  In this work, we present a methodology to estimate the strength of handball
teams using a statistical method. We propose the use of the
Conway-Maxwell-Poisson distribution to model the number of goals scored by a
team as a flexible discrete distribution which can handle situations of non
equi-dispersion. From its parameters, we derive a mathematical formula to
determine the strength of a team. We propose a ranking based on the estimated
strengths to compare teams across different championships. Applied to female
handball club data from European competitions over the season 2022/2023, we
show that our new ranking can have an echo in real sports events and the
results.
