2015 World Men's Handball Championship

2015 World Men's Handball Championship

Tournament details
Host country	Qatar
Venue(s)	3 (in 3 host cities)
Dates	15 January – 1 February
Teams	24 (from 4 confederations)
Final positions
Champions	France (5th title)
Runner-up	Qatar
Third place	Poland
Fourth place	Spain
Tournament statistics
Matches played	88
Goals scored	4,805 (54.6 per match)
Attendance	306,100 (3,478 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Dragan Gajić  (SVN) (71 goals)
Best player	Thierry Omeyer  (FRA) [1]
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The 2015 World Men's Handball Championship was the 24th staging of the World Men's Handball Championship, organised by the International Handball Federation (IHF). The final tournament was held for the first time in Qatar, from 15 January to 1 February 2015. The Qatari bid was selected over those of Norway, Poland and France after a vote by the IHF Council on 27 January 2011, in Malmö, Sweden. ^[2] This was the third time that the World Championship was hosted in the Middle East And North Africa, after Egypt in 1999 and Tunisia in 2005.

France won the final against Qatar 25–22 to win their fifth title, ^[3] a first in handball history while Qatar won their first ever medal. ^[4] Poland captured the bronze medal by defeating Spain 29–28 after extra time. ^[5] Denmark secured the fifth place by winning against Croatia which finished sixth and thus had the worst result in the past 13 years of international handball competing.

The competition was marred by numerous controversies throughout.

Venues

The games of the tournament were played in 3 cities: Doha, Al Rayyan and the newly created town of Lusail.

Three new venues were constructed for the tournament:

• Lusail Sports Arena ^[6] in the town of Lusail: with a capacity of 15,300 seats, Lusail hall became the main venue of the tournament. The hall opened in November 2014.
• Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena in the town of Al Rayyan: with a capacity of 7,700 seats. The hall is part of the al-Sadd Club sports complex.
• Duhail Handball Sports Hall in Duhail district of Doha: with a capacity of 5,500 spectators. The hall is part of the Qatar Handball Association (QHA) complex.

Lusail	Al Rayyan	Doha	Lusail Doha Al Rayyan
Lusail Sports Arena	Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena	Duhail Handball Sports Hall
Capacity: 15,300	Capacity: 7,700	Capacity: 5,500

Qualification

Twenty-four teams participated in the final tournament. Qatar, as hosts and Spain, as world champions, were automatically qualified, which left 22 places available for the best teams of each continental qualification tournament and the winners of an additional European qualification competition.

In a decision taken by the International Handball Federation on 8 July 2014 the spot allocated for a nation from Oceania was revoked on the grounds that Oceania has no continental confederation. The national team, qualified for this spot through the 2014 Oceania Handball Championship, was Australia. The spot was instead handed out as a wild card to the nation with the highest ranking at the previous world championships not qualified for the Qatar tournament. This nation was Germany. ^[7] Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates withdrew on 7 November 2014. ^{[8] [9]} Iceland and Saudi Arabia were chosen as the replacements. ^[10]

Competition	Dates	Vacancies	Qualified
Host nation	27 January 2011	1	Qatar
2013 World Champions	11–27 January 2013	1	Spain
2014 African Men's Handball Championship	16–25 January 2014	3	Algeria   Egypt   Tunisia
2014 European Men's Handball Championship	12–26 January 2014	3	Croatia   Denmark   France
2014 Asian Men's Handball Championship	24 January – 4 February 2014	3	Bahrain [8]   Iran   United Arab Emirates [9]
2014 Oceania Handball Championship	25–26 April 2014	1	Australia [7]
European qualification	7–15 June 2014	9	Austria   Belarus   Bosnia and Herzegovina   Czech Republic   Macedonia   Poland   Russia   Slovenia   Sweden
2014 Pan American Men's Handball Championship	23–29 June 2014	3	Argentina   Brazil   Chile
Wildcard	8 July 2014	1	Germany [7]
Wildcards	21 November 2014	2	Iceland [10]   Saudi Arabia [10]

Qualified teams

Country	Qualified as	Qualified on	Previous appearances 1, 2
Qatar	00Hosts	27 January 2011	4 (2003, 2005, 2007, 2013)
Spain	01 World champions	27 January 2013	17 (1958, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005 , 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013 )
Denmark	Finalist of 2014 European Championship	22 January 2014	20 (1938, 1954, 1958, 1961, 1964, 1967, 1970, 1974, 1978 , 1982, 1986, 1993, 1995, 1999, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013)
France	Finalist of 2014 European Championship	22 January 2014	19 (1954, 1958, 1961, 1964, 1967, 1970 , 1978, 1990, 1993, 1995 , 1997, 1999, 2001 , 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009 , 2011 , 2013)
Croatia	Fourth of 2014 European Championship	22 January 2014	10 (1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013)
Algeria	Finalist of 2014 African Championship	24 January 2014	13 (1974, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2009, 2011, 2013)
Tunisia	Finalist of 2014 African Championship	24 January 2014	11 (1967, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013)
Egypt	Third place of 2014 African Championship	25 January 2014	12 (1964, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013)
Bahrain [8]	Finalist of 2014 Asian Championship	1 February 2014	1 (2011)
Iran	Semifinalist of 2014 Asian Championship	2 February 2014	0 (debut)
United Arab Emirates [9]	Semifinalist of 2014 Asian Championship	3 February 2014	0 (debut)
Australia [7]	Winner of 2014 Oceania Championship	26 April 2014	7 (1999, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013)
Poland	European playoffs	14 June 2014	13 (1958, 1967, 1970, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990, 2003, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013)
Russia	European playoffs	14 June 2014	10 ( 1993 , 1995, 1997 , 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2013)
Czech Republic	European playoffs	14 June 2014	5 (1995, 1997, 2001, 2005, 2007)
Austria	European playoffs	14 June 2014	4 (1938, 1958, 1993, 2011)
Sweden	European playoffs	15 June 2014	21 (1938, 1954 , 1958 , 1961, 1964, 1967, 1970, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990 , 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999 , 2001, 2003, 2005, 2009, 2011)
Slovenia	European playoffs	15 June 2014	6 (1995, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2013)
Macedonia	European playoffs	15 June 2014	3 (1999, 2009, 2013)
Belarus	European playoffs	15 June 2014	2 (1995, 2013)
Bosnia and Herzegovina	European playoffs	15 June 2014	0 (debut)
Brazil	Finalist of 2014 Pan American Championship	28 June 2014	11 (1958, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013)
Argentina	Finalist of 2014 Pan American Championship	28 June 2014	9 (1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013)
Chile	Third at 2014 Pan American Championship	29 June 2014	2 (2011, 2013)
Germany [7]	Wildcard	8 July 2014	22 ( 1938 , 1954, 1958 , 1961 , 1964, 1967, 1970, 1974 , 1978 , 1982 , 1986, 1990 3 , 1993, 1995, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007 , 2009, 2011, 2013)
Iceland [10]	Wildcard	21 November 2014	17 (1958, 1961, 1964, 1970, 1974, 1978, 1986, 1990, 1993, 1995 , 1997, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2011, 2013)
Saudi Arabia [10]	Wildcard	21 November 2014	6 (1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2009, 2013)

