Kosovo men's national handball team

The Kosovo national men's handball team is the national handball team of Kosovo, representing the country in international competition. The team is governed by Kosovo Handball Federation. The national handball team started competing in international competition in 2014, following Kosovo's full status recognition from the International Handball Federation (IHF).

Kosovo
Information
Nickname	Dardanët
Association	Kosovo Handball Federation (Federata e Hendbollit e Kosovës – FHK)
Coach	Taip Ramadani
Captain	Valon Dedaj
Most caps	Kastriot Jupa (42)
Most goals	Kastriot Jupa (153)
Colours
Home Away
Results
IHF Emerging Nations Championship
Appearances	2 (First in 2015)
Best result	3rd (2015, 2017)
Last updated on Unknown.

Kosovo men's national handball team

Medal record
IHF Emerging Nations Championship
	2015 Kosovo
	2017 Bulgaria

History

Handball first arrived in Kosovo in the late 1940s, and by 1948 there were several registered clubs starting to compete in informal domestic competitions. By 1951, indoor handball was introduced. Two years later, in 1953 Kosovo Handball Federation was founded, under the auspices of the Yugoslav Handball Federation.

In 1979, whilst part of the former Yugoslavia, Kosovo hosted the 1979 Women's Junior World Handball Championship.

Following the breakdown of Yugoslavia and subsequent independence of Kosovo as a nation, Kosovo Handball Federation began operating independently.

In 2014, six years after Kosovo declared independence, the European Handball Federation (EHF) recognised Kosovo as a full member state and immediately the Kosovo national handball team started competing in international competition.

After a difficult start, Kosovo’s national team has started to gain notoriety in international competition. After twice winning the bronze medal in the international IHF Trophy for emerging nations, the team is no longer considered an emerging nation.

Following a lengthy campaign in the 2020 European Men's Handball Championship qualification where Kosovo defeated Israel and drew Poland, the team won a direct spot in the second phase of the upcoming 2022 qualification tournament.

Most recently, at the 2021 World Men's Handball Championship – European Qualification tournament, Kosovo drew with Italy and defeated Georgia to take the second place, behind Romania, in the qualifying group.

Tournaments

EHF European Championship

• 2018 European Men's Handball Championship - Round 1 (did not qualify)
• 2020 European Men's Handball Championship - Phase 2 (did not qualify)
• 2022 European Men's Handball Championship - Phase 2 (in progress)

IHF Handball World Championship

• 2017 World Men's Handball Championship - Round 1 (did not qualify)
• 2019 World Men's Handball Championship - Round 1 (did not qualify)
• 2021 World Men's Handball Championship - Round 1 (did not qualify)

IHF Emerging Nations Championship

• IHF Emerging Nations Championship, Kosovo 2015 – 3rd place
• IHF Emerging Nations Championship, Bulgaria 2017 – 3rd place

Team

Current squad

The squad selected for the 2022 European Men's Handball Championship - Phase 2 qualification matches, in Podgorica and Prishtina.

Updated: 9 November 2020

Head coach: Taip Ramadani

No. Pos. Name Date of birth (age) Height App. Goals Club 2 PV Kastriot Jupa 17 December 1992 1.88 m 42 153 KH Besa Famgas 9 LW Bashkim Gashi 17 August 1993 1.78 m 6 6 Örebro SK HK 10 LB Enis Kabashi 26 April 1991 1.92 m 18 65 TG Landshut 11 CB Valon Dedaj 25 September 1989 1.75 m 32 117 HSC Kreuzlingen 14 RB Drenit Tahirukaj 28 April 1998 1.90 m 16 29 HSC Kreuzlingen 15 LB Deniz Terziqi 6 October 1993 1.89 m 34 102 KH Prishtina 16 GK Armir Agushi 18 March 1995 1.98 m 11 0 KH Prishtina 24 PV Luigj Quni 26 February 1996 1.91 m 25 31 GC Amicitia Zürich 25 LB Festim Mustafa 22 May 1998 2.02 m 0 0 KH Kastrioti 26 RW Drilon Tahirukaj 28 August 1995 1.80 m 28 53 KH Besa Famgas 27 LW Lulëzim Shabani 9 November 1998 1.89 m 4 0 KH Prishtina 28 GK Haris Berisha 26 June 1996 1.99 m 24 1 HSC Kreuzlingen 31 LB Bujar Ramosaj 9 February 1995 1.96 m 13 3 KH Besa Famgas 33 LB Jon Muqolli 11 February 1999 1.90 m 7 1 KH Besa Famgas 34 CB Leonard Gegaj 10 February 2001 1.83 m 7 3 Kärra HF 27 PV Rron Ramadani 4 October 1996 1.92 m 5 0 KH Prishtina 68 CB Egzon Gjuka 17 May 1995 1.91 m 23 51 KH Besa Famgas 91 GK Liridon Zena 11 April 1991 1.90 m 6 0 RK Zamet 95 LW Armend Alaj 5 November 1995 1.78 m 2 2 ThSV Eisenach

Coaches

• Alfred Llazari (2014–2015)
• Taib Kabashi (2015–2016)
• Taip Ramadani (Since 2016)
• Javier Cabanas (2020 - caretaker coach)

Captains

• Ylber Mjeku (2014-2016)
• Valon Dedaj (Since 2016)

Individual all-time records

Most matches played Total number of matches played in official competitions only. # Player Matches Goals 1 Kastriot Jupa 42 153 2 Lindrit Fetahu 36 60 3 Oltion Beshiri 34 63 4 Deniz Terziqi 34 102 5 Valon Dedaj 32 117 6 Drilon Tahirukaj 28 53 7 Florim Hoxha 27 80 8 Kreshnik Krasniqi 25 60 9 Luigj Quni 25 31 10 Haris Berisha 24 1 Last updated: 9 November 2020 Source:

Most goals scored Total number of goals scored in official competitions only. # Player Goals Matches 1 Kastriot Jupa 153 42 2 Valon Dedaj 117 32 3 Deniz Terziqi 102 34 4 Florim Hoxha 80 27 5 Enis Kabashi 65 18 6 Oltion Beshiri 63 34 7 Kreshnik Krasniqi 60 25 8 Lindrit Fetahu 60 36 9 Drilon Tahirukaj 53 28 10 Egzon Gjuka 51 23 Last updated: 8 November 2020 Source:

Kit suppliers

Since 2019, Kosovo's kits have been supplied by Kempa.

External links

• Official website (in Albanian)
• IHF profile