World Handball Championship: Date, schedule, teams, format, location and history

The IHF World Handball Championship is a biennial event which has been staged by the International Handball Federation since 1938.

World Handball Championship date

The World Handball Championship has been held every two years since the 1993 edition.

The 2025 World Handball Championship will commence on Tuesday 14th January and conclude with the final on Sunday 2nd February.

World Handball Championship location

The 2025 World Handball Championship will be held in Croatia, Denmark and Norway.

One venue is located in Oslo, Norway and one other venue is located in Herning, Denmark.

Croatia has three venues; Arena Zagreb in Zagreb, Varazdin Arena in Varazdin and the Zatika Sport Centre in Porec.

World Handball Championship teams

A total of 32 nations will compete at the 2025 World Handball Championships, including defending champions Denmark and record title holders France.

Group A: Germany, Czech Republic, Poland, Switzerland
Group B: Denmark, Italy, Algeria, Tunisia
Group C: France, Austria, Qatar, Kuwait
Group D: Hungary, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Guinea
Group E: Norway, Portugal, Brazil, United States
Group F: Sweden, Spain, Japan, Chile
Group G: Slovenia, Iceland, Cuba, Cape Verde
Group H: Egypt, Croatia, Argentina, Bahrain

World Handball Championship format

The World Handball Championship starts with the preliminary round where the 32 teams are split into eight groups of four.

The top three teams in each group progress to the main round. The nations which finish bottom of each group are entered into the President's Cup, which ultimately provides the teams with an opportunity play for a ranking outside the top places.

In the main round, the remaining 24 teams are separated in four groups of six, dependent on their ranking in the preliminary round. The top two teams from each group in the main round advance to the quarter-finals.

From there it's a single leg knockout to the final, with a third-placed match being held on the same day as the tournament's showpiece.

World Handball Championship history

The inaugural World Handball Championship was held in Germany in 1938 and consisted of just four teams.

Not until 1954 was the second edition held and it wasn't until 1995 that the World Handball Championships became a biennial event.

France are the most successful nation in the history of the World Handball Championships, winning six titles between 1995 and 2017.

Qatar were the first non-European nation to win a medal in the competition as they finished runner-up to France in 2015.