The draw for the 19th edition of the IHF Men's Club World Championship will take place on 22 July at 11:30 CEST at the IHF Head Office in Basel, setting the stage for a competition that introduces a revamped 10-team format and a return to Egypt for the third consecutive edition.

A new format sets the tone

The 2026 edition marks a significant shift in structure, growing the field to 10 participating teams, with an uptick of one team from the previous two editions. Six teams will be seeded directly into the Group Phase, while four teams will contest a Preliminary Qualification round before the competition proper begins. Teams eliminated in the Preliminary Qualification will not be out of contention entirely - they will instead compete in placement matches for 9th and 10th place, ensuring that every team has matches to play throughout the week.

Once the Group Phase concludes, the competition moves into a do-or-die structure for places 1 through 8: group winners will play for the title, second-placed teams will contest the bronze medal match, third-placed sides will battle for 5th/6th place, and fourth-placed teams will close out the placement matches for 7th/8th place.

The tournament will be staged in the New Administrative Capital, Egypt, running from 24 September to 1 October 2026.

Who goes where: the Preliminary Qualification

The allocation to the Preliminary Qualification is based on the previous year's results, with the North American and Caribbean representative (LA Handball Club) and the Oceania representative (Sydney Uni) seeded into this opening stage. The two wild card teams - Zamalek SC and Veszprém HC - will be drawn directly against these seeded teams.

The Preliminary Qualification pots are as follows:

Pot 1: Los Angeles Handball Club (North America and Caribbean), Sydney Uni (Oceania)
Pot 2: Zamalek SC (Africa), Veszprém HC (Europe)

The two winners of the Preliminary Qualification matches will advance into the Group Phase as qualifiers, while the two losing teams will play off for 9th and 10th place.

Six teams seeded directly into the Group Phase

Six teams bypass the Preliminary Qualification entirely and go straight into the Group Phase draw:

Pot 1: FC Barcelona (Reigning champions), Füchse Berlin (Europe)
Pot 2: Al Ahly (Hosts), Montada (Africa)
Pot 3: Burgan SC (Asia), E.C. Pinheiros (South and Central America)
Pot 4: PQ Winner 1, PQ Winner 2 (Qualifiers)

The Group Phase draw will be conducted as a "free draw," meaning the final group compositions will only be determined on the day in Basel.

Full field for Egypt 2026

The complete 10-team line-up features representatives from every continent:

Host: Al Ahly (EGY)

Reigning champions: FC Barcelona (ESP)

Asia: Burgan SC (KUW)

Africa: Montada (MAR)

Europe: Füchse Berlin (GER)

South and Central America: E.C. Pinheiros (BRA)

North America and the Caribbean: Los Angeles Handball Club (USA)

Oceania: Sydney Uni (AUS)

Wild card: Veszprém HC (HUN)

Wild card: Zamalek SC (EGY)

Storylines heading into the draw

Barcelona arrive in Egypt as reigning champions and record six-time winners, the most successful club in the competition's history, appearing for a 12th time overall. They are joined among the seeded teams by Füchse Berlin, who qualify as European representatives after finishing runners-up in the Machineseeker EHF Champions League, and who return to the competition for the first time since 2023, boosted by the presence of IHF Male World Player of the Year Mathias Gidsel.

Hosts Al Ahly will play in front of their home crowd for the third consecutive time, marking their seventh time overall in the competition, chasing another medal finish, after they ended third two editions ago. Fellow Egyptian side Zamalek SC, who enter via wild card, will also make a seventh appearance in the competition's history.

Two-time finalists Veszprém HC, who won the title in 2024 and were runners-up in 2025 after an overtime final defeat to Barcelona, enter via wild card and will look to go all the way once again under Xavi Pascual, with Danish world champions Emil Nielsen and Lukas Jørgensen in their ranks.

Elsewhere, Montada will become the first Moroccan club to feature in the competition since KAC Marrakech's debut in 1997, while Kuwait's Burgan SC arrive as newcomers after winning their continental qualification tournament. 

Sydney Uni will make a competition-record 13th appearance, while the North American and Caribbean representative will be a debutant, Los Angeles Handball Club.