Michael Apelgren to lead Sweden | Handball Planet
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Michael Apelgren to lead Sweden

The Swedish men’s national team will be led by Michael Apelgren for the next four years. He thus takes over as national team captain after Glenn Solberg in parallel with his assignment as head coach for the Hungarian major club OTP Bank-Pick Szeged. 

After leading Sweden in the last six championships, Glenn Solberg decided to finish as the national team captain for the Swedish men’s national team. Now the replacement is ready and it will be Michael Apelgren , who has been assistant captain to Solberg for the past two years, who will take over.

Apelgren began his playing career in IF Swithiod and then represented Djurgårdens IF, Hammarby IF and IK Sävehof in Sweden and BM Granollers and CB Puerto Sagunto in Spain before moving to Elverum Håndball as playing coach in 2014. There he led the club to six straight championship titles and then won two SM golds with IK Sävehof. As of this season, he is the head coach of the Hungarian Champions League club OTP Bank-Pick Szeged.

– This came suddenly for everyone involved, but the union and I have had a good dialogue recently and for me it was obvious to try to find a solution together with the union and my employer in Hungary. There have been very, very good things done in the national team in recent years and I will in many ways have a similar way of working with clear frameworks where we have an openness towards the players and involve them in what we do, says Apelgren.

– I want to continue to see Sweden where we have been in recent years. We should be disappointed when we go out in a quarter-final in a championship, we should be proud when we win medals. That is my ambition and I am confident that the players share it. Then you have to respect the fact that there is an enormous width in the world top and there is not much difference between teams eight and one, sometimes a pole shot can be the difference between going to the quarterfinals or having to play for the medals.

As early as Wednesday, Michael Apelgren will present his first national team squad and the start is the toughest possible: European champion France awaits away on November 6 and reigning Olympic and world champion Denmark at home in Linköping on November 10 in the EHF Euro Cup.

National team manager Hanna Fogelström on the work of hiring a new national team captain:

– It has been an intense and important process where a sustainable and long-term solution has been the primary thing, while at the same time we have had to deal with the fact that we have the national team meeting in November and the WC in January. Michael was an obvious candidate based on the experience he has gathered in national team operations, he knows the association as well as players and leaders and has the top qualities that we want from an association captain. We are happy that we were able to have a good dialogue with him and OTP Bank-Pick Szeged where we found a solution that benefits the club, Michael and the national team both in the short and long term.

– Michael will build on the work Glenn Solberg has done in recent years where the national team got back to the top of the world and among other things won three medals in three years. We are confident that he will continue to develop Swedish national team handball as well as the players so that we will continue to fight for the medals at the championships, says Fogelström.

The first championship with Michael Apelgren as national team captain is the World Championship 2025 in January, where Sweden faces Japan, Chile and Spain in the group stage in Bærum outside Oslo. There, Sweden will then continue the championship if there is advancement to the main round and the final game. In just over a year, in January 2026, Apelgren will then lead Sweden in the EC at home.

Confederation captains for the men’s national team

Herbert Johansson (1938–1948)
Curt Wadmark (1948–1967)
Roland Mattsson (1967–1974)
Bertil Andersén (1974–1979)
Ingemar Eriksson (1979–1980)
Caj-Åke Andersson (1980–1982)
Roger Carlsson (1982–1988 ) )
Bengt Johansson (1988–2004)
Ingemar Linnéll (2004–2008)
Ola Lindgren/Staffan Olsson (2008–2016)
Kristján Andrésson (2016–2020)
Glenn Solberg (2020–2024)
Michael Apelgren (2024–)

PHOTO: PICK Szeged

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