Thanks to their third-place finish at the South and Central America Handball Confederation (SCAHC) Women’s Championship held in Brazil last year, Uruguay return to world championship action after missing the past six editions – appearing last time at Brazil 2011 where they recorded their highest ranking (20th).

Germany/Netherlands 2025 marks the sixth time the South American nation of Paraguay have qualified for an IHF Women’s World Championship.

They became the 31st side to qualify for the event after booking their ticket by winning the SCAHC (South and Central America Handball Confederation) ‘Last Chance’ qualification tournament last April.

After grabbing bronze at the 2024 Asian women’s championship, Kazakhstan secured their ticket for Germany/Netherlands 2025.

The qualification ensured a third, consecutive appearance at the global event and eighth overall since their debut in 2007 – with just two championships missed, in 2013 and 2017.

A debut appearance ranking of 18th remains their best-ever finish, with 30th in 2023 their worst.

For the third time in history and for the third time in a row, the Islamic Republic of Iran have qualified for the IHF Women’s World Championship, establishing themselves as one of the most consistent Asian sides in women’s handball over the last years.

Four years ago, Switzerland missed the chance to progress to their maiden edition of the IHF Women’s World Championship, when they lost against Czechia, 49:55 on aggregate, in the European Qualifiers – Phase 2.

For the previous edition of the world handball flagship competition, Switzerland had to go again through Czechia, this time conceding a 58:68 aggregate loss and missing out once again.