The Netherlands women's national handball team is the national handball team of the Netherlands. It is governed by the Nederlands Handbal Verbond (NHV).
The team won their first World Championship in 2019 in Japan after defeating Spain in the final.
History The Dutch women’s team would have been qualified as the host nation for the 2012 European Championship. However, the event had to be moved to Serbia at a late stage due to high costs and uncertain revenue for the Netherlands Handball Association. As a result, the Netherlands lost its host-nation berth and also received a heavy fine.
Netherlands failed to qualify for the 2009 World Championship because it lost both qualification matches against Ukraine. Things went better at the 2011 World Championship, where the team reached the final round and ultimately finished fifteenth. A fourth place in the group stage secured a spot in the round of 16, but there the Netherlands came up against the eventual world champion, Norway. The same scenario unfolded at the 2013 World Championship. In the final round, the team once again finished fourth in the group stage and faced the eventual world champion – this time Brazil – in the round of 16.
2015-2020: Rise to Prominence The breakthrough for the Dutch women’s team came at the 2015 World Championship in Denmark, where the Netherlands reached the final of a global tournament for the first time in history, finishing second after a 23–31 defeat to world champion Norway. It would mar the start of the Dutch golden generation, including players like Tess Wester, Lois Abbingh, Estavana Polman, Kelly Dulfer and Nycke Groot.
In 2016, the team achieved its second major success by qualifying for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. At an Olympic qualification tournament in Metz, France, the Netherlands defeated Tunisia, Japan, and hosts France, earning an Olympic berth for the first time ever. They finished fourth at the Games after a disappointing 26–36 loss to Norway in the bronze-medal match. In the semifinals, the Netherlands had narrowly lost to France. Gold went to Russia, who defeated France 22–19.
A few months later, at the 2016 European Championship in Sweden, the team achieved its third major success within a single year. Once again, and for the first time in European Championship history, the Netherlands reached the final, where they once more had to bow to world and European champion Norway—this time by the smallest possible margin: 29–30.
At the 2017 World Championship in Germany, the Dutch women’s team finished in third place after defeating Sweden 24–21 in the bronze-medal match.Final ranking WC 2017 - ihf At the 2018 European Championship in France, the Dutch team once again reached the podium, finishing third after beating Romania 24–20 in the bronze-medal match. In that game, the Netherlands were exceptionally strong in defense: Romania managed to convert only 33% of their attacks.Bronze match Match Report - livecache.sportresult.com
At the 2019 World Championship in Japan, the Dutch women’s team achieved the greatest success in its history by becoming world champions. In a thrilling final, the Netherlands defeated Spain 30–29. The ending was dramatic: just over half a minute before the end, the Netherlands lost the ball, giving Spain the chance to run down the clock and look for a winning goal. Tess Wester saved the team with a brilliant stop, after which Hernández received a red card for obstructing Wester’s throw-out. With six seconds left, the Netherlands were awarded a penalty, which Lois Abbingh converted with nerves of steel. In the semifinal, the Netherlands had already beaten Olympic champion Russia 33–32, with Laura van der Heijden scoring the decisive goal in a true thriller.
For the 2020 Olympic Games in Japan, the Netherlands were automatically qualified as reigning world champions. Their second consecutive Olympics once again did not produce a medal. The team lost only narrowly to Norway (29–27) in the group stage and advanced to the quarterfinals as the second-placed team. There, they were overpowered 32–22 by the eventual champions, France. After reaching the World Championship podium three times in a row, the Netherlands were eliminated in the main round at the 2021 World Championship in Spain and finished ninth.
At the 2025 World Championship at home they reached a semifinal for the first time since 2019 when they beat Hungary in the quarterfinal. Afterwards, Lois Abbingh and Estavana Polman retired from the national team, marking the end of an era.
