2025_World_Men's_Handball_Championship

2025 World Men's Handball Championship

2025 World Men's Handball Championship

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The 2025 IHF World Men's Handball Championship, will be the 29th event hosted by the International Handball Federation. It will be held in Croatia, Denmark and Norway from 14 January to 2 February 2025.[1] This edition marks the first time the world championship is being held in three countries.

Quick Facts Svjetsko prvenstvo u rukometu 2025. (in Croatian)Verdensmesterskabet i håndbold for mænd 2025 (in Danish) Verdensmesterskapet i håndball for menn 2025 (in Norwegian), Tournament details ...

Denmark are the triple defending world champions, having won the 2019, 2021 and 2023 editions.

Bidding process

On 11 October 2018, five nations expressed interest in hosting the tournament.[2][3][4]

The deadline elapsed on 25 September 2019.[5] Switzerland became a solo bid, while Croatia took their place in the triple bid.[6][7][8] Serbia withdrew their bid, while the Hungarians filed an application. These were the applicants:

Shortly before the vote, Hungary and Switzerland both withdrew, leaving the bid of Croatia, Denmark and Norway unopposed.[9][10] Croatia, Denmark and Norway were chosen as the hosts on 28 February 2020 at the IHF Council meeting in Cairo, Egypt.[11][12] This will be the second time Croatia will host the World Men's Handball Championship, the third for Denmark, and the first for Norway.

Venues

The bid contained 11 cities: Zagreb, Split, Varaždin, Poreč and Dubrovnik in Croatia;[13] Copenhagen and Herning in Denmark; and Trondheim, Stavanger, Drammen and Oslo in Norway; with the opening match and final taking place in Oslo.[14]

On 25 January 2024, Denmark announced that the Jyske Bank Boxen would be their only venue for the competition.[15] Then, two days later, Norway announced the Telenor Arena would be their only venue for the tournament, after negotiations with Trondheim fell through due to financial reasons.[16]

On 8 April 2024, the IHF announced the venues, with Oslo, Herning, Zagreb, Varaždin and Poreč. being confirmed as hosts cities. The opening game will be in Herning and the final will be in Oslo.[17][18][19][20] During the preparations for the tournament, the Telenor Arena was renamed the Unity Arena for the tournament.[21]

More information City/town, Country ...
More information Rejected venues, Split ...

Qualification

The World Championship hosts will be directly qualified, along with the reigning world champions. Since there are three organisers, all from Europe, the number of compulsory places for Europe is reduced by two: 2 instead of default 4. The number of compulsory places awarded to other continental confederation remains unchanged. In regards to the 12 performance spots, and based on the results of the 2023 Men's World Championship, Europe receives 11 more spots, while Africa takes 1.

The slot allocation is as follows:

  • AHF (Asia): 4 slots
  • CAHB (Africa): 5 slots
  • EHF (Europe): 17 slots (including the three co-hosts)
  • NACHC (North America and the Caribbean): 1 slot
  • OCHF (Oceania): 0 slots
  • SCAHC (South and Central America): 3 slots
  • Wildcards: 2 slots
More information Detailed summary of qualification process, Confederation ...

Qualifying occurred between February 2023 and June 2024. Each region's continental championships acted as world championship qualification, although Europe also has its own qualification process. With the exception of Belarus and Russia, who are banned of the IHF due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, all remaining IHF member associations were eligible to enter qualification. So far, 76 nations have entered the continental championships and European qualifiers, which act as world championship qualification.

Guinea will make their debut at the championship. Of the returnees Italy made their second appearance ever and first since 1997, Cuba and Kuwait are returning for the first time since the 2009 World Men's Handball Championship, Czech Republic made the championship after ten years, while Austria, Japan and Switzerland qualified after missing out on 2023. The United States made back to back appearances for the first time in 30 years. Netherlands qualified on merit for the first time ever.

Iran, Montenegro, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, South Korea and Uruguay all failed to make this edition after participating in 2023. After making their debut in 2023, Belgium failed to qualify.[22]

Wildcards

After no Oceanian team achieved a top 5 finish in the Asian Championship, two wildcards were given out by the IHF.