¹Bold indicates champion for that year

²Italics indicates host country for that year

³ From both German teams only East Germany was qualified in 1990

Draw

The draw was held on 20 July 2014 at 21:30 local time in Doha, Qatar. ^{[11] [12]}

Seedings

The seedings were published on 11 July 2014. ^[13]

Pot 1	Pot 2	Pot 3	Pot 4	Pot 5	Pot 6
Spain   France   Denmark   Croatia	Bosnia and Herzegovina   Poland   Sweden   Slovenia	Russia   Qatar   Macedonia   Algeria	Austria   Argentina   Belarus   Czech Republic	Tunisia   Egypt   Brazil   Bahrain →   Saudi Arabia [8]	Iran   United Arab Emirates →   Iceland [9]   Chile   Australia →   Germany [7]

Squads

Main article: 2015 World Men's Handball Championship squads

Each team selects 16 players for the tournament.

Referees

18 referee pairs are selected: ^[14]

Referees   Brazil Jesus Menezes Rogéro Pinto   Croatia Matija Gubica Boris Milošević   Czech Republic Václav Horáček Jiří Novotný   Denmark Martin Gjeding Mads Hansen   Egypt Mohamed Rashed Tamer El-Sayed   France Laurent Reveret Stevann Pichon   Germany Lars Geipel Marcus Helbig   Japan Kiyoshi Hizaki Tomokazu Ikebuchi   Lithuania Mindaugas Gatelis Vaidas Mažeika

Referees   Macedonia Gjorgji Nachevski Slave Nikolov   Portugal Duarte Santos Ricardo Fonseca   Qatar Saleh Bamutref Mansour Al-Suwaidi   Serbia Nenad Nikolić Dušan Stojković   Slovenia Nenad Krstić Peter Ljubič   South Korea Bon-ok Koo Seok Lee   Spain Óscar López Ángel Ramírez   Sweden Michael Johansson Jasmin Kliko   Tunisia Samir Krichen Samir Makhlouf

Preliminary round

The schedule was published on 21 August 2014. ^{[15] [16]} A new schedule was released on 12 December 2014. ^{[17] [18]} The top four teams from each group advanced to the knockout stage.

Tie-breaking criteria

For the group stage of this tournament, where two or more teams in a group tied on an equal number of points, the finishing positions will be determined by the following tie-breaking criteria in the following order: ^[19]

1. number of points obtained in the matches among the teams in question
2. goal difference in the matches among the teams in question
3. number of goals scored in the matches among the teams in question (if more than two teams finish equal on points)
4. goal difference in all the group matches
5. number of goals scored in all the group matches
6. drawing of lots

Team advanced to the knockout stage

All times are local (UTC+3).

Group A

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Spain	5	5	0	0	162	127	+35	10
Qatar	5	4	0	1	137	122	+15	8
Slovenia	5	3	0	2	160	145	+15	6
Brazil	5	2	0	3	146	143	+3	4
Belarus	5	1	0	4	147	155	−8	2
Chile	5	0	0	5	104	164	−60	0

Source: ^{[ citation needed ]}

15 January 2015 20:30	Qatar	28–23	Brazil	Lusail Sports Arena, Lusail Attendance: 11,500 Referees: Milošević, Gubica (CRO)
	Hassab Alla, Marković 6	(15–12)	Chiuffa 6
	3× 4×	Report	3× 5× 1×

16 January 2015 17:00	Spain	38–33	Belarus	Duhail Handball Sports Hall, Doha Attendance: 1,200 Referees: Novotný, Horáček (CZE)
	Aguinagalde, Maqueda 6	(21–17)	Tsitou 5
	3× 2×	Report	3× 3× 2×

16 January 2015 17:00	Slovenia	36–23	Chile	Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena, Al Rayyan Attendance: 1,500 Referees: Rashed, El-Sayed (EGY)
	Gajić 9	(16–14)	R. Salinas 10
	3× 8×	Report	1× 6×

---

17 January 2015 17:00	Brazil	27–29	Spain	Duhail Handball Sports Hall, Doha Attendance: 800 Referees: Nachevski, Nikolov (MKD)
	Ribeiro, Toledo 5	(14–15)	Cañellas 9
	4× 5×	Report	3× 2×

17 January 2015 17:00	Belarus	29–34	Slovenia	Lusail Sports Arena, Lusail Attendance: 4,000 Referees: Krichen, Makhlouf (TUN)
	D. Rutenka 6	(8–17)	Gajić 15
	3× 5×	Report	4× 8× 1×

17 January 2015 19:00	Chile	20–27	Qatar	Lusail Sports Arena, Lusail Attendance: 4,500 Referees: Reveret, Pichon (FRA)
	Oneto 5	(9–15)	Marković 11
	3× 5×	Report	3× 2×

