32 teams will learn their fate on Thursday, 22 May, as they embark on the journey for the 2025 IHF Women’s World Championship. In a star-studded ceremony, the draw for the preliminary round of the world handball flagship competition will take place in the historic halls of the Noordbrabants Museum in 's-Hertogenbosch, at 18:00 CEST.

Helping with the draw will be former Germany goalkeeper Clara Woltering, and two Dutch players which wrote history for their side, winning a hat-trick of medals at the IHF Women's World Championship, right wing Debbie Bont, and the former captain of the team, line player Danick Snelder.

The competition will take place in five venues over the two countries between 26 November and 14 December. The Westfalenhalle in Dortmund, the Porsche-Arena in Stuttgart, and the Trier Arena in Trier will host matches in Germany, while the Netherlands will host games in the Maaspoort in 's-Hertogenbosch and the Ahoy Arena in Rotterdam. Two quarter-finals will be played in Dortmund and two in Rotterdam, with the final weekend hosted in Rotterdam.

Eight European teams are in Pot 1, including reigning world champions France, reigning Olympic champions Norway, and Denmark, bronze medallists from the previous edition. Co-hosts Germany and the Netherlands are also in Pot 1, along with Sweden, Hungary, and Montenegro.

Pot 2 includes Poland, Brazil, Serbia, Romania, Switzerland, Spain, Austria, and Angola. Pot 3 features Czechia, Japan, Senegal, Iceland, Argentina, the Faroe Islands, the Republic of Korea, and Tunisia.

Pot 4 consists of wildcard entries China and Croatia, along with Egypt, Uruguay, Kazakhstan, Paraguay, Cuba, and the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Furthermore, the IHF Executive Committee unanimously approved the request of the Local Organising Committees (LOCs) of Germany and the Netherlands to assign teams to specific cities or groups, in accordance with Article 1.3.2 of the Regulations for IHF Competitions.



The LOCs have opted to place teams with the largest fan bases as close as possible to their borders and to distribute the strongest teams—based on previous results—equally between the two host nations.

Germany and the Netherlands will participate in the preliminary round of the 2025 IHF Women’s World Championship in Groups C and E, which will be held in Stuttgart and Rotterdam, respectively.

France, the reigning world champions, will compete in Group F in 's-Hertogenbosch. Hungary, another top contender, is seeded in Group B, also in 's-Hertogenbosch.

Denmark, bronze medallists at the 2021 and 2023 IHF Women’s World Championships, will play in Group A in Rotterdam, while 2023 runners-up and current Olympic champions Norway are set to compete in Group H in Trier. The Faroe Islands are also seeded in Group D, in Trier.

The final seeded team is Sweden, who will play in Group G in Stuttgart.

The draw can be followed free of charge on the official YouTube channel of the International Handball Federation.

2025 IHF Women's World Championship - pots 

Pot 1: France, Norway, Denmark, Hungary, Sweden, Netherlands, Germany, Montenegro
Pot 2: Poland, Brazil, Serbia, Romania, Switzerland, Spain, Austria, Angola
Pot 3: Czechia, Japan, Senegal, Iceland, Argentina, Faroe Islands, Republic of Korea, Tunisia
Pot 4: Egypt, Uruguay, Kazakhstan, Paraguay, Islamic Republic of Iran, Cuba, People's Republic of China, Croatia