As the 2027 IHF Men’s World Championship line-up is taking shape, the pairings for the European Qualification Phase 3 were decided on Saturday, 31 January, during a draw on the outskirts of the Men’s EHF EURO 2026 in Herning.

So far, six European teams have secured their place at the 2027 IHF Men’s World Championship. Hosts Germany and reigning champions Denmark were already qualified and made the final, therefore the four available berths went to the teams ending up in the next four places – namely Croatia, Iceland, Portugal and Sweden.

The European Qualification sees three phases, with the first one already elapsed, as Latvia, Türkiye and Kosovo edged out Luxembourg, Cyprus and Great Britain respectively, progressing to Qualification Phase 2.

In the next phase, which will take place on 18/19 March and 21/22 March, 16 teams will enter the fray, with the three being joined by the six teams finishing in the last places in their groups at the Men’s EHF EURO 2026. The winners will progress to European Qualification Phase 3, which will see the teams finishing seventh to 18th at the EURO enter the fray.

Before the draw, the teams finishing seventh to 16th at the EHF EURO 2026 were seeded, while the others were unseeded and the draw produced some hugely entertaining clashes, with some heavyweights measuring up for a place in the world handball flagship competition.

One of the key clashes looks set to be the one between the winner of the Qualification Phase 2 battle between Serbia and Lithuania and Hungary, as Serbia will aim to return to the competition, after missing out in 2023, having lost a qualification battle against Spain.

Another well-balanced tie is the one between Switzerland and Italy, with both sides showing some excellent handball over the last years, with Italy securing their maiden win at the EHF EURO this January, after finishing 16th at the 2025 IHF Men’s World Championship last year.

The Faroe Islands look to make their debut at the world handball flagship competition and will be favoured against the winner of the tie between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo in Qualification Phase 2, after securing their maiden win at the European Championship this January.

Czechia, which made their appearance in 2025 after a 10-year wait, will have a mountain to climb to progress when they face France, while Spain also look to be favoured to return when they meet the winner of the clash between Georgia and Israel.

The Netherlands will face either Greece or Belgium, while Norway, silver medallists at the 2017 and 2019 World Championships, are overwhelming favourites when they are due to face the winner of the match between Romania and Türkiye.

The two-leg play-offs are scheduled for 13–14 and 16–17 May 2026. The aggregate winners qualify for the World Championship, which will be held in six venues in Germany between 13 and 31 January 2027.

European Qualification Phase 3 – draw results

• Winner Ukraine vs Slovakia vs North Macedonia
• Winner Bosnia and Herzegovina vs Kosovo vs Faroe Islands
• Czechia vs France
• Switzerland vs Italy
• Winner Finland vs Montenegro vs Slovenia
• Winner Serbia vs Lithuania vs Hungary
• Spain vs Winner Georgia vs Israel
• Winner Greece vs Belgium vs Netherlands
• Norway vs Winner Türkiye vs Romania
• Austria vs Winner Poland vs Latvia

Photo credit: EHF / kolektiff