United States was given the first wildcard on 18 October 2018, in order to prepare them for the 2028 Summer Olympics which they are hosting.[23][24] Regarding the second wildcard, 12 nations reportedly applied.[25] On 23 May 2024, Switzerland was given the second wildcard by the IHF due to multiple reasons: their sporting merit, their commercial reach, their project and the IHF's TV partner request for the Swiss to be picked.[26][27][28] Prior to their selection, Switzerland's coach, Andy Schmid, stated that after their narrow penalty shootout loss to Slovenia, the Swiss' performance merited a wildcard.[29]

Draw

The Vatroslav Lisinski Concert Hall in Zagreb hosted the draw.

The draw took place at 19:30 CET in Zagreb, Croatia on 29 May 2024 at the Vatroslav Lisinski Concert Hall.[30][31] Originally scheduled for the 1 June,[32] it was changed a few weeks later to 29 May.[18] The guests for the draw were Croatian goalkeeper Dominik Kuzmanović, head coach of the Croatian national team, Dagur Sigurðsson, Norwegian national team player, Alexander Blonz and former Danish international player, Morten Stig Christensen, who all asisted the draw.[33]

Seeding

Ahead of the draw, the 32 finalist teams were seeded into four pots according to the ranking of the most recent World Championship and IHF rules.[34][30] Although, in regards to the European teams in pots 1 and 2, the 2024 European Championship decided the teams' positions. In addition, five teams were pre-assigned by the three host nations into the each of the available vacant groups: Germany in Group A, Austria in Group C, Hungary in Group D, Sweden in Group F and Slovenia in Group G.[30][35]

More information Seeding based of the 2023 World Championship, Pot 1 ...

Preliminary round

The schedule was announced on 8 April 2024.[17][36]

Group A

More information Pos, Team ...
First match(es) will be played: 15 January 2025. Source: IHF
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) goal difference.
15 January 2025 Germany  v  Poland Jyske Bank Boxen, Herning
15 January 2025 Czech Republic  v   Switzerland Jyske Bank Boxen, Herning

17 January 2025 Switzerland  v  Germany Jyske Bank Boxen, Herning
17 January 2025 Czech Republic  v  Poland Jyske Bank Boxen, Herning

19 January 2025 Poland  v   Switzerland Jyske Bank Boxen, Herning
19 January 2025 Germany  v  Czech Republic Jyske Bank Boxen, Herning

Group B

More information Pos, Team ...
First match(es) will be played: 14 January 2025. Source: IHF
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) goal difference.
(H) Hosts
14 January 2025 Italy  v  Tunisia Jyske Bank Boxen, Herning
14 January 2025 Denmark  v  Algeria Jyske Bank Boxen, Herning

16 January 2025 Tunisia  v  Denmark Jyske Bank Boxen, Herning
16 January 2025 Italy  v  Algeria Jyske Bank Boxen, Herning

18 January 2025 Algeria  v  Tunisia Jyske Bank Boxen, Herning
18 January 2025 Denmark  v  Italy Jyske Bank Boxen, Herning

Group C

More information Pos, Team ...
First match(es) will be played: 14 January 2025. Source: IHF
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) goal difference.
14 January 2025 France  v  Qatar Žatika Sport Centre, Poreč
14 January 2025 Austria  v  Kuwait Žatika Sport Centre, Poreč

16 January 2025 Kuwait  v  France Žatika Sport Centre, Poreč
16 January 2025 Austria  v  Qatar Žatika Sport Centre, Poreč

18 January 2025 Qatar  v  Kuwait Žatika Sport Centre, Poreč
18 January 2025 France  v  Austria Žatika Sport Centre, Poreč

Group D

More information Pos, Team ...
First match(es) will be played: 15 January 2025. Source: IHF
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) goal difference.
15 January 2025 Hungary  v  North Macedonia Varaždin Arena, Varaždin
15 January 2025 Netherlands  v  Guinea Varaždin Arena, Varaždin

17 January 2025 Guinea  v  Hungary Varaždin Arena, Varaždin
17 January 2025 Netherlands  v  North Macedonia Varaždin Arena, Varaždin

