The 27th IHF Women’s World Championship will be hosted by two countries – Germany and the Netherlands – and will take place between 26 November and 14 December 2025 in five venues, two in the Netherlands and three in Germany, with the final weekend being scheduled in the Ahoy Arena in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

The preliminary round, which contains eight groups of four teams each, will be played in four venues – two each in Germany, the Porsche Arena in Stuttgart and the SWT Arena in Trier, and the Netherlands, the Maasport in s’Hertogenbosch and the Ahoy Arena in Rotterdam.

Groups A and E will be hosted in the Ahoy Arena in Rotterdam, with co-hosts the Netherlands playing in Group E, having the prerogative to choose their group. Groups B and F will also take place in the Netherlands, in s’Hertogenbosch.

Germany, the other co-hosts, have selected Group G, which, alongside Group C, will take place in the Porsche Arena in Stuttgart. The other two groups, Group D and Group H, will be played in the SWT Arena in Trier.

The competition will start on 26 November 2025, in Stuttgart and Trier, with the other venues in the Netherlands seeing the first matches played on 27 November 2025. The preliminary round is scheduled to end on 2 December 2025.

The main round groups will take place in the Ahoy Arena in Rotterdam – with Groups 1 and 3 scheduled to be played in the Netherlands – and in the Westfalenhalle in Dortmund, where Groups 2 and 4 are scheduled. The President’s Cup and the Placement Matches will be played in the Maasport in s’Hertogenbosch. The main round will start in Dortmund on 2 December 2025 and will end on 8 December 2025.

Two quarter-finals are scheduled for 9 December in the Westfalenhalle in Dortmund, while the other two quarter-finals will take place one day later, on 10 December, in the Ahoy Arena in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

The final weekend in the Ahoy Arena in Rotterdam will see the semi-finals played on 12 December, followed by the bronze-medal match and the final on 14 December.

Celebrating one year to go before the start of the 2025 IHF Women’s World Championship, spectators can purchase tickets for all the stages of the competition and for all the venues, starting from 26 November. Ticket options include day tickets and group packages, with prices for the German venues starting at €19. Tickets can be purchased via the official website of the competition, www.worldhandball25.com, and Eventim.

Three teams are already qualified for the competition, with the two co-hosts, Germany and the Netherlands, already sure of their appearance at the 2025 IHF Women’s World Championship. Reigning world champions France are also already qualified, and more teams will be added to the line-up in December, when continental competitions in Asia, Africa, Europe, and South and Central America will take place.