The 25th edition of the IHF Women's World Championship, the first women’s edition to feature 32 teams, will take place in Spain starting today and running until 19 December. 

The event will be staged in four venues in the cities of Castelló, Granollers, Llíria and Torrevieja and is the first time that the country hosts a women’s seven-a-side IHF World Championship.

ihf.info has a brief look at some of the previous IHF events that the Royal Spanish Handball Federation (RFEBM) has hosted in Spain.

1989 IHF Men’s Junior World Championship – Galicia

The first-ever IHF World Championship held in Spain saw the host nation make the final, but their opponents – the Talant Dujshebaev featuring Soviet Union – were a class above, defeating them 17:23 (5:13) to take gold.

Spain had won two and lost one of their preliminary group games before going on to win all of their games in the next round. This saw them set up that final against the Soviet Union, who took the top place on the podium. The former Yugoslavia defeated the former West Germany 23:22 in a very tight bronze medal match.

In that autumn of 1989, figures such as Talant Dujshebaev, David Barrufet, Mateo Garralda or Tomas Svensson impressed the world of handball in Galicia, going on to become global stars.

The logo for Spain 1989 was a seagull or ‘La Gaivota’ in Galician. At the end of the tournament, Swedish goalkeeper Tomas Svensson received that nickname thanks to his outstanding performance throughout the competition.

2008 IHF Men’s Beach Handball World Championship – Cadiz

Croatia beat title-holders Brazil in the first final of the day, winning via shoot-out 9:6 to take a 2-1 (21:14, 18:19) victory, while Serbia defeated Egypt in the bronze-medal match 2-0 (14:12, 19:14). 

Pakistan finished 10th in their first and last appearance to date at a Beach Handball World Championship, which also saw Iran, Uruguay and Libya make their debuts in the newly-expanded 12-team tournament.

2008 IHF Women’s Beach Handball World Championship – Cadiz

It was heartbreak for the host nation, making their debut in the competition, in the women’s final as Croatia took the women’s title in the last match of the day in front of a full stadium, 2-0 (13:10, 14:8) to add to their men’s title won earlier in the day.

Earlier on in the day former world champions Brazil defeated Italy in the bronze match via a 5:0 shoot-out to claim another medal (2-1, 13:10, 10:20). Cadiz was the first and only time that Serbia and North Macedonia have appeared in the women’s championship, while future dominant force Norway made their debut, alongside PR of China and Ukraine. It would also be the last time the Dominican Republic appeared at that level after their 2006 debut.

2013 IHF Men’s World Championship – Barcelona, Madrid, Zaragoza, Granollers 

For just the fifth time in history, the host nation won gold at an IHF Men’s World Championship after Germany in 1938 and 2007, Sweden in 1954 and France in 2001. 

But Spain’s win at home in 2013 was the biggest winning margin with then European champions Denmark dispatched 35:19, smashing the previous record from Sweden when they beat the former Czechoslovakia 22:12 in 1958.

A sold-out Palau Sant Jordi saw 16,500 frenetic and vociferous – including Spanish Crown Prince Felipe and Danish Crown Princess Mary – witness an extraordinary home performance which shocked the Danes. It was Spain’s second IHF Men’s World Championship title after 2005 in Tunisia.

“This is a fantastic day for us and for all handball friends in Spain,” said Spain’s Gedeon Guardiola after the match. “We saved our best match for the final and Denmark was never able to react.”

In the bronze match, Croatia beat Slovenia 31:26 to add to their European and Olympic 2012 bronze medals and become the first team in men’s handball history to hold all three at the same time. 
Denmark’s Mikkel Hansen was named Spain 2013 Most Valuable Player.

2019 IHF Men’s Junior World Championship – Vigo and Pontevedra 

After 92 games, the 2019 IHF Men’s Junior World Championship concluded in Spain with France claiming their second IHF Men’s Junior World Championship title with a five-goal win over Croatia – their second trophy in this competition after 2015 with the same generation winning gold at the U18 EHF EURO 2016, the 2017 IHF Men’s Youth World Championship and silver at the U20 EHF EURO 2018.

Though Croatia left the court disappointed, it was a historic result, as they celebrated what was their first medal in the competition. France had broken host nation hearts earlier in the competition, defeating Spain by one goal in their eighth-final, a match broadcast live on Spanish national television for the first time ever at the U21 level.

“We will never forget the lovely region of Galicia and I want to thank the region and the cities of Vigo and Pontevedra,” said IHF President Dr Hassan Moustafa in his closing ceremony speech. 

History was made in the preliminary round by Kosovo as it was the first time that a sporting team from the nation had ever appeared in a world championship and the first time that a team from the IHF Trophy had ever qualified for one, after the qualification criteria changed in 2018.

Further handball highlights in Spain

1992 Olympic Games – Barcelona

We could not write a feature about IHF World Championships in Spain without mentioning the iconic Olympic Games Barcelona 1992.

Held from 27 July – 8 August, 12 men’s teams and eight women’s teams battled it out for Olympic glory The former Soviet Union competed as part of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and won gold in the men’s competition, defeating Sweden 22:20 to become Olympic champions, in part thanks to top-scorer Talant Dujshebaev (47 goals) who was also named in the All-star Team.

France won their first of what would be many Olympic medals, taking bronze against Iceland 24:20.

Korea defeated Norway 28:21 in the gold match, with 19-year-old Oh Seong Ok leading the scoring. The CIS women took bronze with a 24:20 win against Germany.

The IHF World Selection Team in Spain

4 June 2005    IHF World Selection vs Ciudad Real – Ciudad Real
5 June 2005    IHF World Selection vs Spain – Madrid 

At various points in the history of the IHF a special ‘World Selection’ team featuring the world’s best handball players has played matches, starting back in August 1968.

Spain has hosted two such games, in June 2005 with double IHF Men’s World Handball Player of the Year Talant Dujshebaev having his farewell game in Ciudad Real in front of 4,500 fans with Ciudad Real winning 35:34. The following day, IHF Men’s World Championship winners Spain were the opponents, raising money for the tsunami victims in Phuket, Thailand with 12,000 people watching a 42:30 Spain win.