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19 January 2015 17:00	Spain	37–16	Chile	Duhail Handball Sports Hall, Doha Attendance: 500 Referees: Lee, Koo (KOR)
	Rivera Folch 7	(14–7)	Araya, Frelijj 3
	3× 3×	Report	4× 1×

19 January 2015 17:00	Belarus	29–34	Brazil	Lusail Sports Arena, Lusail Attendance: 3,000 Referees: Rashed, El-Sayed (EGY)
	three players 6	(12–16)	Ribeiro 9
	3× 5×	Report	4× 5×

19 January 2015 19:00	Slovenia	29–31	Qatar	Lusail Sports Arena, Lusail Attendance: 9,500 Referees: Gjeding, Hansen (DEN)
	Dolenec 8	(15–18)	Capote 12
	3× 7×	Report	4× 5×

---

21 January 2015 17:00	Slovenia	35–32	Brazil	Duhail Handball Sports Hall, Doha Attendance: 500 Referees: Reveret, Pichon (FRA)
	Gajić 12	(19–18)	Ribeiro 7
	2× 5×	Report	3× 5×

21 January 2015 17:00	Chile	23–34	Belarus	Lusail Sports Arena, Lusail Attendance: 800 Referees: Hizaki, Ikebuchi (JPN)
	R. Salinas 6	(11–14)	Pukhouski, S. Rutenka 8
	2× 7× 1×	Report	3× 5×

21 January 2015 19:00	Qatar	25–28	Spain	Lusail Sports Arena, Lusail Attendance: 12,400 Referees: Nikolić, Stojković (SRB)
	Marković 10	(10–8)	Rivera Folch 7
	2× 1×	Report	3× 5×

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23 January 2015 17:00	Brazil	30–22	Chile	Lusail Sports Arena, Lusail Attendance: 2,500 Referees: Krichen, Makhlouf (TUN)
	Pacheco Filho 7	(12–13)	five players 3
	1× 5×	Report	4× 7× 1×

23 January 2015 17:00	Spain	30–26	Slovenia	Duhail Handball Sports Hall, Doha Attendance: 1,000 Referees: Geipel, Helbig (GER)
	Rivera Folch 6	(14–10)	four players 4
	3× 2× 1×	Report	3× 5×

23 January 2015 19:00	Qatar	26–22	Belarus	Lusail Sports Arena, Lusail Attendance: 10,000 Referees: Novotný, Horáček (CZE)
	Marković 9	(7–12)	D. Rutenka 7
	2× 3×	Report	4× 6×

Group B

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Croatia	5	5	0	0	158	124	+34	10
Macedonia	5	4	0	1	153	138	+15	8
Austria	5	2	1	2	147	140	+7	5
Tunisia	5	2	1	2	132	133	−1	5
Bosnia and Herzegovina	5	1	0	4	118	128	−10	2
Iran	5	0	0	5	127	172	−45	0

Source: ^{[ citation needed ]}

16 January 2015 15:00	Bosnia and Herzegovina	30–25	Iran	Lusail Sports Arena, Lusail Attendance: 4,000 Referees: Koo, Lee (KOR)
	Čelica 6	(12–16)	A. Esteki 7
	3× 8×	Report	4× 8×

16 January 2015 17:00	Macedonia	33–25	Tunisia	Lusail Sports Arena, Lusail Attendance: 5,000 Referees: Geipel, Helbig (GER)
	K. Lazarov 10	(18–14)	Tej 6
	3× 7×	Report	3× 6×

16 January 2015 19:00	Croatia	32–30	Austria	Duhail Handball Sports Hall, Doha Attendance: 750 Referees: Gatelis, Mažeika (LTU)
	Čupić 11	(16–13)	Szilágyi, Weber 7
	3× 6×	Report	4× 7× 1×

---

17 January 2015 19:00	Tunisia	25–28	Croatia	Duhail Handball Sports Hall, Doha Attendance: 4,000 Referees: López, Ramírez (ESP)
	Bannour 9	(13–14)	Čupić 8
	3× 6×	Report	3× 5×

17 January 2015 19:00	Iran	31–33	Macedonia	Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena, Al Rayyan Attendance: 1,000 Referees: Al-Suwaidi, Bamutref (QAT)
	A. Esteki 9	(17–19)	K. Lazarov 9
	4× 7× 1×	Report	2× 7×

17 January 2015 21:00	Austria	23–21	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena, Al Rayyan Attendance: 1,000 Referees: Menezes, Pinto (BRA)
	Szilágyi, Weber 4	(11–12)	Malinović 6
	3× 8×	Report	4× 6× 1×

---

19 January 2015 19:00	Bosnia and Herzegovina	22–25	Macedonia	Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena, Al Rayyan Attendance: 2,000 Referees: Gatelis, Mažeika (LTU)
	Burić, Malinović 4	(11–13)	Manaskov 6
	2× 5×	Report	3× 6× 1×

19 January 2015 19:00	Croatia	41–22	Iran	Duhail Handball Sports Hall, Doha Attendance: 500 Referees: Geipel, Helbig (GER)
	Horvat 12	(19–13)	S. Esteki 6
	2× 3×	Report	1× 3×

19 January 2015 21:00	Austria	25–25	Tunisia	Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena, Al Rayyan Attendance: 4,500 Referees: Nikolić, Stojković (SRB)
	Weber 9	(14–15)	Sanaï, Tej 5
	3× 4×	Report	3× 5×

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21 January 2015 17:00	Iran	26–38	Austria	Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena, Al Rayyan Attendance: 500 Referees: Rashed, El-Sayed (EGY)
	S. Esteki 7	(13–18)	Santos 8
	1× 5×	Report	3× 5×

21 January 2015 19:00	Bosnia and Herzegovina	24–27	Tunisia	Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena, Al Rayyan Attendance: 5,500 Referees: Santos, Fonseca (POR)
	Malinović 5	(14–15)	Boughanmi 7
	4× 6×	Report	3× 5×

