2025 World Men's Handball Championship – European qualification

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The European qualification for the 2025 World Men's Handball Championship was contested in two rounds between November 2023 and May 2024.[1] They joined the 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[edit]

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 then joined the 18 teams participating at the 2024 European Men's Handball Championship for the final qualifiers.[2]

Qualification phase 1[edit]

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

Seeding[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

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
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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×number 2 in light blue rounded square Report  4×number 2 in light blue rounded square

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×Yellow card 2×number 2 in light blue rounded square Report 2×Yellow card 4×number 2 in light blue rounded square
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×number 2 in light blue rounded square Report 1×Yellow card 2×number 2 in light blue rounded square

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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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×number 2 in light blue rounded square Report 1×Yellow card 6×number 2 in light blue rounded square

Italy won 65–64 on aggregate.

Qualification phase 2[edit]

Part 1[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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×number 2 in light blue rounded square Report  3×number 2 in light blue rounded square

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
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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×number 2 in light blue rounded square Report  4×number 2 in light blue rounded square

FT: 26–26 Pen: 4–3

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

Part 2[edit]

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 and 9 May and the second leg played on 11 and 12 May 2024.[10] The winners qualified for the 2025 World Men's Handball Championship final tournament.

Seeding[edit]

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[edit]

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Lithuania  49–69  Hungary 26–33 23–36
Slovenia  60–60
4–1 (p) 		  Switzerland 26–27 34–33
Portugal  55–45  Bosnia and Herzegovina 29–19 26–26
Georgia  56–64  Austria 25–27 31–37
Iceland  87–49  Estonia 50–25 37–24
Greece  56–58  Netherlands 31–27 25–31
Spain  54–53  Serbia 32–28 22–25
Italy  66–58  Montenegro 32–26 34–32
Romania  51–59  Czech Republic 31–30 20–29
Poland  61–54  Slovakia 28–29 33–25
Faroe Islands  60–61  North Macedonia 34–27 26–34
Matches[edit]

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
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12 May 2024
17:15 		Hungary  36–23  Lithuania Veszprém Aréna, Veszprém
Attendance: 3,763
Referees: Lončar, Lončar (CRO)
Rosta 6 (17–10) Dumčius 8
 3×number 2 in light blue rounded square Report  3×number 2 in light blue rounded square

Hungary won 69–49 on aggregate.

9 May 2024
18:00 		Slovenia  26–27   Switzerland Arena Bonifika, Koper
Attendance: 2,200
Referees: Madsen, Mortensen (DEN)
Vlah 5 (15–12) M. Zehnder 8
2×Yellow card 3×number 2 in light blue rounded square Report  3×number 2 in light blue rounded square
12 May 2024
16:00 		Switzerland  34–38  Slovenia AXA-Arena, Winterthur
Attendance: 1,920
Referees: Covalciuc, Covalciuc (MDA)
M. Zehnder 7 (12–14) Bombač 11
 2×number 2 in light blue rounded square Report 1×Yellow card 5×number 2 in light blue rounded square

FT: 33–34 Pen: 1–4

60–60 on aggregate. Slovenia won 4–1 on penalties.

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×number 2 in light blue rounded square Report 1×Yellow card 5×number 2 in light blue rounded square
12 May 2024
17:00 		Bosnia and Herzegovina  26–26  Portugal KSPC Mejdan, Tuzla
Attendance: 3,100
Referees: Backović, Palačković (SLO)
Herceg 7 (13–17) Branquinho 4
1×Yellow card 3×number 2 in light blue rounded square Report 2×Yellow card 2×number 2 in light blue rounded square

Portugal won 55–45 on aggregate.

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
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12 May 2024
16:00 		Austria  37–31  Georgia Albert Schultz Halle, Vienna
Attendance: 4,099
Referees: Álvarez, Bustamante (ESP)
Frimmel 7 (21–17) Tskhovrebadze 10
 1×number 2 in light blue rounded square Report 1×Yellow card 1×number 2 in light blue rounded square

Austria won 64–56 on aggregate.

