There are more than six months left until the start of the 2025 IHF Men’s World Championship, the first edition in the competition’s history to be co-hosted by three countries, but the preparations are now on the final straight, with the draw taking place in the Vatroslav Lisinski Concert Hall in Zagreb, Croatia, on Wednesday, 29 May, at 19:30 CEST.

The International Handball Federation (IHF) Council has awarded the two wildcards available to United States of America and Switzerland, now completing the 32-team line-up at Croatia/Denmark/Norway 2025.

With the final picture complete for the 29th edition of the IHF Men’s World Championship, 18 European teams, 5 African teams, 4 teams from Asia, 3 from the South and Central American Confederation and 2 from the North American and Caribbean Confederation will be at the start of the world handball flagship competition.

The competition will take place in five venues over three countries between 14 January and 2 February 2025. The 14,000-seater Unity Arena in Baerum, just outside of capital Oslo, will be the host of the competition in Norway, while the Jyske Bank Boxen in Herning, Denmark is due to host two preliminary round groups and one main round group.

In Croatia, the Varaždin Arena, the Žatika Sport Centre in Poreč and the Arena Zagreb will host the competition. The Arena Zagreb is due to host two quarter-finals and one semi-final, while the other knock-out phase matches will be played in the Unity Arena (formerly known as Telenor Arena) in Baerum.
 

“The assignment of the teams in each of the host cities is another step towards the championship. We are pleased to be able to welcome Sweden to Group F in Baerum. Together with the Norwegian team they will attract handball fans from both sides of the border, making Baerum outside of Oslo the place to be for handball loving Scandinavians in the early weeks of 2025,” says Kia Haftorn Otnes, project manager of the 2025 IHF Men's World Championship in Norway.

For the 2025 IHF Men’s World Championship draw, the 32 participating teams have been divided into four pots of eight teams each, with the top three sides in each group progressing to the main round.

The allocation of the performance and compulsory places to the Continental Confederations is done in accordance with the ranking of the Continental Confederations at the previous World Championship of the same gender, according to the article 1.3.1 of the Regulations for IHF Competitions.

“The advantage of sharing the hosting between countries from different corners of Europe is that we can ensure even more handball fans have the opportunity to support their country. In Denmark we look forward to welcoming our handball enthusiastic neighbours from Germany and our hope is to create another championship with full arenas and a fantastic atmosphere,” says Jan Kampman, head of the Danish Organizing Committee.

According to the 1.3.2 article of the Regulations for IHF Competitions, in the case of more than one (1) host nation, the organiser shall assign one (1) team per group, which had previously been assigned to a city, including the teams of the host nations.

Denmark will be playing in Group B, Norway are headlining Group E, while Croatia are due to play in Group H, all on their home courts.
 

Moreover, the Danish Handball Association reserved the right to place Germany in Group A in Herning, due to Germany being a neighbouring country, with a two-hour drive from the border to Herning and handball-loving communities in Kiel, Hamburg or Flensburg close to the border.

The Norwegian Handball Federation placed Sweden in Group F, due to the same reason, with the Sweden border being a 90-minute drive from the Norwegian capital.

Last, but not least, Hungary will play in Group D in Varazdin, for the same geographical reasons, as well as Slovenia in Group G, in Zagreb. Austria are due to feature in Group C, in Poreč, a popular venue for Austrian tourists for centuries.

Pot 1: Denmark, France, Sweden, Germany, Hungary, Slovenia, Norway, Egypt
Pot 2: Portugal, Croatia, Austria, Iceland, Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Czechia 
Pot 3: Poland, North Macedonia, Qatar, Brazil, Argentina, Cuba, Japan, Algeria
Pot 4: Bahrain, Tunisia, Chile, Kuwait, Cape Verde, Guinea, USA, Switzerland