2025 World Men's Handball Championship – European qualification

Last updated May 13, 2024

The European qualification for the 2025 World Men's Handball Championship will be contested in two rounds between November 2023 and May 2024.^[1] They will join six already qualified teams: Croatia and Norway, as co-hosts, Denmark as co-host and title holder, France as defending runner-ups, and two best ranked teams at 2024 European Men's Handball Championship excluding Croatia, Norway and Denmark.

Format

In the first round of qualification, ten teams were drawn in to knock-out ties. The winners advanced to part one of the qualification phase 2, where they join Lithuania, Ukraine and Belgium. The advancing teams will then join the 18 teams participating at the 2024 European Men's Handball Championship for the final qualifiers.^[2]

Qualification phase 1

The draw took place on 5 July 2023.^[3]^[4] The winners of each tie advanced to phase 2.

Seeding

The 10 teams were seeded according to the current men's national team ranking.^[5]

Pot 1	Pot 2
Israel Slovakia Finland Turkey Estonia	Latvia Italy Kosovo Luxembourg Great Britain

Overview

Team 1	Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Luxembourg	58–63	Israel	31–28	27–35
Great Britain	28–58	Finland	16–25	12–33
Latvia	51–58	Estonia	29–30	22–28
Slovakia	58–51	Kosovo	33–23	25–28
Turkey	64–65	Italy	37–28	27–37

Matches

All times are UTC+1.

17 January 2024^{[note 1]} 18:45	Luxembourg	31–28	Israel	d'Coque, Luxembourg City Attendance: 457 Referees: Bolic, Hurich (AUT)
	Hoffmann 10	(14–15)	Cohen 6
	2× 7× 1×	Report	2×

18 January 2024^{[note 1]} 18:45	Israel	35–27	Luxembourg	d'Coque, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg Attendance: 442 Referees: Bolic, Hurich (AUT)
	Dayan 9	(15–16)	Hoffmann 8
	8×	Report	4×

Israel won 63–58 on aggregate.

2 November 2023 20:00	Great Britain	16–25	Finland	Ravenscraig Regional Sports Facility, Motherwell Attendance: 340 Referees: Pétursson, Þrastarson (ISL)
	Pereira 7	(8–11)	Helander 9
	1× 2×	Report	2× 4×

4 November 2023 15:00	Finland	33–12	Great Britain	Karis idrottshall, Karis Attendance: 650 Referees: Kull, Tint (EST)
	Helander 10	(14–5)	Pereira 4
	3×	Report	1× 2×

Finland won 58–28 on aggregate.

2 November 2023 18:40	Latvia	29–30	Estonia	Valmiers Olympic Centre, Valmiera Attendance: 450 Referees: Oyarzun, Zaragueta (ESP)
	Geislers 12	(12–13)	Toom 7
	1× 2×	Report	2×

4 November 2023 18:00	Estonia	28–22	Latvia	Kalev Sports Hall, Tallinn Attendance: 660 Referees: Fukala, Mohyla (CZE)
	Varik 7	(12–7)	Geislers 5
	1× 6×	Report	3×

Estonia won 58–51 on aggregate.

2 November 2023 18:00	Slovakia	33–23	Kosovo	City Sports Hall Považská Bystrica, Považská Bystrica Attendance: 1,400 Referees: Pagh, Thygesen (DEN)
	Prokop 7	(15–9)	Gjuka, Ninaj 5
	2× 2×	Report	1× 3×

5 November 2023 17:00	Kosovo	28–25	Slovakia	Palace of Youth and Sports, Pristina Attendance: 750 Referees: Cindrić, Gonzurek (CRO)
	Dedaj, Ninaj 6	(14–14)	Briatka, Macháč 4
	2× 4×	Report	2× 6×

Slovakia won 58–51 on aggregate.

1 November 2023 17:00	Turkey	37–28	Italy	Sakarya Sports Hall, Serdivan Attendance: 5,000 Referees: Ivanović, Vujisić (MNE)
	Döne, Pehlivan 10	(15–13)	Parisini 7
	2× 6×	Report	2×

5 November 2023 18:00	Italy	37–27	Turkey	Pala Santa Filomena, Chieti Attendance: 1,200 Referees: Thiyagarajah, Thiyagarajah (GER)
	Mengon, Moretti 7	(16–11)	Pehlivan 7
	3×	Report	1× 6×

Italy won 65–64 on aggregate.