21 January 2015 19:00	Macedonia	26–29	Croatia	Duhail Handball Sports Hall, Doha Attendance: 2,000 Referees: Novotný, Horáček (CZE)
	K. Lazarov 7	(14–15)	Čupić 9
	4× 6×	Report	4× 6×

---

23 January 2015 17:00	Tunisia	30–23	Iran	Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena, Al Rayyan Attendance: 4,500 Referees: Kliko, Johansson (SWE)
	Touati 7	(12–12)	Karamian 4
	4× 3×	Report	1× 5×

23 January 2015 19:00	Macedonia	36–31	Austria	Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena, Al Rayyan Attendance: 1,000 Referees: Gjeding, Hansen (DEN)
	K. Lazarov 9	(16–16)	Weber 8
	2× 5×	Report	2× 7× 1×

23 January 2015 19:00	Croatia	28–21	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Duhail Handball Sports Hall, Doha Attendance: 800 Referees: Reveret, Pichon (FRA)
	Karačić 6	(17–8)	Toromanović 7
	3× 4×	Report	2× 6× 1×

Group C

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
France	5	4	1	0	143	128	+15	9
Sweden	5	3	1	1	137	109	+28	7
Iceland	5	2	1	2	127	135	−8	5
Egypt	5	2	1	2	135	125	+10	5
Czech Republic	5	2	0	3	145	138	+7	4
Algeria	5	0	0	5	109	161	−52	0

Source: ^{[ citation needed ]}

16 January 2015 19:00	Algeria	20−34	Egypt	Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena, Al Rayyan Attendance: 5,500 Referees: López, Ramírez (ESP)
	Kaabeche 6	(9−17)	Issa 5
	3× 6×	Report	3× 7×

16 January 2015 21:00	France	30−27	Czech Republic	Duhail Handball Sports Hall, Doha Attendance: 1,800 Referees: Gjeding, Hansen (DEN)
	Guigou, Karabatić 7	(16−9)	Horák 8
	2× 6×	Report	3× 10× 1×

16 January 2015 21:00	Sweden	24−16	Iceland	Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena, Al Rayyan Attendance: 1,000 Referees: Menezes, Pinto (BRA)
	Ekberg 7	(12−7)	Atlason 5
	3× 7×	Report	3× 6×

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18 January 2015 19:00	Iceland	32–24	Algeria	Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena, Al Rayyan Attendance: 2,000 Referees: Milošević, Gubica (CRO)
	Sigurðsson 8	(12–13)	Berkous 5
	3× 6× 1×	Report	4× 3×

18 January 2015 21:00	Czech Republic	22–36	Sweden	Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena, Al Rayyan Attendance: 1,000 Referees: Geipel, Helbig (GER)
	Babák, Sobol 5	(10–19)	Andersson 10
	3× 6× 1×	Report	3× 5×

18 January 2015 21:00	Egypt	24–28	France	Duhail Handball Sports Hall, Doha Attendance: 4,500 Referees: Krstić, Ljubič (SLO)
	Amer 5	(11–14)	Karabatić 6
	3× 10×	Report	3× 7×

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20 January 2015 19:00	Czech Republic	24–27	Egypt	Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena, Al Rayyan Attendance: 6,500 Referees: Al-Suwaidi, Bamutref (QAT)
	Hrstka 5	(10–13)	El-Ahmar 5
	3× 4×	Report	3× 9×

20 January 2015 21:00	France	26–26	Iceland	Duhail Handball Sports Hall, Doha Attendance: 2,500 Referees: Santos, Fonseca (POR)
	Karabatić 6	(12–14)	Hallgrímsson, Pálmarsson 5
	3× 5× 1×	Report	4× 7×

20 January 2015 21:00	Sweden	27–19	Algeria	Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena, Al Rayyan Attendance: 1,000 Referees: Nachevski, Nikolov (MKD)
	Källman 6	(15–6)	Daoud 6
	3× 6× 1×	Report	3× 4×

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22 January 2015 19:00	Sweden	25–25	Egypt	Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena, Al Rayyan Attendance: 7,000 Referees: Milošević, Gubica (CRO)
	Ekberg 10	(10–10)	El-Ahmar 9
	3× 6×	Report	3× 7× 1×

22 January 2015 21:00	Iceland	25–36	Czech Republic	Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena, Al Rayyan Attendance: 500 Referees: Lee, Koo (KOR)
	Guðjónsson 5	(11–21)	Jícha 11
	2× 7×	Report	3× 6×

22 January 2015 21:00	Algeria	26–32	France	Duhail Handball Sports Hall, Doha Attendance: 2,000 Referees: Nikolić, Stojković (SRB)
	Berkous 11	(12–19)	Guigou 7
	3× 9×	Report	3× 5×

---

24 January 2015 19:00	Egypt	25–28	Iceland	Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena, Al Rayyan Attendance: 5,500 Referees: Nikolić, Stojković (SRB)
	Issa, Radwan 5	(10–15)	Sigurðsson 13
	3× 4×	Report	2× 7×

24 January 2015 21:00	Algeria	20–36	Czech Republic	Duhail Handball Sports Hall, Doha Attendance: 500 Referees: Hizaki, Ikebuchi (JPN)
	Daoud, Hamoud 5	(10–21)	Jícha 7
	3× 1×	Report	3× 3×

24 January 2015 21:00	France	27–25	Sweden	Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena, Al Rayyan Attendance: 3,000 Referees: López, Ramírez (ESP)
	Joli 9	(11–12)	Källman 8
	4× 2× 1×	Report	3× 4×

Group D

Russia vs Denmark at the Lusail Sports Arena

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Germany	5	4	1	0	150	124	+26	9
Denmark	5	3	2	0	154	127	+27	8
Poland	5	3	0	2	135	121	+14	6
Argentina	5	2	1	2	132	123	+9	5
Russia	5	1	0	4	133	131	+2	2
Saudi Arabia	5	0	0	5	87	165	−78	0

