian Cyrillic: Златко Портнер; 16 January 1962 – 23 September 2020) was a Serbian handball coach and player who competed for Yugoslavia in the 1988 Summer Olympics.
6. Dragan Škrbić (b. 1968)
With an HPI of 40.92, Dragan Škrbić is the 6th most famous Serbian Handball Player. His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.
Dragan Škrbić (Serbian Cyrillic: Драган Шкрбић; born 29 September 1968) is a former Serbian handball player. He was named the 2000 IHF World Player of the Year.
7. Momir Rnić (b. 1955)
With an HPI of 39.93, Momir Rnić is the 7th most famous Serbian Handball Player. His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.
Momir Rnić (Serbian Cyrillic: Момир Рнић; born 3 February 1955) is a Serbian handball coach and former player who competed for Yugoslavia in the 1980 Summer Olympics, in the 1984 Summer Olympics, and in the 1988 Summer Olympics.
8. Bojana Popović (b. 1979)
With an HPI of 39.14, Bojana Popović is the 8th most famous Serbian Handball Player. Her biography has been translated into 23 different languages.
Bojana Popović née Petrović, (born 20 November 1979) is a handball coach and a retired Montenegrin handballer. She is considered by many to be the best female handball player of the past decade, despite not being given any official recognition. After winning the Women's EHF Champions League with Budućnost and a silver medal at the 2012 Olympic Games with the Montenegro national team, Bojana Popović decided to retire from handball. However, in June 2016 Popović announced she would come out of retirement and make herself available for selection by the Montenegro national handball team to compete at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
9. Momir Ilić (b. 1981)
With an HPI of 38.74, Momir Ilić is the 9th most famous Serbian Handball Player. His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.
Momir Ilić (Serbian Cyrillic: Момир Илић; born 22 December 1981) is a Serbian former handball player. He became the first player in the history of the EHF Champions League to score over 100 goals in three consecutive seasons. Currently he is the head coach of Telekom Veszprém.
10. Katarina Bulatović (b. 1984)
With an HPI of 36.47, Katarina Bulatović is the 10th most famous Serbian Handball Player. Her biography has been translated into 28 different languages.
Katarina Bulatović (born 15 November 1984) is a retired Montenegrin handball player, that played the right back position.
People
Pantheon has 15 people classified as Serbian handball players born between 1945 and 1987. Of these 15, 13 (86.67%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Serbian handball players include Nikola Karabatić, Zoran Živković, and Arpad Sterbik. The most famous deceased Serbian handball players include Branislav Pokrajac, and Zlatko Portner. As of April 2024, 2 new Serbian handball players have been added to Pantheon including Zoran Živković, and Zlatko Portner.
Living Serbian Handball Players
Go to all Rankings
Nikola Karabatić
1984 - Present
HPI: 51.85
Zoran Živković
1945 - Present
HPI: 46.43
Arpad Sterbik
1979 - Present
HPI: 44.50
Dragan Škrbić
1968 - Present
HPI: 40.92
Momir Rnić
1955 - Present
HPI: 39.93
Bojana Popović
1979 - Present
HPI: 39.14
Momir Ilić
1981 - Present
HPI: 38.74
Katarina Bulatović
1984 - Present
HPI: 36.47
Bojana Radulović
1973 - Present
HPI: 36.13
Andrea Lekić
1987 - Present
HPI: 33.61
Marko Vujin
1984 - Present
HPI: 32.59
Ana Đokić
1979 - Present
HPI: 32.13
