The last two continental qualification events for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games finished in the last weekend of January, with two teams earning their tickets to competition, as Sweden and Egypt clinched the last two berths, joining hosts France, world champions Denmark, the Pan American Games winners, Argentina, and the Asian Qualification Tournament winners, Japan.

As France and Denmark played the final of the Men’s EHF EURO 2024 and were already qualified for Paris 2024, the direct spot from the European premium competition went to Sweden, who secured the bronze medal, with a 34:31 win over Germany.

At the 2024 CAHB African Men’s Handball Championship, Egypt cruised to a 29:21 win over Algeria in the final, with their six-match winning streak bringing “The Pharaohs” their third consecutive title and a third consecutive Olympic Games berth.

With six teams already qualified, there are six spots open, which will be clinched in March, when the three Olympic Qualification Tournaments take place between 14 and 17 March. 12 teams have qualified for these Olympic Qualification Tournaments in the last year, with the composition of the three tournaments ready to be revealed.

Six spots in the Olympic Qualification Tournaments were reserved for the teams with the best finish at the 2023 IHF Men’s World Championship that did not qualify already for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. With hosts France finishing second, that meant that teams ranked third to eighth secured these spots.

From those sides, Sweden (4th) and Egypt (7th) made it directly to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, via the EHF EURO and the CAHB African Men’s Handball Championship spots, therefore the ninth and tenth-ranked teams from the 2023 IHF Men’s World Championship progressed to the Olympic Qualification Tournaments.

Spain (3rd), Germany (5th), Norway (6th), Hungary (8th), Croatia (9th) and Slovenia (10th) were the six teams sealing their spots in the Olympic Qualification Tournaments via Poland/Sweden 2023, with six other teams joining them.

The 2023 IHF Men’s World Championship was also a seeding competition for the best continents in the world. The first-ranked continent (Europe) and the second-ranked (Africa) received two more places for the tournament. The third (Asia) and fourth (South and Central America)-ranked continents received one place each.

The top two-ranked sides from the EHF EURO 2024, who had not already sealed a spot at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games or the Olympic Qualification Tournaments also progressed to the latter competition, with Portugal, who finished seventh, and Austria, the eighth-placed side, also earning their tickets to the Olympic Qualification Tournaments.

With Egypt sealing their place to the Olympic Games, Algeria (second) and Tunisia (third) also made it to the Olympic Qualification Tournaments, after making it to the podium at the 2024 CAHB Men’s Handball Championship.

The Olympic Qualification Tournaments quota was completed by Brazil, who finished second at the 2023 Pan American Games and Bahrain, who was on the second place in the Asian Olympic Qualification Tournament.

The three Olympic Qualification Tournaments will take place between 14 and 17 March, with the hosts due to be announced over the next days. The top two sides in each tournament, due to be played in a round-robin format, will seal their tickets to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

Men’s Olympic Qualification Tournaments – Paris 2024 Olympic Games
Tournament 1: Spain, Slovenia, Bahrain, Brazil
Tournament 2: Germany, Croatia, Algeria, Austria
Tournament 3: Norway, Hungary, Portugal, Tunisia