Qualification phase 2

Part 1

The winners of phase 1 joined Belgium, Lithuania and Ukraine. The matches were played in March 2024.^[2] The draw was made on 21 November 2023.^[7]

Qualified teams

from Phase 1

Seeding

The eight teams were seeded according to the current men's national team ranking.^[8]

Pot 1	Pot 2
Ukraine Lithuania Belgium Israel	Slovakia Finland Estonia Italy

Overview

Team 1	Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Belgium	56–62	Italy	25–29	31–33
Estonia	73–62	Ukraine	32–29	41–33
Slovakia	52–49	Israel	26–25	26–24
Finland	46–46 3–4 (p)	Lithuania	20–20	26–26

Matches

All times are UTC+1.

13 March 2024 20:10	Belgium	25–29	Italy	Sporthal Alverberg, Hasselt Attendance: 1,700 Referees: Cindrić, Gonzurek (CRO)
	Danesi, Serras 5	(15–17)	Bulzamini 9
	2× 3×	Report	1× 2× 1×

17 March 2024 18:00	Italy	33–31	Belgium	Giovanni Paolo II Sports Hall, Pescara Attendance: 1,200 Referees: Brkic, Jusufhodzic (AUT)
	Bortoli 9	(16–16)	Danesi 6
	1× 2×	Report	5× 1×

Italy won 62–56 on aggregate.

13 March 2024 18:00	Estonia	32–29	Ukraine	Kalev Sports Hall, Tallinn Attendance: 740 Referees: Hannes, Hannes (GER)
	Jaanimaa 11	(18–16)	Turchenko 13
	2× 5× 1×	Report	1× 4×

16 March 2024 14:30	Ukraine	33–41	Estonia	Alytus Arena, Alytus, Lithuania^{[note 2]} Attendance: 850 Referees: Čerņavskis, Bogdanovs (LAT)
	Rahozin 6	(18–18)	Toom 9
	3×	Report	1×

Estonia won 73–62 on aggregate.

15 March 2024 19:30	Slovakia	26–25	Israel	Sporthalle Topoľčany, Topoľčany Attendance: 2,100 Referees: Bozhinovski, Nachevski (MKD)
	Potisk 6	(14–16)	Bodenheimer, Segal 5
	1× 1×	Report	1×

17 March 2024 14:00	Israel	24–26	Slovakia	Sporthalle Topoľčany, Topoľčany, Slovakia^{[note 3]} Attendance: 2,050 Referees: Bozhinovski, Nachevski (MKD)
	Cohen 6	(11–13)	Potisk 6
	3×	Report	3×

Slovakia won 52–49 on aggregate.

14 March 2024 17:30	Finland	20–20	Lithuania	Energia Areena, Vantaa Attendance: 900 Referees: Borge, Nygren (NOR)
	M. Granlund, Helander 4	(9–9)	Antanavičius 5
	1× 7×	Report	5×

17 March 2024 17:00	Lithuania	30–29	Finland	Alytus Arena, Alytus Attendance: 1,700 Referees: Jerlecki,, Łabuń (POL)
	Malašinskas 8	(13–13)	M. Granlund 6
	4×	Report	4×
	FT: 26–26 Pen: 4–3

46–46 on aggreagate. Lithuania won 4–3 on penalties.

Part 2

The four winners from Part 1 joined the 18 teams from the 2024 European Men's Handball Championship final tournament that did not qualify directly for the 2025 World Championship.^[7] A draw held on 27 January 2024 paired seeded with unseeded teams into eleven two-legged fixtures, with the first leg played on 8–9 May and the second leg played on 11–12 May 2024.^[10] The winners qualify for the 2025 World Men's Handball Championship final tournament.

Seeding

The 22 teams were seeded according to the ranking of the 2024 European Men's Handball Championship.^[11] The 11 best-ranked teams were placed in Pot 1, while the remaining seven teams were placed together with the four winners from Part 1 in Pot 2.

Pot 1	Pot 2
Hungary Slovenia Portugal Austria Iceland Netherlands Spain Montenegro Czech Republic Poland North Macedonia	Georgia Serbia Faroe Islands Switzerland Romania Greece Bosnia and Herzegovina Italy ^{[note 4]} Estonia ^{[note 4]} Slovakia ^{[note 4]} Lithuania ^{[note 4]}

Overview

Team 1	Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Lithuania	–	Hungary	26–33	12 May
Slovenia	–	Switzerland	26–27	12 May
Portugal	–	Bosnia and Herzegovina	29–19	12 May
Georgia	–	Austria	25–27	12 May
Iceland	87–49	Estonia	50–25	37–24
Greece	–	Netherlands	31–27	12 May
Spain	–	Serbia	32–28	12 May
Italy	–	Montenegro	32–26	12 May
Romania	–	Czech Republic	31–30	12 May
Poland	–	Slovakia	28–29	12 May
Faroe Islands	–	North Macedonia	34–27	12 May

Matches

All times are UTC+2.