19 January 2025 North Macedonia  v  Guinea Varaždin Arena, Varaždin
19 January 2025 Hungary  v  Netherlands Varaždin Arena, Varaždin

Group E

More information Pos, Team ...
First match(es) will be played: 15 January 2025. Source: IHF
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) goal difference.
(H) Hosts
15 January 2025 Norway  v  Brazil Unity Arena, Oslo
15 January 2025 Portugal  v  United States Unity Arena, Oslo

17 January 2025 United States  v  Norway Unity Arena, Oslo
17 January 2025 Portugal  v  Brazil Unity Arena, Oslo

19 January 2025 Brazil  v  United States Unity Arena, Oslo
19 January 2025 Norway  v  Portugal Unity Arena, Oslo

Group F

More information Pos, Team ...
First match(es) will be played: 16 January 2025. Source: IHF
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) goal difference.
16 January 2025 Sweden  v  Japan Unity Arena, Oslo
16 January 2025 Spain  v  Chile Unity Arena, Oslo

18 January 2025 Chile  v  Sweden Unity Arena, Oslo
18 January 2025 Spain  v  Japan Unity Arena, Oslo

20 January 2025 Japan  v  Chile Unity Arena, Oslo
20 January 2025 Sweden  v  Spain Unity Arena, Oslo

Group G

More information Pos, Team ...
First match(es) will be played: 16 January 2025. Source: IHF
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) goal difference.
16 January 2025 Slovenia  v  Cuba Arena Zagreb, Zagreb
16 January 2025 Iceland  v  Cape Verde Arena Zagreb, Zagreb

18 January 2025 Cape Verde  v  Slovenia Arena Zagreb, Zagreb
18 January 2025 Iceland  v  Cuba Arena Zagreb, Zagreb

20 January 2025 Cuba  v  Cape Verde Arena Zagreb, Zagreb
20 January 2025 Slovenia  v  Iceland Arena Zagreb, Zagreb

Group H

More information Pos, Team ...
First match(es) will be played: 15 January 2025. Source: IHF
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) goal difference.
(H) Hosts
15 January 2025 Egypt  v  Argentina Arena Zagreb, Zagreb
15 January 2025 Croatia  v  Bahrain Arena Zagreb, Zagreb

17 January 2025 Bahrain  v  Egypt Arena Zagreb, Zagreb
17 January 2025 Croatia  v  Argentina Arena Zagreb, Zagreb

19 January 2025 Argentina  v  Bahrain Arena Zagreb, Zagreb
19 January 2025 Egypt  v  Croatia Arena Zagreb, Zagreb

Presidents Cup

Group I

More information Pos, Team ...
First match(es) will be played: 21 January 2025. Source: [citation needed]
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) goal difference.
21 January 2025 A4 v B4 Žatika Sport Centre, Poreč
21 January 2025 C4 v D4 Žatika Sport Centre, Poreč

23 January 2025 A4 v C4 Žatika Sport Centre, Poreč
23 January 2025 B4 v D4 Žatika Sport Centre, Poreč

25 January 2025 D4 v A4 Žatika Sport Centre, Poreč
25 January 2025 B4 v C4 Žatika Sport Centre, Poreč

Group II

More information Pos, Team ...
First match(es) will be played: 22 January 2025. Source: [citation needed]
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) goal difference.
22 January 2025 E4 v F4 Žatika Sport Centre, Poreč
22 January 2025 G4 v H4 Žatika Sport Centre, Poreč

24 January 2025 E4 v G4 Žatika Sport Centre, Poreč
24 January 2025 F4 v H4 Žatika Sport Centre, Poreč

26 January 2025 H4 v E4 Žatika Sport Centre, Poreč
26 January 2025 F4 v G4 Žatika Sport Centre, Poreč

31st place game

28 January 2025 I4 v II4 Žatika Sport Centre, Poreč

29th place game

28 January 2025 I3 v II3 Žatika Sport Centre, Poreč

27th place game

28 January 2025 I2 v II2 Žatika Sport Centre, Poreč

25th place game

28 January 2025 I1 v II1 Žatika Sport Centre, Poreč

Main round

All points obtained in the preliminary round against teams that advance aswell, are carried over.

