2027 World Men's Handball Championship qualification
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 29 October 2025 – 17 May 2026 |
| Teams | TBD (from 6 confederations) |
← 2025 2029 → | |
The 2027 World Men's Handball Championship qualification decided who qualified for the 2027 World Men's Handball Championship in Germany. Qualifying occurred between October 2025 and May 2026. The championship will feature 32 teams for the fourth time.
Qualified teams
| Team | Qualification method | Date of qualification | Appearance(s) | Previous best performance[A] | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | First | Last | Streak | ||||
| Germany | Host nation | 28 January 2020 | 29th[B] | 1938 | 2025 | 15 | Champions (1938, 1978, 2007) |
| Denmark | Defending champions | 2 February 2025 | 27th | 13 | Champions (2019, 2021, 2023, 2025) | ||
| Brazil | Top four at 2026 South and Central American Championship | 21 January 2026 | 18th | 1958 | 17 | Seventh place (2025) | |
| Argentina | 16th | 1997 | 16 | Eleventh place (2021) | |||
| Chile | 24 January 2026 | 9th | 2011 | 9 | 16th place (2019) | ||
| Uruguay | 3rd | 2021 | 2023 | 1 | 24th place (2021) | ||
| Japan | Semifinalist at 2026 Asian Championship | 25 January 2026 | 17th | 1961 | 2025 | 2 | Tenth place (1970) |
| Qatar | 11th | 2003 | 8 | Runners-up (2015) | |||
| Bahrain | 7th | 2011 | 6 | 16th place (2023) | |||
| Kuwait | 10th | 1982 | 2 | 15th place (1982) | |||
| Egypt | Top five at 2026 African Championship | 19th | 1964 | 18 | Fourth place (2001) | ||
| Cape Verde | 4th | 2021 | 4 | 23rd place (2023, 2025) | |||
| Algeria | 26 January 2026 | 18th | 1974 | 4 | 13th place (2001) | ||
| Tunisia | 18th | 1967 | 17 | Fourth place (2005) | |||
| Croatia | Top six at 2026 European Championship | 28 January 2026 | 17th | 1995 | 17 | Champions (2003) | |
| Iceland | 24th | 1958 | 9 | Fifth place (1997) | |||
| Sweden | 28th | 1938 | 7 | Champions (1954, 1958, 1990, 1999) | |||
| Portugal | 7th | 1997 | 4 | Fourth place (2025) | |||
| Angola | Top five at 2026 African Championship | 30 January 2026 | 6th | 2005 | 2021 | 1 | 20th place (2005) |
Slot allocation
The slot allocation is as follows:
- AHF (Asia): 4 slots
- CAHB (Africa): 5 slots
- EHF (Europe): 10 slots (including hosts Germany)
- NACHC (North America and the Caribbean): 1 slot
- OCHF (Oceania): 0 slots
- SCAHC (South and Central America): 4 slots
- Wildcards: 2 slots
| Detailed distribution of places (following current IHF rules[1]) | Vacancies | Details | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Organisers[C] | 1 | ||
| Reigning world champion[D] | 1 | ||
| Performance places for the continental confederations | 12 | Based on teams ranked 1–12 in the preceding world championship | |
| Africa | 1 | As Egypt ranked 5th in previous World Championship | |
| Asia | 0 | ||
| Europe | 10 | ||
| North America and the Caribbean | 0 | ||
| South and Central America | 1 | As Brazil ranked 7th in previous World Championship | |
| Oceania | 0 | ||
| Compulsory places for the continental confederations | 15 | 17 compulsory places | |
| Africa | 4 | ||
| Asia | 4 | ||
| Europe | 4 | ||
| North America and the Caribbean | 1 | ||
| South and Central America | 3 | ||
| Oceania | 0 or 1[E] | Place allocated to Oceania or an additional free wild card | |
| Wild card | 1 or 2[F] | ||
| Total | 32 |
Summary
Summary of qualification process
The World Championship host will be directly qualified, along with the reigning world champions. In regards to the 12 performance spots, and based on the results of the 2023 Men's World Championship, Europe receives 10 more spots, while Africa and South and Central America takes 1.