Source: ^{[ citation needed ]}

16 January 2015 15:00	Russia	27–17	Saudi Arabia	Duhail Handball Sports Hall, Doha Attendance: 500 Referees: Hizaki, Ikebuchi (JPN)
	Dereven, Zhitnikov 4	(17–9)	Al-Abbas, Al-Hannabi 4
	2× 6× 1×	Report	4× 9×

16 January 2015 19:00	Poland	26−29	Germany	Lusail Sports Arena, Lusail Attendance: 3,500 Referees: Nachevski, Nikolov (MKD)
	Lijewski 7	(13−17)	Weinhold 9
	4× 5×	Report	3× 6×

16 January 2015 21:00	Denmark	24−24	Argentina	Lusail Sports Arena, Lusail Attendance: 1,000 Referees: Krstić, Ljubič (SLO)
	Eggert 5	(13−8)	Pizarro 8
	3× 7×	Report	3× 7× 1×

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18 January 2015 19:00	Argentina	23–24	Poland	Duhail Handball Sports Hall, Doha Attendance: 3,000 Referees: Novotný, Horáček (CZE)
	three players 5	(12–11)	three players 5
	3× 6× 1×	Report	4× 7×

18 January 2015 19:00	Germany	27–26	Russia	Lusail Sports Arena, Lusail Attendance: 600 Referees: Kliko, Johansson (SWE)
	Gensheimer 9	(9–13)	Igropulo 6
	3× 7×	Report	4× 8×

18 January 2015 21:00	Saudi Arabia	18–38	Denmark	Lusail Sports Arena, Lusail Attendance: 600 Referees: Rashed, El-Sayed (EGY)
	Al-Janabi, Moj. Al-Salem 4	(6–20)	H. Toft Hansen 8
	2× 4×	Report	3× 3×

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20 January 2015 19:00	Poland	26–25	Russia	Lusail Sports Arena, Lusail Attendance: 1,000 Referees: Krstić, Ljubič (SLO)
	Rojewski 6	(12–13)	Shishkarev 7
	3× 5×	Report	2× 5×

20 January 2015 19:00	Argentina	32–20	Saudi Arabia	Duhail Handball Sports Hall, Doha Attendance: 1,000 Referees: Krichen, Makhlouf (TUN)
	Pizarro 7	(13–11)	Al-Janabi 5
	4× 6×	Report	3× 12× 2×

20 January 2015 21:00	Denmark	30–30	Germany	Lusail Sports Arena, Lusail Attendance: 2,000 Referees: López, Ramírez (ESP)
	Christiansen, Hansen 6	(16–16)	Weinhold 8
	3× 3×	Report	4× 5×

---

22 January 2015 19:00	Poland	32–13	Saudi Arabia	Duhail Handball Sports Hall, Doha Attendance: 800 Referees: Kliko, Johansson (SWE)
	Syprzak 10	(17–6)	Al-Abdulali 4
	3× 3×	Report	3× 4× 1×

22 January 2015 19:00	Germany	28–23	Argentina	Lusail Sports Arena, Lusail Attendance: 5,500 Referees: Gatelis, Mažeika (LTU)
	Groetzki 7	(13–14)	Fernández 6
	3× 6×	Report	4× 6×

22 January 2015 21:00	Russia	28–31	Denmark	Lusail Sports Arena, Lusail Attendance: 10,500 Referees: Nachevski, Nikolov (MKD)
	Shishkarev 8	(8–16)	Lauge 9
	3× 1×	Report	3× 2×

---

24 January 2015 19:00	Saudi Arabia	19–36	Germany	Lusail Sports Arena, Lusail Attendance: 3,500 Referees: Santos, Fonseca (POR)
	three players 3	(8–18)	Musche, Sellin 11
	3× 6×	Report	3× 5×

24 January 2015 19:00	Russia	27–30	Argentina	Duhail Handball Sports Hall, Doha Attendance: 500 Referees: Al-Suwaidi, Bamutref (QAT)
	Shishkarev 7	(16–17)	Pizarro 9
	3× 8× 1×	Report	4× 4× 1×

24 January 2015 21:00	Denmark	31–27	Poland	Lusail Sports Arena, Lusail Attendance: 6,000 Referees: Milošević, Gubica (CRO)
	Lindberg 6	(16–12)	Rojewski 5
	3× 5×	Report	4× 3×

Knockout stage

The final match, Qatar vs France

Championship

Round of 16

Quarterfinals

Semifinals

Final

B1

Croatia

26

A4

Brazil

25

B1

Croatia

22

D3

Poland

24

D3

Poland

24

C2

Sweden

20

D3

Poland

29

B3

Austria

27

A2

Qatar

31

A2

Qatar

29

A2

Qatar

26

D1

Germany

23

D1

Germany

24

C4

Egypt

16

A2

Qatar

22

C3

Iceland

25

C1

France

25

D2

Denmark

30

D2

Denmark

24

A1

Spain

28

A1

Spain

25

B4

Tunisia

20

A1

Spain

22

Third place

A3

Slovenia

30

C1

France

26

B2

Macedonia

28

A3

Slovenia

23

D3

Poland

29

C1

France

33

C1

France

32

A1

Spain

28

D4

Argentina

20

Round of 16

25 January 2015 18:30	Austria	27–29	Qatar	Lusail Sports Arena, Lusail Attendance: 12,200 Referees: Milošević, Gubica (CRO)
	Weber 8	(14–13)	Marković 8
	4× 7×	Report	2× 4×

---

25 January 2015 18:30	Slovenia	30–28	Macedonia	Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena, Al Rayyan Attendance: 800 Referees: Gatelis, Mažeika (LTU)
	Gajić 9	(16–15)	Georgievski, K. Lazarov 7
	4× 9×	Report	3× 4× 1×

---

25 January 2015 21:00	Spain	28–20	Tunisia	Lusail Sports Arena, Lusail Attendance: 5,500 Referees: Nachevski, Nikolov (MKD)
	Ugalde 6	(18–9)	Boughanmi 5
	3× 5×	Report	3× 3×