Group I

More information Pos, Team ...
First match(es) will be played: 21 January 2025. Source: [citation needed]
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) goal difference.
21 January 2025 B1 v A1 Jyske Bank Boxen, Herning
21 January 2025 A2 v B3 Jyske Bank Boxen, Herning
21 January 2025 A3 v B2 Jyske Bank Boxen, Herning

23 January 2025 B1 v A2 Jyske Bank Boxen, Herning
23 January 2025 B2 v A1 Jyske Bank Boxen, Herning
23 January 2025 B3 v A3 Jyske Bank Boxen, Herning

25 January 2025 A3 v B1 Jyske Bank Boxen, Herning
25 January 2025 B2 v A2 Jyske Bank Boxen, Herning
25 January 2025 A1 v B3 Jyske Bank Boxen, Herning

Group II

More information Pos, Team ...
First match(es) will be played: 21 January 2025. Source: [citation needed]
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) goal difference.
21 January 2025 D1 v C1 Varaždin Arena, Varaždin
21 January 2025 C2 v D3 Varaždin Arena, Varaždin
21 January 2025 C3 v D2 Varaždin Arena, Varaždin

23 January 2025 D1 v C2 Varaždin Arena, Varaždin
23 January 2025 D2 v C1 Varaždin Arena, Varaždin
23 January 2025 D3 v C3 Varaždin Arena, Varaždin

25 January 2025 C3 v D1 Varaždin Arena, Varaždin
25 January 2025 D2 v C2 Varaždin Arena, Varaždin
25 January 2025 C1 v D3 Varaždin Arena, Varaždin

Group III

More information Pos, Team ...
First match(es) will be played: 22 January 2025. Source: [citation needed]
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) goal difference.
22 January 2025 F1 v E1 Unity Arena, Oslo
22 January 2025 E2 v F3 Unity Arena, Oslo
22 January 2025 E3 v F2 Unity Arena, Oslo

24 January 2025 F1 v E2 Unity Arena, Oslo
24 January 2025 F2 v E1 Unity Arena, Oslo
24 January 2025 F3 v E3 Unity Arena, Oslo

26 January 2025 E3 v F1 Unity Arena, Oslo
26 January 2025 F2 v E2 Unity Arena, Oslo
26 January 2025 E1 v F3 Unity Arena, Oslo

Group IV

More information Pos, Team ...
First match(es) will be played: 22 January 2025. Source: [citation needed]
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) goal difference.
22 January 2025 H1 v G1 Arena Zagreb, Zagreb
22 January 2025 G2 v H3 Arena Zagreb, Zagreb
22 January 2025 G3 v H2 Arena Zagreb, Zagreb

24 January 2025 H1 v G2 Arena Zagreb, Zagreb
24 January 2025 H2 v G1 Arena Zagreb, Zagreb
24 January 2025 H3 v G3 Arena Zagreb, Zagreb

26 January 2025 G3 v H1 Arena Zagreb, Zagreb
26 January 2025 H2 v G2 Arena Zagreb, Zagreb
26 January 2025 G1 v H3 Arena Zagreb, Zagreb

Final round

Bracket

 
Quarter-finalsSemi-finalsFinal
 
          
 
28 January
 
 
II1
 
30 January
 
IV2
 
 
 
28 January
 
 
 
IV1
 
2 February
 
II2
 
 
 
29 January
 
 
 
I2
 
31 January
 
III1
 
 
 
29 January
 
 Third place
 
III2
 
2 February
 
I1
 
 
 
 
 
 