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×number 2 in light blue rounded square Report  3×number 2 in light blue rounded square
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×Yellow card 2×number 2 in light blue rounded square Report 1×Yellow card 2×number 2 in light blue rounded square 1×Red card

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
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12 May 2024
16:00 		Netherlands  31–25  Greece Indoor-Sportcentrum Eindhoven, Eindhoven
Attendance: 2,100
Referees: Horáček, Novotný (CZE)
Ten Velde 7 (16–10) Liapis 8
 4×number 2 in light blue rounded square Report 2×Yellow card 2×number 2 in light blue rounded square 1×Red card

Netherlands won 58–56 on aggregate.

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×number 2 in light blue rounded square Report 1×Yellow card 3×number 2 in light blue rounded square
12 May 2024
17:00 		Serbia  25–22  Spain Spens, Novi Sad
Attendance: 5,500
Referees: Lah, Sok (SLO)
Ilić 6 (15–11) Gómez 5
1×Yellow card 5×number 2 in light blue rounded square Report  4×number 2 in light blue rounded square

Spain won 54–53 on aggregate.

9 May 2024
20:00 		Italy  32–26  Montenegro Pala San Giacomo, Conversano
Attendance: 3,900
Referees: Brunner, Salah (SUI)
Bronzo 13 (16–15) Kaluđerović 6
 3×number 2 in light blue rounded square Report  3×number 2 in light blue rounded square
12 May 2024
17:30 		Montenegro  32–34  Italy Morača Sports Center, Podgorica
Attendance: 5,000
Referees: Martins, Martins (POR)
Radović 6 (13–17) Bronzo, Mengon 8
 2×number 2 in light blue rounded square 1×Red card Report  3×number 2 in light blue rounded square

Italy won 66–58 on aggregate.

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
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12 May 2024
16:30 		Czech Republic  29–20  Romania Winning Group Arena, Brno
Attendance: 3,852
Referees: Schulze, Tönnies (GER)
Klíma 9 (15–9) Drăgan 5
1×Yellow card 5×number 2 in light blue rounded square Report  2×number 2 in light blue rounded square

Czech Republic won 59–51 on aggregate.

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×number 2 in light blue rounded square Report 1×Yellow card 6×number 2 in light blue rounded square
12 May 2024
17:30 		Slovakia  25–33  Poland Sporthalle Topoľčany, Topoľčany
Attendance: 2,050
Referees: Konjičanin, Konjičanin (BIH)
Smetánka 6 (12–15) Syprzak 10
1×Yellow card 3×number 2 in light blue rounded square 1×Red card Report 1×Yellow card 2×number 2 in light blue rounded square

Poland won 61–54 on aggregate.

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
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12 May 2024
19:00 		North Macedonia  34–26  Faroe Islands Boris Trajkovski Sports Center, Skopje
Attendance: 6,800
Referees: Erdoğan, Özdeniz (TUR)
Peševski 8 (19–15) Ellefsen á Skipagøtu 8
1×Yellow card 3×number 2 in light blue rounded square Report  2×number 2 in light blue rounded square

North Macedonia won 61–60 on aggregate.

Notes[edit]

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

References[edit]

  1. ^ "IHF Council awards events up to 2027". ihf.info. 28 February 2020.
  2. ^ a b "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.
  7. ^ a b "Italian comeback highlights World Championship qualification". eurohandball.com. 6 November 2023.
  8. ^ "Four ties in Men's World Championship qualification to be drawn". eurohandball.com. 20 November 2023.
  9. ^ "EHF decision on current competition structures". eurohandball.com. 4 March 2022. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  10. ^ "2025 World Championship draw offers clash between Spain and Serbia". www.eurohandball.com. European Handball Federation. 27 January 2024. Retrieved 27 January 2024.
  11. ^ "Pots for 2025 World Championship qualification draw set". www.eurohandball.com. European Handball Federation. 25 January 2024.

External links[edit]

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