---

25 January 2015 21:00	Croatia	26–25	Brazil	Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena, Al Rayyan Attendance: 800 Referees: Al-Suwaidi, Bamutref (QAT)
	Kopljar 5	(13–15)	Silva 5
	2× 1×	Report	3× 5×

---

26 January 2015 18:30	Germany	23–16	Egypt	Lusail Sports Arena, Lusail Attendance: 12,500 Referees: Novotný, Horáček (CZE)
	Gensheimer 6	(12–8)	El-Ahmar, Issa 4
	3× 7×	Report	3× 5× 1×

---

26 January 2015 18:30	Poland	24–20	Sweden	Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena, Al Rayyan Attendance: 1,500 Referees: Krstić, Ljubič (SLO)
	B. Jurecki, M. Jurecki 5	(10–11)	Petersen 5
	2× 3×	Report	3× 6×

---

26 January 2015 21:00	Iceland	25–30	Denmark	Lusail Sports Arena, Lusail Attendance: 3,000 Referees: Reveret, Pichon (FRA)
	Petersson 7	(10–16)	Lauge Schmidt 6
	4× 2×	Report	3× 5×

---

26 January 2015 21:00	France	33–20	Argentina	Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena, Al Rayyan Attendance: 1,500 Referees: Gjeding, Hansen (DEN)
	Porte 6	(16–6)	Carou 4
	2× 4×	Report	2× 1×

Quarterfinals

28 January 2015 18:30	Croatia	22–24	Poland	Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena, Al Rayyan Attendance: 1,500 Referees: Gjeding, Hansen (DEN)
	Duvnjak, Kopljar 5	(10–12)	Jurkiewicz 6
	3× 3×	Report	4× 3×

---

28 January 2015 18:30	Qatar	26–24	Germany	Lusail Sports Arena, Lusail Attendance: 15,000 Referees: Nachevski, Nikolov (MKD)
	Capote 8	(18–14)	Gensheimer 5
	3× 2×	Report	4× 3×

---

28 January 2015 21:00	Slovenia	23–32	France	Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena, Al Rayyan Attendance: 2,500 Referees: Novotný, Horáček (CZE)
	L. Žvižej 6	(10–18)	Narcisse 6
	4× 5×	Report	2× 2×

---

28 January 2015 21:00	Denmark	24–25	Spain	Lusail Sports Arena, Lusail Attendance: 9,000 Referees: Geipel, Helbig (GER)
	Eggert, Hansen 6	(11–11)	Rivera Folch 10
	4× 3×	Report	3× 3×

Semifinals

30 January 2015 18:30	Poland	29–31	Qatar	Lusail Sports Arena, Lusail Attendance: 15,000 Referees: Nikolić, Stojković (SRB)
	Jurecki 9	(13–16)	Capote, Mallash 6
	3× 5×	Report	3× 2×

---

30 January 2015 21:00	Spain	22–26	France	Lusail Sports Arena, Lusail Attendance: 9,000 Referees: Krstić, Ljubič (SLO)
	Cañellas, Ugalde 5	(14–18)	Guigou 5
	3× 3×	Report	3× 3×

Bronze medal game

1 February 2015 16:30	Poland	29–28 (ET)	Spain	Lusail Sports Arena, Lusail Attendance: 9,400 Referees: Gjeding, Hansen (DEN)
	Szyba 8	(13–13)	Tomás 7
	3× 4×	Report	2× 1×
	FT: 24–24  ET: 5–4

Final

1 February 2015 19:15	Qatar	22–25	France	Lusail Sports Arena, Lusail Attendance: 15,000 Referees: Novotný, Horáček (CZE)
	Marković 7	(11–14)	Karabatić 5
	3× 4×	Report	4× 2×

5–8th place playoffs

	Semifinals				Fifth place
	30 January
	Croatia	28
					31 January
	Germany	23
					Croatia	24
	30 January
					Denmark	28
	Denmark	36
	Slovenia	33
					Seventh place
					31 January
					Germany	30
					Slovenia	27

5–8th place semifinals

30 January 2015 16:00	Croatia	28–23	Germany	Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena, Al Rayyan Attendance: 800 Referees: López, Ramírez (ESP)
	Štrlek 8	(13–11)	Gensheimer, Schöngarth 6
	3× 2×	Report	4× 2×

---

30 January 2015 18:30	Denmark	36–33	Slovenia	Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena, Al Rayyan Attendance: 500 Referees: Al-Suwaidi, Bamutref (QAT)
	Hansen 13	(19–15)	Gajić 12
	3× 4×	Report	2× 5× 2×

Seventh place game

31 January 2015 16:30	Germany	30–27	Slovenia	Lusail Sports Arena, Lusail Attendance: 1,000 Referees: Novotný, Horáček (CZE)
	Gensheimer 13	(16–14)	Natek 9
	3× 3×	Report	3× 3× 1×

Fifth place game

31 January 2015 19:15	Croatia	24–28	Denmark	Lusail Sports Arena, Lusail Attendance: 3,000 Referees: López, Ramírez (ESP)
	three players 4	(11–15)	Hansen 8
	3× 3×	Report	3× 3×

President’s Cup

17–20th place playoffs   Semifinals 17th place                 26 January       Belarus 37   27 January     Bosnia and Herzegovina 29     Belarus 31   26 January     Czech Republic (pen.) 32     Czech Republic 32       Russia 30   19th place     27 January       Bosnia and Herzegovina 28       Russia 42

21–24th place playoffs   Semifinals 21st place                 26 January       Chile 31   27 January     Iran 32     Iran 26   26 January     Saudi Arabia 22     Algeria 25       Saudi Arabia 27   23rd place     27 January       Chile (pen.) 30       Algeria 28

Placement semifinals

26 January 2015 13:00	Chile	31–32	Iran	Duhail Handball Sports Hall, Doha Attendance: 100 Referees: Hizaki, Ikebuchi (JPN)
	R. Salinas 18	(15–17)	three players 5
	2× 2×	Report	3× 4× 1×

