The World Handball Championship in Croatia is slowly coming to its end and four teams are left in the battle for the shiniest of medals, coveted by everyone. Croatia is one of the teams in the hunt for gold and the home audience is helping their team attain it with ease, which tries to make the rival teams loose their concentration by cheering. However, the question is: does home court always mean the world title?

Germany hosted the world handball championship six times

According to statistics, this is not a rule. Germany is the proof, which has hosted the world handball championship six times, but came out the winner only two times. They last time they were successful was in 2002, while their first time was in 1938. The best-winning handball team of all time, Sweden, has hosted the world championship three times and only won it once on home court. Apart from Sweden and Germany, there is France, which won the world champion title at home, while they hosted the world championship two times.

The list of hosts which never won world gold at home is a bit longer: Tunisia, Portugal, Egypt, Japan, Iceland, Switzerland and the former Chechoslovakia.

Hosts were unsuccessful at European championships as well

European championships were even more interesting, because the host country won only once. It was Sweden in 2002, which was their last medal from a big competition. The championships started taking place in 1994, when Portugal was the host and they had to hand over the gold medal to Sweden.

Croatia hosted a European Championship in 2000, but Croats were not among the top three teams. They ended up sixth, because they were defeated by Slovenia. The next championship of the old continent will be held in Austria next year and considering their handball abilities, we can certainly say that home ground won`t be a factor.

Will Croatia enter the company of handball superpowers like Sweden, Germany and France, we will wind out on Sunday, after the final match, which is only a match with Poland away in the semis. This would be another excellent reward for a brilliant generation that started its journey in 2003, when they won gold in Portugal.