Following the conclusion of the 2023 IHF Women’s World Championship, the final direct ticket to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games has been awarded, while the line-up for the three Olympic Qualification Tournaments, which will yield six other teams participating in the competition, have been decided.

As Norway, who were already qualified to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games via the EHF EURO 2022, and France, the hosts, who also got a direct ticket, played the final, the final place for the competition went to Denmark.

Norway are now qualified as the runners-up at the 2023 IHF Women’s World Championship, which meant that the place from the EHF EURO was left open and sealed by Denmark, the team which finished on the second place, conceding a loss in the final against Norway.

The 2023 IHF Women’s World Championship had six spots allocated for these tournaments, for the teams which ranked between 2nd and 7th.

However, with France and Norway making it to the quarter-finals, this opened up two other spots, the 8th and the 9th, but with Brazil finishing 9th, another spot went to the 10th place, Hungary.

Therefore, the teams which are sure of a place in the Olympic Qualification Tournaments in next April via the 2023 IHF Women’s World Championship are Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Czechia and Hungary, the 10th placed side at Denmark/Norway/Sweden 2023.

To sum up, six places were awarded to the best non-qualified side at the 2023 IHF Women’s World Championship – Sweden, the Netherlands, Germany, Montenegro, Czechia and Hungary.

Two other places were awarded to the best continent in the world handball flagship competition – Europe – with Slovenia and Spain, the best non-qualified teams at the qualification event – the EHF EURO 2022 – taking the spots. One place was also reserved for the second, third and fourth best continents at the 2023 IHF Women’s World Championship at their respective qualification events – Africa and Asia respectively – while South America had also two spots open via the Pan American Games.

As Sweden finished fourth, they were allocated to the 2024 Olympic Qualification Tournament 1, where they will face the 10th place at the 2023 IHF Women’s World Championship, Hungary, the second-placed side in the African Olympic Qualification Tournament, Cameroon, and the second-placed side in the Asian Olympic Qualification Tournament, Japan.

In the 2024 Olympic Qualification Tournament 2, the teams ranked fifth and eighth at Denmark/Norway/Sweden 2023, Netherlands and Czechia, will face the second-placed side at the Pan American Games, Argentina, and Spain, one of the teams qualifying via the EHF EURO 2022.

The 2024 Olympic Qualification Tournament 3 will see Germany and Montenegro, ranked sixth and seventh, face Slovenia, which secured their place via the EHF EURO 2022, and Paraguay, the third-placed side at the Pan American Games, Paraguay.

The three 2024 Olympic Qualification Tournaments will take place between 11 and 14 April, in locations which will be awarded in the close future.

Olympic Qualification Tournaments for Paris 2024 – women’s competition

2024 Olympic Qualification Tournament 1: Sweden, Hungary, Cameroon, Japan
2024 Olympic Qualification Tournament 2: Netherlands, Czechia, Argentina, Spain
2024 Olympic Qualification Tournament 3: Germany, Montenegro, Slovenia, Paraguay

Already qualified: France (hosts), Norway (2023 IHF Women's World Championship - runners-up), Denmark (EHF EURO 2022 runners-up), Brazil (2023 Pan American Games winners), Republic of Korea (Asian Olympic Qualification Tournament winners), Angola (African Olympic Qualification Tournament winners).