Quarterfinals

28 January 2025 IV1 v II2 Arena Zagreb, Zagreb

28 January 2025 II1 v IV2 Arena Zagreb, Zagreb

29 January 2025 III1 v I2 Unity Arena, Oslo

29 January 2025 I1 v III2 Unity Arena, Oslo

Semifinals

30 January 2025 WQF1 v WQF3 Arena Zagreb, Zagreb

31 January 2025 WQF2 v WQF4 Unity Arena, Oslo

Third place game

2 February 2025 LSF1 v LSF2 Unity Arena, Oslo

Final

2 February 2025 WSF1 v WSF2 Unity Arena, Oslo

Final ranking

Places 1 to 4 and 25 to 32 were decided by play-off or knock-out. The losers of the quarter finals were ranked 5th to 8th according to the places in the main round, points gained and goal difference. Teams finishing third in the main round were ranked 9th to 12th, teams finishing fourth in the main round were ranked 13th to 16th, teams finishing fifth in the main round were ranked 17th to 20th and teams ranked sixth were ranked 21st to 24th. In case of a tie in points gained, the goal difference of the main round were taken into account, then number of goals scored. If teams would still be equal, number of points gained in the preliminary round would be considered followed by the goal difference and then number of goals scored in the preliminary round.

More information Rank, Team ...
Qualified for the 2027 World Men's Handball Championship

Marketing

Tickets

The first phase of ticket sales started on 15 March 2024 in Croatia,[37][15][19][38][39] while the sales started on 8 April 2024 in Denmark for people who made a federation account.[18] General sales in Denmark commence on 12 April 2024. Norway starts their ticket sales on 12 April 2024.[20]

Notes

  1. There are ways of qualifying from Europe, via the European Championship or European qualification
  2. The Asian Championship acts as qualification for the Oceanian teams.
  3. New Zealand, who is the only Oceanian who entered, participates in the Asian Champiponship to decide their qualification.
  4. There are ways of qualifying from Europe, via the European Championship or European qualification

References

  1. "IHF Council awards events up to 2027". IHF. 28 February 2020.
  2. Thygesen, Kenneth (20 September 2019). "Danmark har fundet ny makker i jagten på at få VM på hjemmebane". Jyllands-Posten.
  3. "Hrvatska, Danska i Norveška zajednički kandidati za SP u rukometu 2025". Radio 1 (in Croatian). 2020-01-20. Retrieved 2024-01-30.
  4. "VM i herrehåndbold 2025 til Danmark". DanskHåndbold. 2020-02-29. Archived from the original on 2020-02-29. Retrieved 2024-01-30.
  5. Čabraja, Jozo (January 19, 2020). "Predstavljanje kandidature Hrvatske, Danske i Norveške za SP 2025./27". hrs hr. Croatian Handball Federation.
  6. "Norway, Croatia and Denmark chase the handball World Cup in 2025". time24.news. 5 November 2019. Archived from the original on 2 February 2020. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
  7. "Jyske Bank Boxen bliver Håndboldherrernes hjemmebane til VM 2025". DanskHåndbold (in Danish). Retrieved 2024-01-30.
  8. "Telenor Arena blir norsk VM-arena i 2025". Norges Håndballforbund. 27 January 2024.
  9. Čabraja, Jozo (8 April 2024). "SP 2025: Tri zemlje domaćina spremne za Svjetsko prvenstvo 2025!". hrs.hr (in Croatian). Croatian Handball Federation.
  10. "Fem byer klare for Håndball-VM". Norges Håndballforbund. 8 April 2024.
  11. "VM-arenaen på Fornebu får nytt navn". Norges Håndballforbund. 22 May 2024.
  12. "Council Meeting No. 3" (PDF). Doha, Qatar: IHF. 18 October 2018. pp. 8–9.
  13. "Pots revealed for the 2025 IHF Men's World Championship draw". International Handball Federation. 24 May 2024. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  14. "V. Regulations for IHF Competitions (Indoor Handball)" (PDF). International Handball Federation. 9 December 2020. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
  15. "Match schedule" (PDF). ihf.info. 8 April 2024.
  16. Čabraja, Jozo (12 March 2024). "SP 2025: Još malo do početka prodaje ulaznica". hrs.hr (in Croatian). Croatian Handball Federation.
  17. Čabraja, Jozo (19 March 2024). "Aktivnosti HRS-a: Silvijo Njirić direktor Svjetskog prvenstva 2025. godine / Potvrđene cijene ulaznica". hrs.hr (in Croatian). Croatian Handball Federation.
  18. Čabraja, Jozo (3 May 2024). "Aktivnosti HRS – a: Druga runda prodaje ulaznica za SP 2025". hrs.hr (in Croatian). Croatian Handball Federation.

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