Korfball is a ball sport, with similarities to netball and basketball. It is played by two teams of eight players with four female players and four male players in each team. The objective is to throw a ball into a netless basket that is mounted on a 3.5 m high pole.
Approximately 5 million of the 17 million people in the Netherlands are registered to one of the 35,000 sports clubs in the country. About two thirds of the population older than 15 years participates in sports weekly.
The International Korfball Federation (IKF) is the governing body of korfball. IKF is responsible for the organisation of korfball's major international tournaments, notably the IKF World Korfball Championship.
The Czech Republic national korfball team is managed by the Czech Korfball Association (CKA), representing the Czech Republic in korfball international competitions.
The Belgium national korfball team, nicknamed the Belgian Diamonds, is managed by the Koninklijke Belgische Korfbalbond (KBKB), representing Belgium in korfball international competitions.
The Chinese Taipei national korfball team is managed by the Chinese Taipei Korfball Association (CTKA), representing Taiwan in korfball international competitions.
The Germany national korfball team is managed by the Deutscher Turner Bund e.V (DTB), representing Germany in korfball international competitions.
The England national korfball team is managed by the English Korfball Association (EKA), representing England in korfball international competitions. In 2007 the Great Britain national korfball team was split into 3 national teams: England, Wales and Scotland, that compete in all international competitions except the World Games, where they compete as a unified Great Britain national korfball team.
The Australia national korfball team is managed by Korfball Australia (KA), representing Australia in international korfball competitions, including the Asia-Oceania Korfball Championship, the IKF World Korfball Championship and The World Games.
The Portugal national korfball team is managed by the Federação Portuguesa de Corfebol (FPC), representing Portugal in korfball international competitions.
The Catalonia national korfball team is managed by the Federació Catalana de Korfball (FCK), representing Catalonia in korfball international competitions.
The Hungary national korfball team is managed by the Magyar Korfball Szövetség (MKS), representing Hungary in korfball international competitions.
The Russia national korfball team is managed by the Russian Korfball Federation (RKF), representing Russia in korfball international competitions.
The Poland national korfball team, is managed by the Polski Związek Korfballu (PZKorf), representing Poland in korfball international competitions.
The India national korfball team is managed by the Korfball Federation of India (KFI), representing India in korfball international competitions.
The United States national korfball team is managed by the United States Korfball Federation (USKF), representing the United States in korfball international competitions.
The Slovakia national korfball team is managed by the Slovak Korfball Association (SAK), representing Slovakia in korfball international competitions.
The Luxembourg national korfball team was managed by the Federation Luxembourgeoise du Korfball (FLKB), representing Luxembourg in korfball international competitions. Currently there are no teams in Luxembourg
The Serbia national korfball team is managed by the Korfbol savez Srbije, representing Serbia in korfball international competitions. It has been a member of IKF since 2005.
The 11th IKF World Korfball Championship was held in August 2019 in Durban, South Africa and won by the Netherlands. The International Korfball Federation awarded the hosting rights for the tournament to South Africa on 7 November 2015, ahead of the bid by New Zealand.
