Following the completion of four continental championships (South and Central American Championship, EHF EURO, CAHB African Championship, AHF Asian Championship) this month, 16 more places for the 2021 IHF Men’s World Championship in Egypt have been confirmed. This will be the first IHF World Championship with 32 teams instead of 24.

Qualified before January 2020

Prior to the four continental championships, two teams were already qualified for the 2021 IHF Men’s World Championship.
 
Egypt: 2021 IHF Men’s World Championship host country.

Denmark: Winners of the 2019 IHF Men’s World Championship.

2020 Men’s South and Central American Championship

The inaugural Men’s South and Central American Championship in Maringá, Brazil, saw Argentina go undefeated to be crowned the first South and Central American Champions.

Argentina: Winners of the 2020 Men’s South and Central American Championship.

Brazil: Second-place at the 2020 Men’s South and Central American Championship.

Uruguay*: Third-place at the 2020 Men’s South and Central American Championship.

Men’s EHF EURO 2020

Three places for Europe were determined at the Men’s EHF EURO 2020, played in Sweden, Austria and Norway.

Spain: Winners of the Men’s EHF EURO 2020.

Croatia: Second-place at the Men’s EHF EURO 2020.

Norway: Third-place at the Men’s EHF EURO 2020.

2020 CAHB African Men’s Handball Championship

Egypt won the 2020 CAHB African Men’s Championship after defeating Tunisia in the final. However, as Egypt are already qualified for the World Championship as hosts, the World Championship places went to teams ranked second to seventh.

Tunisia: Second-place at the 2020 CAHB African Men’s Handball Championship.

Algeria: Third-place at the 2020 CAHB African Men’s Handball Championship.

Angola: Fourth-place at the 2020 CAHB African Men’s Handball Championship.

Cape Verde*: Fifth-place at the 2020 CAHB African Men’s Handball Championship.

Morocco: Sixth-place at the 2020 CAHB African Men’s Handball Championship.

DR Congo*: Seventh-place at the 2020 CAHB African Men’s Handball Championship.

2020 AHF Asian Men’s Championship

Qatar claimed the trophy after beating Republic of Korea in the final, while Japan took the bronze medal with a victory over Bahrain in the 3/4 match. All four semi-finals teams move on to Egypt 2021.

Qatar: Winners of the 2020 AHF Asian Men’s Championship.

Korea: Second-place at the 2020 AHF Asian Men’s Championship.

Japan: Third-place at the 2020 AHF Asian Men’s Championship.

Bahrain: Fourth-place at the 2020 AHF Asian Men’s Championship.

Qualification events still to play

South America and Central America will have one more team play Egypt 2021 via a Last Chance Tournament to be played in June. Further details on this event are to come. 

The 2020 North American and Caribbean Championship will get one place at Egypt 2021. Further details on this event are to come. 

As no team from Oceania ranked among the top five at the 2020 AHF Asian Men’s Championship, the fifth place available from this tournament becomes a Wild Card, with allocation to be determined by the IHF. There will therefore be two Wild Cards for the 2021 World Championship. 

The final 10 berths at the 2021 Men’s World Championship will be determined in Europe. Israel, Lithuania, Romania and Turkey have progressed from the first phase of qualification in Europe. They will now play in an intermediate playoff against the four lowest ranked teams from EHF EURO 2020: Latvia, Bosnia Herzegovina, Russia and Poland. Turkey vs Russia, Romania vs Bosnia Herzegovina, Poland vs Lithuania and Israel vs Latvia. The teams will contest over two legs, on 15-16 April and 18-19 April. The four aggregate winners of the April play-offs will join the remaining 16 teams from the EHF EURO 2020 (positions four to 20, excluding Denmark as Denmark are already qualified) for the second round of play-offs, which will be played in home and away matches between 5-7 June and 9-11 June 2020. The 10 winners of the second play-off phase will book their tickets for the World Championship. 

*Denotes nation making first IHF Men’s World Championship appearance.