| Detailed summary of 2025 World Men's Handball Championship qualification process | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Confederation | Direct slots | Teams started | Teams eliminated | Teams qualified | Percentage of entered teams with spots in finals | Qualifying start date | Qualifying end date |
| AHF | 4 | 16 | 12 | 4 | 25% | 15 January 2026 | 29 January 2026 |
| CAHB | 5 | 16 | 11 | 5 | 31.25% | 21 January 2026 | 31 January 2026 |
| EHF[G] | 14 | 36 | 20 | 14+1+1 | 44.4% | 29 October 2025 | 17 May 2026 |
| NACHC | 1 | TBD | TBD | 1+1 | 16.67% | 11 May 2026 | 17 May 2026 |
| OCHF[H] | 0 or 1 | 1[I] | 1 | 0 | 6.25% | 11 January 2024 | 25 January 2024 |
| SCAHC | 4 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 67% | 19 January 2026 | 24 January 2026 |
| Total | 29 | TBD | 46 | 27+1+2 | 29 October 2025 | 17 May 2026 | |
Summary of qualified teams
| Competition | Dates | Host | Vacancies | Qualified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Host nations | 28 February 2020 | Cairo | 1 | Germany |
| 2025 World Championship | 14 January – 2 February 2025 |
Croatia Denmark Norway |
1 | Denmark |
| 2026 Asian Men's Handball Championship | 15–29 January 2026 | Kuwait | 4 | Bahrain Japan Kuwait Qatar |
| 2026 European Men's Handball Championship | 15 January – 1 February 2026 |
Denmark Norway Sweden |
4 | Croatia Iceland Portugal Sweden |
| 2026 South and Central American Men's Handball Championship | 19–24 January 2026 | Paraguay | 4 | Argentina Brazil Chile Uruguay |
| 2026 African Men's Handball Championship | 21–31 January 2026 | Rwanda | 5 | Algeria Angola Cape Verde Egypt Tunisia |
| 2026 Nor.Ca. Men's Handball Championship | 11–17 May 2026 | United States | 1 | |
| European qualification | 29 October 2025 – 17 May 2026 |
Various | 10 | |
| Oceania | —[1] | |||
| Wild card | 18 October 2018 | Doha | 2[2] |
^ 1. If countries from Oceania (Australia or New Zealand) participating in the Asian Championships finish within the top 5, they would have qualified for the World Championships. As they finished sixth or lower, the place was transferred to the wild card spot.
^ 2. To bear in mind the 2028 Summer Olympics, the IHF Council will award the United States wild cards for the 2025 and 2027 World Championships, if they reach a certain performance level.[2][3]
World Championship
World champion directly qualified for 2025 edition. Denmark won the 2025 World Championship and became the first team to qualify.
| Rank[4] | Team |
|---|---|
| Denmark | |
| Croatia | |
| France | |
| 4 | Portugal |
| 5 | Egypt |
| 6 | Germany |
| 7 | Brazil |
| 8 | Hungary |
| 9 | Iceland |
| 10 | Norway |
| 11 | Switzerland |
| 12 | Netherlands |
| 13 | Slovenia |
| 14 | Sweden |
| 15 | North Macedonia |
| 16 | Italy |
| 17 | Austria |
| 18 | Spain |
| 19 | Czech Republic |
| 20 | Argentina |
| 21 | Qatar |
| 22 | Tunisia |
| 23 | Cape Verde |
| 24 | Chile |
| 25 | Poland |
| 26 | United States |
| 27 | Kuwait |
| 28 | Japan |
| 29 | Bahrain |
| 30 | Algeria |
| 31 | Guinea |
| 32 | Cuba |
Asia
Sixteen teams competed in the Asian Championship, held in Sabah Al-Salem, Kuwait, from 15 to 29 January 2026.[5] The top 4 reached the world championship. Since the Oceanian representative, Australia, failed to make the top 5 of the championship, Oceania's spot was made into a second wildcard. Bahrain, Kuwait, Japan and Qatar reached the world championship.
| Group I | Group II | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
Source: IHF
|
Bracket
| Semi-finals | Final | |||||
| 27 January | ||||||
| Japan | 25 | |||||
| 29 January | ||||||
| Bahrain | 35 | |||||
| Bahrain (ET) | 29 | |||||
| 27 January | ||||||
| Qatar | 26 | |||||
| Qatar (ET) | 27 | |||||
| Kuwait | 26 | |||||
| Third place | ||||||
| 29 January | ||||||
| Japan | 32 | |||||
| Kuwait | 33 | |||||
Final ranking
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Final result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bahrain | 8 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 254 | 190 | +64 | 14 | Champions and qualified for 2027 World Championship |
| 2 | Qatar | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 196 | 178 | +18 | 8 | Runners-up and qualified for 2027 World Championship |
| 3 | Kuwait (H) | 8 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 258 | 189 | +69 | 12 | Third place and qualified for 2027 World Championship |
| 4 | Japan | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 237 | 226 | +11 | 9 | Fourth place and qualified for 2027 World Championship |
| 5 | South Korea | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 178 | 170 | +8 | 9 | Fifth place game |
| 6 | Saudi Arabia | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 205 | 174 | +31 | 10 | |
| 7 | Iraq | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 184 | 207 | −23 | 6 | Seventh place game |
| 8 | United Arab Emirates | 7 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 196 | 197 | −1 | 4 | |
| 9 | China | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 215 | 182 | +33 | 10 | Ninth place game |
| 10 | Hong Kong | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 162 | 190 | −28 | 5 | |
| 11 | Jordan | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 132 | 136 | −4 | 4 | Eleventh place game |
| 12 | Iran | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 189 | 143 | +46 | 6 | |
| 13 | Oman | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 127 | 145 | −18 | 3 | Thirteenth place game |
| 14 | Australia | 7 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 163 | 253 | −90 | 2 | |
| 15 | India | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 123 | 239 | −116 | 0 | Fifteenth place |
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
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
Africa
Sixteen teams competed in the African Championship, held in Kigali, Rwanda, from 21 to 31 January 2026. The top five from the championship qualified. Those teams ended up being Algeria, Angola, Cape Verde, Egypt and Tunisia.
