The draw for the 27th IHF Women’s World Championship, which will take place between 26 November and 14 December, took place on Thursday, 22 May, in the historic halls of the Noordbrabants Museum in 's-Hertogenbosch, one of the five hosts cities of the competition.

The 32 teams learnt their fate, as the path towards the title is now known, with the emotions running high. As in any draw for a major international competition, it yielded several tough groups, in this case, the most balanced group being Group A, which will see the bronze medallists from the previous two editions of the world handball flagship competition, Denmark, take on Romania, Japan and Croatia.

“It's a tough group, but then you're in the game. There won't be any easy matches, but that could be an advantage in the end, because then we'll be ready from the start. We have to beat Croatia, but they were the toughest team from the fourth seed. The same can be said about Japan – they were also the toughest team from the third seed and beat us at the last World Championship. Romania is on the rise. They beat Sweden at the European Championship and have built a good team. They are a team to take seriously – especially at the start,” said Denmark’s new coach, Helle Thomsen, for the official website of the Danish Handball Association.

She was echoed by Romania coach, Florentin Pera, as the European side is aiming to break through into the top-10 at the IHF Women’s World Championship for the first time since 2017, when the competition was also played in Germany.

“We are in the most balanced group, which should motivate us even higher. We aim for a top-8 finish and the way we played at the European Championship in 2024, when we beat Sweden, gives us reason to be confident,” said Florentin Pera, Romania’s coach, for Romanian outlet We Love Sport.

Hungary were drawn into Group B, alongside debutants Switzerland, Senegal and the Islamic Republic of Iran, with coach Vladimir Golovin considering that the draw has been kind to the European side, bronze medallists at the EHF EURO 2024 and the hosts of the next edition of the IHF Women’s World Championship.

“Our draw can be considered good, we respect all our opponents and we will prepare thoroughly for them. We have recently played three successful matches with Switzerland, although not every time the victory was easy. We met Senegal at the 2023 World Championship we won, but the match started hard, and in addition, at the last World Championship, they started the tournament with great momentum and good shooting, and now the opening match will be against us, we have to pay attention, many of their players play handball in Europe,” said Golovin for the official website of the Hungarian Handball Federation.

Co-hosts Germany will face Serbia, Iceland and Uruguay in Group C, therefore two European sides who can cause issues for Markus Gaugisch’s side in the Porsche Arena in Stuttgart.

"It's a nice mix that could be very exciting. Uruguay brings a South American style of play, while Iceland is very combative. They also always bring a good atmosphere to the tournament and rely heavily on emotions. It will be interesting to see if Serbia can bring the quality they showed in qualifying. But all three teams are not easy opponents; all qualified for a good reason," said Germany’s left back, Xenia Smits, for the official website of the German Handball Federation.

Another well-balanced group is Group D, with another batch of three European teams plus one South American side in Paraguay, as Montenegro, Spain, the Faroe Islands and Paraguay will try to secure a place in the main round.

“Among the seeded teams, we are up against Montenegro, who could be at our level, although they’re a team that competes very well. That’s something to keep in mind. We do not know much about Paraguay, although there are players of theirs who play in the Spanish league and who are closer to us. Faroe Islands are a team that has been improving in recent years, a Scandinavian style with a lot of Danish players that has grown a lot. It is a group in which we can compete well and with the hope that we can go far,” said Spain’s coach, Ambros Martin.

The Netherlands, co-hosts for this edition, will play in Group E, facing Austria, Egypt and Argentina and their coach, Henrik Signell, is confident that his side can provide a challenge for a medal.

"I think it was a pretty good draw for us. At the moment Austria seems to be the strongest of our three opponents. They have a pretty young and interesting team, which we have to respect. But still I think we have a good chance of winning all the games in the group," said Signell, according to the HandbalNL website.
    
France, the reigning champions, look to be favoured in Group F, where they face Poland, Tunisia and the People’s Republic of China, as they aim to secure yet another medal, with coach Sebastian Gardillou preparing for his maiden edition of the IHF Women’s World Championship as the head coach of the French team.

"I'm happy that this draw offers us a true world tour, maintaining a touch of handball while avoiding nations like Angola, Spain, and Korea. On paper, it seems manageable, but competition remains competition. We'll have to collect as many points as possible to arrive in the best possible position for the next round," said Gardillou for the website of the French Handball Federation.

The reigning Olympic champions, Norway, have been sent to Group H, where they face Angola, Republic of Korea and Kazakhstan, therefore no European opponent until the main round.

For coach Ole Gustav Gjekstad, who replaced Thorir Hergeirsson, this will also be his maiden major international competition on Norway’s bench.

“This is an exciting group, with a light mix of teams from different parts of the world. Angola is a physically quite good team and a stable, good handball team. Korea have been very up and down, and difficult to place at any time, depending on which coach they have and which players they have at their disposal. It's been a long time since I've seen Kazakhstan. It's a bit of a thrill to meet teams you don't meet that often,” concluded Gjekstad in a statement for the Norwegian Handball Federation.

 

 

 

 

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O postare distribuită de IHF (@ihfworldhandball)

Credit photo: Nikki van Toorn