Following the completion of the 2021 AHF Asian Women’s Championship and the announcement of a Wild Card place for PR of China last week, six more places for the 25th IHF Women’s World Championship in Spain have been confirmed.

In what will be the first IHF Women’s World Championship with 32 teams (instead of the previous 24), just three qualification places remain, coming from the 2021 SCAHC Women’s South and Central American Championship to be played from 5 to 9 October 2021.

Qualified for Spain 2021

29 teams qualified out of 32 places

Spain (ESP): 25th IHF Women’s World Championship host country. (1)

December 2019
Netherlands (NED): Winners of the 24th IHF Women’s World Championship. (1)

December 2020
Norway (NOR), France (FRA), Croatia (CRO), Denmark (DEN): Top four-ranked of Women’s EHF EURO 2020. (4)

April 2021
Austria (AUT), Czech Republic (CZE), Germany (GER), Hungary (HUN), Montenegro (MNE), Romania (ROU), Russian Handball Federation (RHF), Serbia (SRB), Slovenia (SLO), Sweden (SWE): EHF European Qualification. (10)

June 2021
Angola (ANG), Cameroon (CMR), Tunisia (TUN), Congo (CGO): Top four-ranked of 2021 CAHB Women’s African Championship. (4)

August 2021
Slovakia (SVK): Wild Card. (1)

Puerto Rico (PUR): Winners of the 2021 NACHC Women’s North America and the Caribbean Championship. (1)

September 2021
PR of China (CHN): Wild Card. (1)

Poland (POL): First substitute nation of the Continental Confederation of Europe. (1)

Republic of Korea (KOR), Japan (JPN), Kazakhstan (KAZ), Iran (IRI)*, Uzbekistan (UZB): Top five-ranked of 2021 AHF Women’s Asian Championship. (5)

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

Qualification events still to play

The top three (3) ranked teams from the 2021 South and Central America Handball Confederation (SCAHC) Women’s Championship to be held from 5 to 9 October 2021 in Asuncion, Paraguay, will qualify for Spain 2021.

Participating teams: Argentina (ARG), Bolivia (BOL), Brazil (BRA), Paraguay (PAR), Uruguay (URU) and Nicaragua (NCA).

Spain 2021 groups and match schedule

The draw for the preliminary groups was made in August, with the match schedule confirmed shortly after. For more info visit here.

Media accreditation process open

The media accreditation process for the 25th IHF Women’s World Championship in Spain has been launched today, with the deadline to submit applications being 7 November 2021 (13:00 CET).

If you are a professional media representative and interested in applying and covering the World Championship, please click here.

About Spain 2021

The 25th IHF Women’s World Championship, the first IHF Women’s World Championship to feature 32 teams, will be staged in Spain from 1 to 19 December 2021. The event will be hosted by Castellón, Granollers, Llíria and Torrevieja, and feature 108 games.

Photo: Slovak Handball Federation