With a little over 190 days before the start of the 28th IHF Men’s World Championship, the draw event of the world flagship handball competition will take place at the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra in Katowice on Saturday 2 July 2022, at 17:00 CEST.

The event will span over 90 minutes, where the qualified teams will learn their fate and their future opponents at Poland/Sweden 2023, with high-profile guests in attendance, inspiring speeches and special entertainment on the agenda.

27 of the 32 teams that will take the court in the competition will have been confirmed, with only five sides remaining to complete the card, after the conclusion of the CAHB African Men’s Handball Championship on 18 July. The latest addition to Poland/Sweden 2023 is USA, who confirmed their place at the NACHC Men's Championship on 30 June*.

Before the start of the business end of the ceremony, the draw itself, the official anthem of the competition, as well as the artists performing it will be revealed.

Pax, the mascot of the competition – who has been chosen by the fans, a red squirrel dressed in a branded dark blue jersey, white shorts and blue sneakers, acting as a handball player, wearing the jersey number 23, will also be present in attendance.

The draw, which will be streamed live on the IHF YouTube channel, will be conducted by two former stars, Poland’s Slawomir Szmal and Sweden’s Magnus Wislander, two former recipients of the IHF Male Player of the Year title, who have won multiple medals at the IHF Men’s World Championship.

“I would like to help Poland with my luck and hand an easy group for our team. However, I am convinced that our amazing fans will help Poland win against any opponent,” says Szmal, according to the official website of the Polish Handball Federation.

The 32 teams slated to take part at Poland/Sweden 2023 have been divided into four pots of eight teams each, according to the Regulations for the IHF Competitions.

Each hosting country had the prerogative of assigning a qualified team to each host city. Therefore, Germany will play their preliminary round in Group E in the Spodek in Katowice, Spain and Norway are due to play in the TAURON Arena in Krakow in Groups A and F, respectively, reigning champions Denmark will face their Group H opponents in Malmo, Croatia have been assigned to Group G in Jonkoping and Iceland to Group D in Kristianstad.

Hosts Poland and Sweden have elected to feature in Katowice and Gothenburg, respectively.

Pot 1: Denmark, Sweden, Spain, France, Norway, Iceland, Germany, Africa 1
Pot 2: Qatar, Croatia, Belgium, Brazil, Portugal, Poland, Montenegro, North Macedonia
Pot 3: Serbia, Hungary, Argentina, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Africa 2, Chile, Africa 3
Pot 4: Uruguay, Africa 4, Africa 5, Islamic Republic of Iran, Republic of Korea, USA*, Netherlands, Slovenia

About Poland/Sweden 2023

The 28th edition of the IHF Men’s World Championship – the second IHF Men’s World Championship to be played with 32 teams – will take place in Poland and Sweden from 11 to 29 January 2023 at nine venues, four in Poland – the TAURON Arena in Krakow, the Ergo Arena in Gdansk, the Spodek in Katowice and the Orlen Arena in Plock – and five in Sweden – the Tele2 Arena in Stockholm, the Malmo Arena, the Scandinavium in Gothenburg, the Kristianstad Arena and the Husqvarna Garden in Jonkoping.

This is only the second edition of the IHF Men’s World Championship to be co-hosted by two countries, after Germany and Denmark joined hands in 2019.

For further information about the 2023 IHF Men’s World Championship visit www.handball23.com.

*Update after the NACHC Men's Championship finished on 30 June.