Competitive record Olympic Games YearPosition 1976 Did not qualify 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 20164th8224216218−2 20205th6402191175+16 20245th6402177166+11Total3/13201028584559+25
World Championship YearPosition 1957Did not enter 1962 1965 19718th41033146 −15 197312th50053381 −48 1975Did not qualify 19789th51048797 −10 1982Did not qualify 198610th7205127163 −36 1990Did not qualify 1993 1995 1997 199910th6402140127 +13 200116th6114138144 −6 2003Did not qualify 20055th9612262242 +20 2007Did not qualify 2009 201115th6204186176 +10 201313th6204170150 +20 20152nd 9711298217 +81 20173rd 9612252214 +38 20191st 10703328280+48 20219th6411270145 +125 20235th9801289216 +83 2025 4th 9 7 0 2 285 219 +66 2027TBD 2029 2031Total15/301065854329062517+389
European Championship YearPosition 1994Did not qualify 1996 199810th6105126153 −27 2000Did not qualify 200214th30037380 −7 2004Did not qualify 200615th30036584 −19 2008Did not qualify 20108th6204131145 −14 2012Withdrew 20147th6213161158 +3 20162nd 8602227201 +26 20183rd 8602207196 +11 20206th7304193196−3 20226th7313214196+18 20246th8503241215+26 2026Qualified 2028TBD 2030 2032Total542322913971409–12
Other tournaments
Carpathian Trophy 2004 – Third place Holland Handball Tournament 2006 – Fifth place Carpathian Trophy 2016 – Third place Intersport Cup 2022 - Winner
Team Current squad The squad for the 2025 World Women's Handball Championship.
Head coach: Henrik Signell
Caps and goals as of 14 December 2025.
Coaching staff Role Name Start date Head coach Henrik Signell 2024 Assistant coach Ricardo Clarijs September 2021 Goalkeeping coach Jasmina Janković September 2022 Team Leader Maike Willems September 2019 Physiotherapist Rinke van den Brink September 2021
Notable players MVP Nycke Groot (centre back), 2016 European Championship Estavana Polman (centre back), 2019 World Championship
Top Scorer Lois Abbingh (left back) with 71 goals, 2019 World Championship
All-Star Team members Pearl van der Wissel (left back), 2005 World Championship Tess Wester (goalkeeper), 2015 World Championship, 2019 World Championship Nycke Groot (centre back), 2016 European Championship Lois Abbingh (left back), 2017 World Championship Yvette Broch (line player), 2016 European Championship, 2017 World Championship Kelly Dulfer (defender), 2018 European Championship Estavana Polman (centre back), 2019 World Championship Dione Housheer (right back), 2025 World Championshiphttps://www.ihf.info/competitions/women/307/27th-ihf-womens-world-championship-2025-ger-ned/220823/news/258583
Coaches Toon Wijdeveld (1956–1957) Paul Broere (1960) Jan Kloen (1961–1966, 1968) Jaroslav Mráz (1968–1971) Jo Gerris (1971–1973) Jan Alma (1973–1974) Heinz Henneberg (1974–1975) George van Noesel (1975–1976) Jan Alma (1976–1978) Simon Flendrie (1979) Ilona Venema-Ignácz (1979–1981) Jan Kecskeméthy (1982–1986) Jan Tuik (1986) Ton van Linder (1987–1990) Bert Bouwer (1990–2003) Kari Aagaard (2003) Olaf Schimpf (2003–2004) Sjors Röttger (2004–2008) Henk Groener (2009–2016) Helle Thomsen (2016–2018) Emmanuel Mayonnade (2019–2021) Monique Tijsterman (2021) Ricardo Clarijs (2022) Per Johansson (2022–2024) Henrik Signell (2024–)
Individual all-time records
Most matches played Total number of matches played for the senior national team.
# Player Matches Goals 1 Laura Robben 320 10 2 Diane Lamein 302 632 3 Laura van der Heijden 297 875 4 Angela Malestein 248 887 5 Monique Feijen 246 591 6 Lois Abbingh 241 930 7 Carla Kleintjens 225 756 8 Pearl van der Wissel 217 560 9 Kelly Dulfer 216 357 10 Diane Roelofsen 212 300 Last updated: 9 April 2026
Most goals scored Total number of goals scored in official matches only. # Player Goals Matches Average 1 Olga Assink 954 203 4.69 2 Lois Abbingh 930 241 3.86 3 Angela Malestein 887 248 3.57 4 Laura van der Heijden 875 297 2.94 5 Carla Kleintjens 756 225 3.36 6 Estavana Polman 685 207 3.31 7 Saskia Mulder 627 176 3.56 8 Diane Lamein 623 302 2.06 9 Monique Feijen 591 246 2.40 10 Pearl van der Wissel 560 221 2.58 Last updated: 9 April 2026
References
External links
IHF profile