HANDBALL PLAYERS from Serbia

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 (1984 - )

With an HPI of 50.88, Nikola Karabatić is the most famous Serbian Handball Player.  His biography has been translated into 41 different languages on wikipedia.

Nikola Karabatić (born 11 April 1984) is a French Serbo-Croatian born professional handball player for Paris Saint-Germain and the French national team. With the French national handball team, he has 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 43.99, Branislav Pokrajac is the 2nd most famous Serbian Handball Player.  His biography has been translated into 17 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. Arpad Sterbik (1979 - )

With an HPI of 41.67, Arpad Sterbik is the 3rd most famous Serbian Handball Player.  His biography has been translated into 25 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.

4. Dragan Škrbić (1968 - )

With an HPI of 38.22, Dragan Škrbić is the 4th most famous Serbian Handball Player.  His biography has been translated into 15 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.

5. Momir Rnić (1955 - )

With an HPI of 38.04, Momir Rnić is the 5th most famous Serbian Handball Player.  His biography has been translated into 18 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.

6. Momir Ilić (1981 - )

With an HPI of 36.73, Momir Ilić is the 6th 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.

7. Bojana Popović (1979 - )

With an HPI of 34.79, Bojana Popović is the 7th most famous Serbian Handball Player.  Her biography has been translated into 18 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.

8. Bojana Radulović (1973 - )

With an HPI of 33.67, Bojana Radulović is the 8th most famous Serbian Handball Player.  Her biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Bojana Radulović (Serbian Cyrillic: Бојана Радуловић, Hungarian: Radulovics Bojana; born 23 March 1973), is a retired Serbian-Hungarian handball player who currently leads the handball academy of Dunaújváros. Often perceived as one of the best players of all time, she was voted IHF World Player of the Year in 2000 and 2003 by the International Handball Federation. At the club level, in addition to numerous domestic successes, she won every major European cup, including the EHF Champions League title in 1999. She won a silver medal with the Hungarian national team at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney and another silver medal at the 2003 World Championship in Croatia. At the 2004 European Championship, played on home soil, Radulovics received a bronze medal after beating Russia 29–25 in the third place match.

9. Katarina Bulatović (1984 - )

With an HPI of 33.32, Katarina Bulatović is the 9th most famous Serbian Handball Player.  Her biography has been translated into 24 different languages.

Katarina Bulatović (born 15 November 1984) is a retired Montenegrin handball player, that played the right back position.

10. Marko Vujin (1984 - )

With an HPI of 31.39, Marko Vujin is the 10th most famous Serbian Handball Player.  Her biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Marko Vujin (Serbian Cyrillic: Марко Вујин, born 7 December 1984) is a former Serbian handball player who plays for SC Pick Szeged and the Serbian national team.