---

26 January 2015 15:00	Algeria	25–27	Saudi Arabia	Duhail Handball Sports Hall, Doha Attendance: 100 Referees: Kliko, Johansson (SWE)
	Hamoud 9	(14–12)	Moj. Al-Salem 5
	2× 6× 1×	Report	3× 7×

---

26 January 2015 17:00	Belarus	37–29	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Duhail Handball Sports Hall, Doha Attendance: 300 Referees: Menezes, Pinto (BRA)
	S. Rutenka 9	(20–16)	Burić 6
	3× 6×	Report	3× 4×

---

26 January 2015 19:00	Czech Republic	32–30	Russia	Duhail Handball Sports Hall, Doha Attendance: 300 Referees: Krichen, Makhlouf (TUN)
	Zdráhala 8	(16–15)	Dereven 8
	4× 6× 1×	Report	1× 6×

23rd place game

27 January 2015 13:00	Chile	30–28	Algeria	Duhail Handball Sports Hall, Doha Attendance: 100 Referees: Santos, Fonseca (POR)
	R. Salinas 11	(10–16)	Hamoud 12
	4× 4×	Report	2× 7×
	FT: 27–27  Pen: 3–1

21st place game

27 January 2015 15:00	Iran	26–22	Saudi Arabia	Duhail Handball Sports Hall, Doha Attendance: 150 Referees: Menezes, Pinto (BRA)
	A. Esteki 6	(15–10)	Al-Abdulali 6
	2× 5× 1×	Report	3× 6×

19th place game

27 January 2015 17:00	Bosnia and Herzegovina	28–42	Russia	Duhail Handball Sports Hall, Doha Attendance: 200 Referees: Hizaki, Ikebuchi (JPN)
	Malinović 6	(16–20)	Kovalev 6
	3× 6×	Report	2× 6×

17th place game

27 January 2015 19:00	Belarus	31–32	Czech Republic	Duhail Handball Sports Hall, Doha Attendance: 300 Referees: Rased, El-Sayed (EGY)
	S. Rutenka 12	(13–14)	four players 6
	3× 5×	Report	3× 3×
	FT: 28–28  Pen: 3–4

Statistics

Top goalscorers Rank Name Team Goals Shots % 1 Dragan Gajić   Slovenia 71 93 76% 2 Žarko Marković   Qatar 67 127 53% 3 Uwe Gensheimer   Germany 54 72 75% 4 Rodrigo Salinas   Chile 52 92 57% 5 Rafael Capote   Qatar 48 78 62% 6 Valero Rivera Folch   Spain 47 58 81% 7 Kiril Lazarov   Macedonia 45 78 58% 8 Siarhei Rutenka   Belarus 43 75 57% 9 Robert Weber   Austria 42 61 69% 10 Ivan Čupić   Croatia 41 53 77% Source: IHF.info

Top goalkeepers Rank Name Team % Saves Shots 1 Carsten Lichtlein   Germany 38% 57 152 2 Filip Ivić   Croatia 37% 44 119 Thierry Omeyer   France 105 283 Gonzalo Pérez de Vargas   Spain 97 259 5 Mattias Andersson   Sweden 36% 53 147 Danijel Šarić   Qatar 75 206 Petr Štochl   Czech Republic 75 210 8 Jannick Green   Denmark 35% 47 135 Silvio Heinevetter   Germany 67 193 Nikola Marinovic   Austria 52 150 Source: IHF.info

Final ranking

Rank Team   France   Qatar   Poland 4   Spain 5   Denmark 6   Croatia 7   Germany 8   Slovenia 9   Macedonia 10   Sweden 11   Iceland 12   Argentina 13   Austria 14   Egypt 15   Tunisia 16   Brazil 17   Czech Republic 18   Belarus 19   Russia 20   Bosnia and Herzegovina 21   Iran 22   Saudi Arabia 23   Chile 24   Algeria Qualified for the 2016 Summer Olympics Qualified for the 2016 Summer Olympics thru continental events Qualified for the Olympic Qualification Tournament

2015 Men's World Champions France Fifth title Team roster William Accambray, Igor Anić, Xavier Barachet, Cyril Dumoulin, Jérôme Fernandez, Mathieu Grébille, Michaël Guigou, Samuel Honrubia, Guillaume Joli, Luka Karabatic, Nikola Karabatić, Kentin Mahé, Daniel Narcisse, Alix Nyokas, Thierry Omeyer, Valentin Porte, Cédric Sorhaindo Head coach: Claude Onesta All-Star Team All-Star Team of the tournament: [1] Goalkeeper:  Thierry Omeyer  (FRA) Right wing:  Dragan Gajić  (SVN) Right back:  Žarko Marković  (QAT) Centre back:  Nikola Karabatić  (FRA) Left back:  Rafael Capote  (QAT) Left wing:  Valero Rivera Folch  (ESP) Pivot:  Bartosz Jurecki  (POL) Other awards Most Valuable Player:   Thierry Omeyer  (FRA) [1]

The final rankings were used in the 2016 Summer Olympics qualification process. France, as World Champion, qualified for the Olympics. The next 6 teams earned a place in the Olympic Qualification Tournaments. Qatar and Germany, however, won their continental tournaments (qualifying them directly for the Olympics) and thus their spots in the Olympic Qualification Tournaments went to Slovenia and Macedonia.