9 May 2024 18:00	Lithuania	26–33	Hungary	Avia Solutions Group Arena, Vilnius Attendance: 1,901 Referees: Lovin, Stancu (ROU)
	Antanavičius 6	(11–13)	Imre 11
	1× 4×	Report	2× 3×

12 May 2024 17:15	Hungary	v	Lithuania	Veszprém Aréna, Veszprém Referees: Lončar, Lončar (CRO)
		Report

9 May 2024 18:00	Slovenia	26–27	Switzerland	Arena Bonifika, Koper Attendance: 2,200 Referees: Madsen, Mortensen (DEN)
	Vlah 5	(15–12)	Zehnder 8
	2× 3×	Report	3×

12 May 2024 16:00	Switzerland	v	Slovenia	AXA-Arena, Winterthur Referees: Covalciuc, Covalciuc (MDA)
		Report

9 May 2024 20:30	Portugal	29–19	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Pavilhao Desportivo Unidade Vimaranense, Guimarães Referees: Kull, Tint (EST)
	Portela 6	(14–10)	Vukšic 7
	2×	Report	1× 5×

12 May 2024 17:00	Bosnia and Herzegovina	v	Portugal	KSPC Mejdan, Tuzla Referees: Backović, Palačković (SLO)
		Report

9 May 2024 16:00	Georgia	25–27	Austria	Tbilisi Sports Palace, Tbilisi Attendance: 3,000 Referees: Mažeika, Gatelis (LTU)
	Tskhovrebadze 8	(12–12)	Frimmel 8
	1× 2×	Report	1× 5×

12 May 2024 16:00	Austria	v	Georgia	Albert Schultz Halle, Vienna Referees: Álvarez, Bustamante (ESP)
		Report

8 May 2024 21:30	Iceland	50–25	Estonia	Laugardalshöll, Reykjavík Attendance: 2,500 Referees: Mandák, Rudinský (SVK)
	Magnússon 12	(26–12)	Jaanimaa 8
	2×	Report	3×

11 May 2024 17:00	Estonia	24–37	Iceland	Kalev Sports Hall, Tallinn Attendance: 600 Referees: Vujačić, Kažanegra (MNE)
	Koks, Toom 5	(13–18)	Þorkelsson 9
	1× 2×	Report	1× 2× 1×

Iceland won 87–49 on aggregate.

8 May 2024 16:15	Greece	31–27	Netherlands	Municipal Sports Center Lefkovrisi, Kozani Attendance: 2,000 Referees: Gasmi, Gasmi (FRA)
	Toskas 7	(13–12)	Ten Velde 10
	1× 6×	Report	4×

12 May 2024 16:00	Netherlands	v	Greece	Indoor-Sportcentrum Eindhoven, Eindhoven Referees: Horáček, Novotný (CZE)
		Report

8 May 2024 21:00	Spain	32–28	Serbia	Lalín Arena, Lalín Attendance: 2,480 Referees: Hansen, Madsen (DEN)
	A. Dujshebaev 6	(15–14)	Jovanović 6
	4×	Report	1× 3×

12 May 2024 17:00	Serbia	v	Spain	Spens, Novi Sad Referees: Lah, Sok (SLO)
		Report

9 May 2024 20:00	Italy	32–26	Montenegro	Pala San Giacomo, Conversano Referees: Brunner, Salah (SUI)
		(16–15)
		Report

12 May 2024 17:30	Montenegro	v	Italy	Morača Sports Center, Podgorica Referees: Martins, Martins (POR)
		Report

8 May 2024 16:30	Romania	31–30	Czech Republic	Lascăr Pană Sports Hall, Baia Mare Attendance: 2,218 Referees: Marín, García (ESP)
	Grigoraș 9	(15–11)	Piroch 9
	2× 4×	Report	1× 3×

12 May 2024 16:30	Czech Republic	v	Romania	Winning Group Arena, Brno Referees: Schulze, Tönnies (GER)
		Report

9 May 2024 18:00	Poland	28–29	Slovakia	Ergo Arena, Gdańsk Attendance: 7,000 Referees: Caçador, Nicolau (POR)
	Syprzak 11	(15–16)	Briatka 11
	5×	Report	1× 6×

