Following the conclusion of the Paris 2024 Men’s and Women’s Olympic Qualification Tournaments and Paris 2024 Olympic Games draws for both handball competitions, the match schedules for the preliminary rounds have been confirmed by the IHF and the Paris 2024 Organising Committee.

There will be a full card of exceptional handball – six matches per day in the South Paris Arena 6 – on each day between 25 July and 4 August, with the only exception being 26 July, the day of the official Paris 2024 Opening Ceremony, which will take place on the Seine River in Paris.

The women’s competition will be the first to throw off on Thursday, 25 July, when reigning Olympic champions and reigning world champions France will take on Hungary, while Norway face Sweden in some crunch clashes, with no room for mistake.

The men’s competition will throw off on 27 July, when the last two Olympic finals and the final of the 2023 IHF Men’s World Championship, the match between Denmark and France, is scheduled at 21:00 CEST. Another high-profile match, the one between Germany and Sweden, also headlines the first day of the men’s competition.

The preliminary round for the women’s competition will finish on 3 August, while the preliminary round for the men’s competition is scheduled to end on 4 August.

After a rest day, the teams will face off in the knockout phase, which will be played in the Stade Pierre Mauroy in Lille. The medal matches are scheduled for 10 August in the women’s competition and on 11 August in the men’s competition.

Allocation of the matches to the corresponding throw-off times from the knock-out stage on will be made at a later stage.

Women’s competition – preliminary round schedule

Group A: Norway, Germany, Slovenia, Sweden, Denmark, Republic of Korea
Group B: Hungary, Netherlands, Spain, France, Brazil, Angola

Thursday, 25 July
09:00 CEST Slovenia vs Denmark
11:00 CEST Netherlands vs Angola
14:00 CEST Spain vs Brazil
16:00 CEST Germany vs Republic of Korea
19:00 CEST Hungary vs France
21:00 CEST Norway vs Sweden

Sunday, 28 July
09:00 CEST Brazil vs Hungary
11:00 CEST Republic of Korea vs Slovenia
14:00 CEST Sweden vs Germany
16:00 CEST Denmark vs Norway
19:00 CEST Angola vs Spain
21:00 CEST France vs Netherlands

Tuesday, 30 July
09:00 CEST Germany vs Slovenia
11:00 CEST Norway vs Republic of Korea
14:00 CEST Netherlands vs Spain
16:00 CEST Hungary vs Angola
19:00 CEST France vs Brazil
21:00 CEST Sweden vs Denmark

Thursday, 1 August
09:00 CEST Netherlands vs Brazil
11:00 CEST Republic of Korea vs Sweden
14:00 CEST Spain vs Hungary
16:00 CEST Angola vs France
19:00 CEST Germany vs Denmark
21:00 CEST Slovenia vs Norway

Saturday, 3 August
09:00 CEST Hungary vs Netherlands
11:00 CEST Spain vs France
14:00 CEST Brazil vs Angola
16:00 CEST Slovenia vs Sweden
19:00 CEST Norway vs Germany
21:00 CEST Denmark vs Republic of Korea

Men’s competition – preliminary round schedule

Group A: Spain, Croatia, Germany, Slovenia, Sweden, Japan
Group B: Denmark, Norway, Hungary, France, Egypt, Argentina

Saturday, 27 July
09:00 CEST Spain vs Slovenia
11:00 CEST Hungary vs Egypt
14:00 CEST Croatia vs Japan
16:00 CEST Norway vs Argentina
19:00 CEST Germany vs Sweden
21:00 CEST Denmark vs France

Monday, 29 July
09:00 CEST Japan vs Germany
11:00 CEST Slovenia vs Croatia
14:00 CEST Egypt vs Denmark
16:00 CEST Sweden vs Spain
19:00 CEST France vs Norway
21:00 CEST Argentina vs Hungary

Wednesday, 31 July
09:00 CEST Norway vs Hungary
11:00 CEST Croatia vs Germany
14:00 CEST Spain vs Japan 
16:00 CEST Slovenia vs Sweden
19:00 CEST France vs Egypt
21:00 CEST Denmark vs Argentina

Friday, 2 August
09:00 CEST Hungary vs Denmark
11:00 CEST Argentina vs France
14:00 CEST Croatia vs Sweden
16:00 CEST Germany vs Spain
19:00 CEST Japan vs Slovenia
21:00 CEST Norway vs Egypt

Sunday, 4 August
09:00 CEST Sweden vs Japan
11:00 CEST Egypt vs Argentina
14:00 CEST Germany vs Slovenia
16:00 CEST Hungary vs France
19:00 CEST Denmark vs Norway
21:00 CEST Spain vs Croatia