26th IHF Women's World Championship throws off with fantastic four-match card

The long wait is over. After Norway were crowned champions at the 2021 IHF Women’s World Championship in December 2021, the time has come for the Scandinavian powerhouse to defend their title, in the first-ever edition of the world handball flagship competition to be co-hosted by three countries – Denmark, Sweden and Norway. 

After 24 years, the IHF Women’s World Championship returns to Stavanger, Norway with Preliminary Round Group C throwing off the action.

In Group G, in Frederikshavn, two European sides are starting their Denmark/Norway/Sweden 2023 journey against South American and Asian representatives. Ukraine's comeback to the big scene is starting against 2022 South and Central American Women's Handball Championship winners Brazil while favourite of the group Spain line up against underdogs Kazakhstan.

Group C
18:00 CET Republic of Korea vs Austria 

A win in the opening match of the 2023 IHF Women’s World Championship in Norway is crucial for both sides if they want to keep their dreams of progressing in the competition alive.

Korea come to Norway after a disappointing Asian Games, while Austria return for their second, consecutive world championship after they returned at Spain 2021 following a 12-year break.

Coached by Henrik Signell, Korea finished their warm-up campaign with a 36:19 loss to France and 27:21 victory over Cameroon, while Austria saw off Portugal (32:20) and Switzerland (34:33), but lost to Romania (41:35).

The two teams last met in an IHF Women’s World Championship back at Croatia 2003, with the Asian side defeating the Europeans 39:34.

20:30 CET Norway vs Greenland 

In 1999 Norway (co-hosts with Denmark) won their debut gold in the competition and have gone on to win three more titles, including the most recent, at Spain 2021. 

Another gold will see the reigning world and European champions top the all-time table with five, one ahead of Russia (4).

So it is no mean feat for Greenland, who are returning to championship action after a 22-year gap, when they lost all five matches at Italy 2001.

The North American and The Caribbean Confederation (NACHC) champions travel the 3,000+km to Stavanger relying on the experience of a number of Danish lower league players, but it will be a tough ask against a Norway side who, despite some injury concerns, can rely on a plethora of experienced, medal-laden players.

The match marks the first-ever meeting between the two teams.

Group G
18:00 CET Brazil vs Ukraine

Ukraine are making their return to the IHF Women's World Championship after a 14-year hiatus and they are eager to show their skills. Beating Luxembourg and North Macedonia in two qualification phases made their dream come true, but they have a tough group in the preliminary round.

Vitaliy Andronov's players enter the fray facing an experienced Brazil, whose star players are gaining experience in Europe's top clubs like Bruna de Paula Almeida at Győri Adi ETO KC and goalkeeper Barbara Arenhart at Krim Mercator Ljubljana. 

It will be a tough obstacle for the Ukrainian squad whose 50 per cent of players are coming from domestic club Galychanka and they have to cope with the absence of their top scorer, Iryna Glibko. However, players with international experience will try to be the engine of the team.

“Being here was one of our dreams. For 14 years we didn't have the opportunity to play in the world championship, but now we can. We want to get the best possible result as possible. We have been waiting for a long time, and we want to show what we can and show that handball in Ukraine exists even in such a difficult time,” said Ukrainian goalkeeper Mariia Gladun.

Brazil have high hopes and are favourites of the group, alongside Spain. Especially after finishing sixth at the 2021 edition which was their best result since winning the World Championship in 2013. Claiming their seventh South and Central American Women's Handball Championship title was a good boost even though they had a tough time against Denmark in friendly matches ahead of the Norway/Denmark/Sweden 2023, losing on a double-digit number on both occasions.

This will be the fourth time these two teams meet at the World Championship with both teams having two wins on their side. The most recent encounter, at the 2009 President's Cup Group I South American team beat Ukraine 36:30

20:30 CET Spain vs Kazakhstan

“Las Guerreras” are not just a group favourite, but also one of the contestants for a medal at Noway/Denmark/Sweden 2023. After winning the silver in 2019, they were left disappointed in 2021 losing both semi-finals and bronze-medal match. However, Ambros Martín will have to fight hard in order to continue on the same path.

Even though Spain have a good mixture of experienced and young players, they did not book their spot at the World Championship easily. Austria proved to be a strong opponent and Spain managed to qualify only after a two-goal win at home, progressing further with a 54:52 win on aggregate. 

But they had well-structured preparations with three friendly matches representing the same opponents from the group. Spain beat Serbia and Argentina (24:28, 26:19) but lost an exciting match against Japan (29:31). Nevertheless, head coach Martín has positive thoughts ahead of the start in Frederikshavn according to rfebm.com. Opening against underdog Kazakhstan will be good for the possible corrections ahead of the tougher games.

“We have done a great job, and stayed in the line of work we marked last June. The team has played against three opponents qualified for the World Championship, and we have gone from less to more, trying to correct what we could be missing. I think we are going to Denmark prepared to compete against anyone.”

Kazakhstan will have a hard time progressing further to the main round. Missing two of their best players, Irina Alexandrova and Tansholpan Jumadilova, will not make the situation easier for them but they still hope they can catch at least one win. This is their seventh World Championship appearance and so far, they managed to get their hands on a win in a group phase only at the 2009, 2011 and 2021 editions. 

Spain and Kazakhstan are no strangers as they were seeded to the same group at the flagship competition on four previous occasions - 2009, 2011, 2015 and 2019. Spanish team claimed convincing wins every time with Kazakhstan's biggest number of scored goals being at 18.