12 May 2024 17:30	Slovakia	v	Poland	Sporthalle Topoľčany, Topoľčany Referees: Konjičanin, Konjičanin (BIH)
		Report

8 May 2024 20:00	Faroe Islands	34–27	North Macedonia	Høllin á Hálsi, Tórshavn Attendance: 1,632 Referees: Merz, Kuttler (GER)
	Ellefsen á Skipagøtu 10	(18–14)	Kuzmanovski 8
	1× 2×	Report	1× 8× 1×

12 May 2024 19:00	North Macedonia	v	Faroe Islands	Boris Trajkovski Sports Center, Skopje Referees: Erdoğan, Özdeniz (TUR)
		Report

Notes

1 2 Due to the 2023 Israel–Hamas war, the matches of Israel were postponed.^[6]
↑ Due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Ukrainian team plays their home matches at neutral venues.^[9]
↑ Due to the Israel–Hamas war, the Israeli team plays their home matches at neutral venues.
1 2 3 4 Team not determined at time of draw.

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References

↑ "IHF Council awards events up to 2027". ihf.info. 28 February 2020.
1 2 "Draw set for 2025 Men's World Championship qualification". eurohandball.com. 5 July 2023.
↑ "Men's World Championship Qualification draw sets up Baltic clash". eurohandball.com. 5 July 2023.
↑ "Handball-WM 2025: 1. Phase der Qualifikation ausgelost". handball-world.news. 5 July 2023.
↑ "Denmark top new EHF men's national team ranking". eurohandball.com. 5 July 2023.
↑ "WM-Qualifikationsspiele gegen Israel verlegt". wort.lu. 20 October 2022. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
1 2 "Italian comeback highlights World Championship qualification". eurohandball.com. 6 November 2023.
↑ "Four ties in Men's World Championship qualification to be drawn". eurohandball.com. 20 November 2023.
↑ "EHF decision on current competition structures". eurohandball.com. 4 March 2022. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
↑ "2025 World Championship draw offers clash between Spain and Serbia". www.eurohandball.com. European Handball Federation. 27 January 2024. Retrieved 27 January 2024.
↑ "Pots for 2025 World Championship qualification draw set". www.eurohandball.com. European Handball Federation. 25 January 2024.

External links

EHF website

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[Israel-7] 1 2 Due to the 2023 Israel–Hamas war, the matches of Israel were postponed.^[6]

[11] Due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Ukrainian team plays their home matches at neutral venues.^[9]

[12] Due to the Israel–Hamas war, the Israeli team plays their home matches at neutral venues.

[draw-15] 1 2 3 4 Team not determined at time of draw.

[1] "IHF Council awards events up to 2027". ihf.info. 28 February 2020.

[format-2] 1 2 "Draw set for 2025 Men's World Championship qualification". eurohandball.com. 5 July 2023.

[3] "Men's World Championship Qualification draw sets up Baltic clash". eurohandball.com. 5 July 2023.

[4] "Handball-WM 2025: 1. Phase der Qualifikation ausgelost". handball-world.news. 5 July 2023.

[5] "Denmark top new EHF men's national team ranking". eurohandball.com. 5 July 2023.

[6] "WM-Qualifikationsspiele gegen Israel verlegt". wort.lu. 20 October 2022. Retrieved 20 October 2022.

[Phase2-8] 1 2 "Italian comeback highlights World Championship qualification". eurohandball.com. 6 November 2023.

[9] "Four ties in Men's World Championship qualification to be drawn". eurohandball.com. 20 November 2023.

[10] "EHF decision on current competition structures". eurohandball.com. 4 March 2022. Retrieved 4 March 2022.

[13] "2025 World Championship draw offers clash between Spain and Serbia". www.eurohandball.com. European Handball Federation. 27 January 2024. Retrieved 27 January 2024.

[14] "Pots for 2025 World Championship qualification draw set". www.eurohandball.com. European Handball Federation. 25 January 2024.

[1]

[2]

[3]

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v t e 2025 World Men's Handball Championship qualification
Africa	2024 African Men's Handball Championship
Asia	2024 Asian Men's Handball Championship
SCAHC	2024 South and Central American Men's Handball Championship
NACHC	2024 Nor.Ca. Men's Handball Championship
Europe	2024 European Men's Handball Championship European qualification

2025 World Men's Handball Championship – European qualification

Contents

Format

Qualification phase 1

Seeding

Overview

Matches

Qualification phase 2

Part 1

Seeding

Overview

Matches

Part 2

Seeding

Overview

Matches

Notes

Related Research Articles

References

External links