The expansion of the IHF Women’s World Championship to 32 teams at the 25th IHF Women’s World Championship in Spain meant that some high-profile teams would have a chance to make their debut in the competition.

Ultimately, there is only one rookie at Spain 2021: the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The Iranian side entered the AHF Asian Women’s Handball Championship for the first time in 2008, but have never registered such a good tournament like in in Jordan in September.

The year 2021 has been quite turbulent for PR of China women’s national team. Due to the travel restrictions caused by the COVID-19 situation, the Asian team had to withdraw from the Olympic qualification in March. And for similar reasons, in September they had to cancel their participation in the Asian Women's Handball Championship in Jordan, which also served as qualifying event for the 2021 IHF Women's World Championship.

In the 1990s and 2000s, Austria were regular participants in the World and European Championships, and also played at the Olympics three times, in 1984, 1992 and 2000. However, it was already a long time ago, and after finishing 10th at the 2009 IHF Women’s World Championship, the central European side failed to reach any major tournament for 12 years.