After a four-year break caused by the cancellation of the 2020 IHF Women's Youth (U18) World Championship, the competition will come back this year, as its ninth edition will take place between 30 July and 10 August in Skopje, North Macedonia.

This will be the first-ever edition of the competition with 32 participants, featuring 20 teams from Europe, five from Asia, four from Africa and three from South and Central America. 

The draw for the tournament was made on Thursday, 2 June, at the IHF Head Office in Basel, Switzerland, so all the teams learned their fate.

Before the draw, which was conducted by IHF Competitions Director Patric Strub, the 32 teams had been divided into four pots of eight teams each.

After the teams from pots 4, 3 and 1 were drawn, hosts North Macedonia had the prerogative to assign themselves a group of their choice. They opted to join Group B, where they will be the only European nation alongside Islamic Republic of Iran, Uzbekistan and Senegal. 

In contrast, Group C is all-European, as Denmark, who are the most decorated team in the history of the competition with five medals in the previous seven editions, will face Portugal, Austria and Faroe Islands.

The runners-up of the last edition in 2018, Hungary, were drawn into Group H with France, Argentina and Spain, while the Republic of Korea, who won bronze four years ago, joined Germany, Switzerland and Slovakia in Group F. 

The top two sides in each group will qualify for the main round, while the other teams will compete for the places 17 to 32 in the President's Cup. 

Draw result

Group A: Montenegro, Sweden, Algeria, Iceland
Group B: Islamic Republic of Iran, North Macedonia, Uzbekistan, Senegal
Group C: Denmark, Portugal, Austria, Faroe Islands
Group D: Croatia, Kazakhstan, Egypt, India
Group E: Romania, Netherlands, Guinea, Slovenia
Group F: Germany, Switzerland, Slovakia, Republic of Korea
Group G: Norway, Czech Republic, Brazil, Uruguay
Group H: Hungary, France, Argentina, Spain