National coach Alfred Gislason has called up two tournament debutants for the Handball World Championships in Poland and Sweden (January 11 to 29) in goalkeeper Joel Birlehm and pivot Tim Zechel.

In addition, the Icelandic playmaker nominated Juri Knorr after his corona-related EM compulsory break.

The recently injured Julius Kühn and Marcel Schiller are not in the 18-player squad.

“There have been some tough and very close decisions, but now we have clarity.

I'm looking forward to the new year and the new challenge with this team," said Gislason on Friday: "We're very proud of this squad.

We have had good experiences with most of this squad.”

Five European champions from 2016

At the high point of the season, the squad is led by captain Johannes Golla.

With goalkeeper Andreas Wolff, the backfield players Kai Häfner and Simon Ernst as well as pivot Jannik Kohlbacher and left winger Rune Dahmke, there are five players who won the 2016 European Championship title in Poland with the DHB selection.

The oldest and most experienced player is right wing Patrick Groetzki (33 years and 156 appearances), the youngest player like the 2021 World Cup was the 22-year-old middleman Knorr, who was not present at the European Championship last year due to a lack of a corona vaccination.

Birlehm with four and Zechel with five international matches have so far had the fewest DHB appearances.

"This squad reflects many characteristics: experience, potential and essentially a certain continuity that is essential for success," said DHB sports director Axel Kromer.

The final 18-man World Cup squad must be named by Gislason no later than one hour before the technical meeting of the German opening game on January 13, which begins at 9:45 a.m. in the preliminary round venue in Kattowitz.

For each World Cup game, the national coach can redefine his team of 16 from this group.

Up to five substitutions with players from the 35 squad are also possible during the tournament.

The German team will start preparing for the tournament on January 2nd in Hanover.

Before the German World Cup opener against Qatar on January 13th, the DHB selection will test its form against Gislason's home country Iceland in two international matches in Bremen (January 7th, 4:15 p.m.) and Hanover (January 8th, 3:30 p.m.).

The current squad of the German national handball team:

Goal:

Andreas Wolff (VIVE Lomza Kielce/POL), Joel Birlehm (Rhein-Neckar Löwen)

Left winger:

Lukas Mertens (SC Magdeburg), Rune Dahmke (THW Kiel)

Back left:

Paul Drux (Foxes Berlin), Philipp Weber (SC Magdeburg), Julian Köster (VfL Gummersbach)

Center back:

Juri Knorr (Rhein-Neckar Löwen), Luca Witzke (SC DHfK Leipzig), Simon Ernst (SC DHfK Leipzig)

Right back:

Kai Häfner (MT Melsungen), Djibril M'Bengue (Bergischer HC), Christoph Steinert (HC Erlangen)

Right winger:

Patrick Groetzki (Rhein-Neckar Löwen), Lukas Zerbe (TBV Lemgo Lippe)

Circle:

Johannes Golla (SG Flensburg-Handewitt), Jannik Kohlbacher (Rhein-Neckar Löwen), Tim Zechel (HC Erlangen)