With a little over four months left until the start of the 2026 IHF Women's Youth (U18) World Championship, which will see Romania host the competition, preparations are now in full swing, with the draw for the preliminary round set to take place in Basel, Switzerland on Friday, 8 May 2026, at 11:00 CEST.
Thirty-one of the 32 spots for the tournament have been secured, with the final place reserved for the winner of the IHF Trophy Intercontinental Phase.

The qualified teams have been distributed into four performance rows based on their ranking and continental representation. Based on the Regulations for IHF Competitions, the 2026 IHF Women's Youth World Championship draw will be conducted using four performance rows. The preliminary round will consist of eight groups of four teams each, with the top two sides in each group progressing to the main round.

Teams in Pot 1 will be drawn in performance row 1, Pot 2 in row 2, Pot 3 in row 3 and Pot 4 in row 4. The 4th performance row is drawn first, followed by the 3rd and then the 1st row, with teams drawn into Groups A-H in alphabetical order. The 2nd performance row is drawn last, with hosts Romania having the prerogative to assign themselves to a group of their choice in row 2, before the remaining Pot 2 teams are drawn into Groups A-H in alphabetical order.

Seven European teams - including W17 EHF EURO 2025 champions Slovakia, plus Croatia, Montenegro, reigning world champions Spain, Switzerland, Denmark and Hungary are in Pot 1, joined by Asian champions, People’s Republic of China.

In Pot 2, France, Czechia, Argentina, Serbia, Germany, Sweden and Japan join hosts Romania, while Netherlands, Slovenia, Brazil, Republic of Korea, Kazakhstan, Tunisia and Guinea are in Pot 3.

Pot 4 consists of Uzbekistan, Uruguay, Angola, Canada, Mexico, Paraguay, Fiji and the team qualified via the IHF Trophy path.

The competition will be played from 29 July to 9 August 2026 across four venues in Romania. The matches will take place at the following arenas: Pitești Arena (Pitești), Polyvalent Hall (Craiova), “Traian” Sports Hall (Râmnicu Vâlcea) and Mioveni Sports Hall (Mioveni).

The top two teams in each preliminary round group will progress to the main round, where four groups of four teams will be formed. The top two sides from each main round group will qualify for the quarter-finals, while the remaining teams will contest the President's Cup, ensuring every nation plays a meaningful number of matches throughout the tournament.

2026 IHF Women's Youth (U18) World Championship - pots

Pot 1: Slovakia, Croatia, Montenegro, Spain, Switzerland, Denmark, Hungary, People’s Republic of China
Pot 2: France, Czechia, Argentina, Serbia, Romania, Germany, Sweden, Japan
Pot 3: Netherlands, Slovenia, Brazil, Republic of Korea, Egypt, Kazakhstan, Tunisia, Guinea
Pot 4: Uzbekistan, Uruguay, Angola, Canada, Mexico, Paraguay, Fiji, IHF Trophy