| Group I | Group II | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Source: IHF
|
Source: IHF
|
Bracket
| Semi-finals | Final | |||||
| 29 January | ||||||
| Egypt | 32 | |||||
| 31 January | ||||||
| Cape Verde | 26 | |||||
| Egypt | 37 | |||||
| 29 January | ||||||
| Tunisia | 24 | |||||
| Algeria | 24 | |||||
| Tunisia | 33 | |||||
| Third place | ||||||
| 31 January | ||||||
| Cape Verde | 29 | |||||
| Algeria | 23 | |||||
5–8th place bracket
| 5–8th place semfinals | Fifth place | |||||
| 29 January | ||||||
| Nigeria | 30 | |||||
| 30 January | ||||||
| Guinea | 28 | |||||
| Nigeria | 20 | |||||
| 29 January | ||||||
| Angola | 25 | |||||
| Angola | 27 | |||||
| Morocco | 20 | |||||
| Seventh place | ||||||
| 30 January | ||||||
| Guinea | 33 (4) | |||||
| Morocco (pen) | 33 (5) | |||||
Final ranking
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Final result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Egypt | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 290 | 166 | +124 | 14 | Champions |
| 2 | Tunisia | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 238 | 183 | +55 | 11 | Runners-up |
| 3 | Cape Verde | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 224 | 197 | +27 | 10 | Third place |
| 4 | Algeria | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 208 | 197 | +11 | 6 | Fourth place |
| 5 | Angola | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 199 | 174 | +25 | 10 | Fifth place game |
| 6 | Nigeria | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 187 | 189 | −2 | 8 | |
| 7 | Morocco | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 244 | 211 | +33 | 9 | Seventh place game |
| 8 | Guinea | 7 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 201 | 231 | −30 | 4 | |
| 9 | Gabon | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 216 | 175 | +41 | 10 | Ninth place game |
| 10 | Cameroon | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 194 | 194 | 0 | 8 | |
| 11 | Congo | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 206 | 204 | +2 | 7 | Eleventh place game |
| 12 | Rwanda (H) | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 202 | 210 | −8 | 6 | |
| 13 | Benin | 7 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 203 | 226 | −23 | 5 | Thirteenth place game |
| 14 | Zambia | 7 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 156 | 245 | −89 | 2 | |
| 15 | Kenya | 7 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 185 | 239 | −54 | 2 | Fifteenth place game |
| 16 | Uganda | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 155 | 267 | −112 | 0 |
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
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
Notes
- ^ Bold text indicates they hosted that edition.
- ^ From both German teams only East Germany was qualified in 1990.
- ^ All hosting federations are automatically entitled to take part in the World Championship. If there is more than one organiser from the same continental confederation, the number of compulsory places of the respective confederation shall be reduced accordingly. If there is more than one organiser and the organisers are not from the same confederation, the IHF Council shall decide about the reduction of the compulsory places, considering only the compulsory places of the confederations involved.
- ^ The reigning world champion automatically qualifies for the next World Championship and, as a rule, is placed first in the first performance row. In case the reigning world champion is also hosting the next World Championship, the confederation of the reigning world champion obtains one additional performance place.
- ^ The continental confederation of Oceania does not have a direct compulsory place for a confederational qualification event, therefore, the Oceanian confederation is invited to participate in the Asian qualification events. The compulsory place is awarded to Oceania if the representative from Oceania is ranked 5th or higher in the Asian qualification. If Oceania fails to rank 5th or does not participate, the IHF Council will award this place as a free wild card.
- ^ If the teams representing Oceania fail to finish in the top 5 of the Asian Championship or does not participate, the IHF Council will change Oceania's spot into a second wild card.
- ^ There are two ways of qualifying from Europe, via the European Championship or European qualification
- ^ The Asian Championship acts as qualification for the Oceanian teams.
- ^ Australia, who is the only Oceanian who entered, participates in the Asian Championship to decides their qualification.
References
- ^ "V. Regulations for IHF Competitions (Indoor Handball)" (PDF). International Handball Federation. 9 December 2020. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
- ^ "Strategic plan | USA" (PDF). IHF.
- ^ "Council Meeting No. 3" (PDF). Doha, Qatar: IHF. 18 October 2018. pp. 8–9.
- ^ "Final ranking" (PDF). ihf.info. IHF. 27 January 2025. Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 February 2025. Retrieved 27 January 2025.
- ^ "IHF | 16 teams to compete for the title at the 2024 AHF Asian Men's Handball Championship". www.ihf.info.