Controversy

Withdrawal of teams

As mentioned under qualifications, Australia lost its spot in the tournament due to an IHF decision, being replaced by Germany, who had not originally qualified. Further, Bahrain and United Arab Emirates withdrew. ^{[7] [8] [9]}

Qatar player naturalisation

A large number of players in the Qatar team had been naturalised in the years leading up to the championship. According to IHF rules, to gain eligibility for a new national team, a player cannot have played for another nation for three years in an official match. ^{[20] [21]} This allowed several foreign-born players, including Spanish-born Borja Vidal, Goran Stojanović and Jovo Damjanović from Montenegro, and Bertrand Roiné who previously played for France, to play for the Qatar team at the championship. According to the Frankfurter Allgemeine , only four of the 17 players in the squad were native to Qatar. ^[22]

Head of the Qatar Handball Federation, Ahmed Mohammed Abdulrab Al Shaabi, acknowledged the policy in a statement in June 2013, saying "We're a small nation with limited human resources, so we had to bring players from outside in the past." He also announced an end to the policy at the time, adding however that they "[might] make an exception only in the case of an experienced goalkeeper." ^[23] In January 2014, Danish sports agent Mads Winther said he had met with "contacts involved with Qatar" regarding the possibility of naturalising Danish players. ^[24]

The practice was criticised by Austrian goalkeeper after his team's loss to Qatar in the round of 16, saying "It [felt] like playing against a world selection team" and "I think it is not the sense of a world championship." ^[25] At a press conference during the championship, Qatar head coach Valero Rivera declined to comment on the matter. ^[25] Spanish player Joan Cañellas did not think it was an issue, saying "If they can do it, why not." ^[21]

After the controversial semi-final against Poland, and reaching the final as a result, the practice was even more criticised, with players such as Danijel Šarić having now represented four different national teams. ^[26]

Paid fans

Qatar flew in about 60 Spanish fans to cheer for Qatar during the championship. ^[27]

Refereeing

During the first 12 matches of the tournament, 143 two-minute suspensions were awarded by the referees, a figure that came under strong criticism from teams, who had not been informed of the IHF Referee Committee's instructions to referees commanding them to keep a strict disciplinary line. ^[28]

The referees were widely accused of being one-sided in favour of the hosts. Especially at the matches against Austria, ^{[29] [30] [31]} Germany ^{[29] [32] [33]} and Poland. ^{[34] [35] [36] [37]} After the final whistle, the Polish players showed their discontent by ironically applauding the three referees. ^{[38] [39]}

See also

• 2015 IHF Emerging Nations Championship

References

1. "Qatar 2015 All Star Team announced". IHF. 1 February 2015. Archived from the original on 2 February 2015. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
2. "2015 World Championship hosts announced". EHF. 27 January 2011. Archived from the original on 31 October 2013. Retrieved 30 October 2013.
3. "France: World, Olympic and European Champions". IHF. 1 February 2015. Archived from the original on 1 February 2015. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
4. "France beat Qatar to win fifth world handball title". Gulf Times . 1 February 2015. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
5. "Bronze goes to Poland". IHF. 1 February 2015. Archived from the original on 1 February 2015. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
6. "Lusail Multipurpose Hall – 24th Men's Handball World Championship". qatarhandball2015.com.
7. "IHF Council Meeting held in Zagreb". ihf.info. 8 July 2014.
8. "Bahrain withdraws from the 2015 Men's World Championship". ihf.info. 7 November 2014.
9. "The United Arab Emirates withdraw from the 2015 World Championship". ihf.info. 10 November 2014.
10. "IHF Council decision on withdrawal of Bahrain and United Arab Emirates from 2015 Men's WCh". ihf.info. 21 November 2014.
11. "Draw for Qatar 2015 on 20 July in Doha". ihf.info. 12 March 2014.
12. "Groups of the 2015 Men's Handball World Championship drawn in Doha". ihf.info. 20 July 2014.
13. "Pots and procedure for Qatar 2015 draw on 20 July". ihf.info. 11 July 2014.
14. "Referee Nominations 2015 – Men's World Championship 2015 – Qatar". ihf.info. 2 January 2015.
15. "Qatar 2015 match schedule available for download". ihf.info. 21 August 2014.
16. Schedule
17. "The IHF publishes newest throw-off schedule for Qatar 2015". ihf.info. 12 December 2014.
18. "Match Schedule" (PDF). ihf.info.
19. "International Handball Federation". ihf-online.info.
20. "Player Eligibility Code" (PDF). ihf.info. International Handball Federation. p. 5. Retrieved 29 January 2015. They shall not have played in any national team of another country in the three years preceding their first appearance in the national team in an official match.
21. "Qatar's foreign legion primed for handball date with Germany". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
22. "Falsche Fans simulieren Stimmung" [Fake fans simulate excitement]. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (in German). Frankfurter Allgemeine . Retrieved 31 January 2015.
23. "Al Shaabi says no to further naturalisation". dohastadiumplusqatar.com. Archived from the original on 6 July 2013. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
24. Wenande, Christian. "Qatar targeting Danish handball players ahead of hosting of 2015 worlds". The Copenhagen Post . Retrieved 31 January 2015.
25. "Qatar handball team coach faces questions over foreign players". BBC . Retrieved 29 January 2015.
26. "Danijel Sarić – to on "zabrał" Polakom finał MŚ". onet.pl. 30 January 2015.
27. "Qatar 'buys' noisy Spanish handball fans". thelocal.es. 16 January 2015.
28. "Dansk dommer om de mange udvisninger: IHF vil have en hård linje". dr.dk.
29. Team, Fans und Schiris gekauft? (German)
30. Handball-WM in Katar: Österreich hält sich für verpfiffen (German)
31. Österreich von Referees und Katar aus WM gekickt (German)
32. Reaktionen auf deutsches WM-Aus: "Man muss aufpassen, was man sagt" (German)
33. WM-Aus der deutschen Handballer: "Im Schiedsrichterwesen gibt es Grauzonen" (German)
34. Sramotno: Pogledajte trenutak kad su srpski suci pretjerali s navlačenjem za Katar Archived 1 February 2015 at the Wayback Machine (Croatian)
35. Polský smutek. Katar je ve finále MS v házené, pomohli mu rozhodčí (Czech)
36. Polska – Katar – czemu Katar awansował? Kontrowersje wokół drużyny gospodarzy, nie byli faworytami (Polish)
37. Michał Jurecki: Każdy wie, co tutaj się dzieje... (Polish)
38. "Radość Katarczyków, Polacy z pretensjami do sędziów". przegladsportowy.pl. 30 January 2015.
39. "Polish National Handball Team Sarcastically Applauds Officials After Controversial Loss to Qatar". thebiglead.com. 31 January 2015.

External links

• Official website
• IHF website