Mathias Gidsel has done it again. The Denmark and Fuchse Berlin right back has been crowned World Handball Player 2025 by Handball-Planet, picking up the publication's flagship individual award for the third year in a row and becoming the first man ever to claim a hat-trick of titles in the long-running poll.
The award, which sits alongside the IHF's official prize as the most respected individual recognition in the sport, was decided by a combination of public voting and a jury of 11 international handball journalists. More than 56,000 fans took part across the publication's website and Instagram channels, with 49,649 votes cast in the online poll and a further 6,388 logged through Instagram. The jury panel included specialists from Denmark, Bosnia, Spain, Sweden, Serbia, Russia, North Macedonia, Slovenia, Italy and Germany, a spread that gave the result genuine cross-continental weight.
The historical context is significant. Gidsel now matches fellow Dane Mikkel Hansen as the only male player to win the Handball-Planet award three times. Hansen's previous treble came in 2016, 2019 and 2021. Until now, no one had managed to claim the prize in three consecutive years, a streak that speaks to how completely Gidsel has dominated the men's game since his breakout cycle.
The full Handball-Planet honour roll between 2011 and 2025 reads as a snapshot of the modern era. Laszlo Nagy took the inaugural award in 2011, followed by Filip Jicha in 2012, Domagoj Duvnjak in 2013 and Nikola Karabatic in 2014 and 2015. Mikkel Hansen broke through in 2016, with Arpad Sterbik taking 2017 and Sander Sagosen winning in 2018. Hansen reclaimed it in 2019, Sagosen in 2020 and Hansen for a third time in 2021. Jim Gottfridsson lifted it in 2022 before Gidsel began the current run with awards in 2023, 2024 and now 2025.
That list contains a generational shift. The Karabatic and Hansen years were defined by line-leading playmakers and physically dominant pivots and left backs. The Gidsel era is built around a right back who combines elite-level pace, an exceptional jump shot and the kind of defensive responsibility that modern handball coaches now demand from every position. Tactically, Gidsel has helped shift the centre of gravity in attacking handball away from the traditional centre-back creator and out toward the wings.
For Fuchse Berlin, the recognition is another marker of how far the Bundesliga side have travelled. Gidsel is now the most decorated individual to wear the club's shirt and has been at the heart of their breakthrough into the European elite. His 2025 included a Champions League final appearance with Fuchse alongside another world title with Denmark, the kind of double that only the very best players in any sport produce.
With Gidsel still only 27 and showing no signs of slowing, the question is whether he can become the first player in either the IHF or Handball-Planet awards to win four in a row. On current form there is little obvious reason to bet against him.