After their joint best-ever ranking of fourth last time out – at the co-hosted Denmark/Sweden/Norway 2023 – the Swedish side will be hoping that Germany/Netherlands 2025 can provide at least one more step up the rankings and onto the podium.

A constant presence at the IHF Women’s World Championship between 2001 and 2017, Tunisia have missed out on qualifying in 2019 and 2023, but now they are back after finishing on the third place at the 2024 CAHB African Women’s Handball Championship last December.

The African side’s best finish in the competition was at their inaugural appearance, in 1975, when they were 12th, with a stronger outing also in 2009, when they made it out of the preliminary round and finished on the 14th place.

Four years ago, at the 2021 IHF Women’s World Championship, Austria have returned to the biggest of stages, after a 12-year wait. However, the European side subsequently finished 16th at Spain 2021 and 19th at Denmark/Norway/Sweden 2023, making it to the main round, but failing to secure a top-10 finish.

Both times, the team was coached by Herbert Müller, but the long withstanding German coach left the Austrian team after two decades on the bench in 2024, being replaced by Monique Tijsterman.

For the first time in more than a decade, Norway’s women’s team will be without the presence of legendary coach Thorir Hergiersson on their bench at an IHF Women’s World Championship.

The Icelandic coach, who started with the team as assistant coach under another legendary coach in Marit Breivik back in 2001, graduated to the top position in 2009 and continued the medal haul across European and world championships, plus the Olympic Games.

In each of the last four editions of the IHF Women’s World Championship, Japan have delivered at least one surprising result, beating an European side. It was Montenegro in 2017, Romania in 2019, Croatia in 2021 and Denmark and Serbia in 2023.

Iceland’s women senior national team returns to global action for just the third time as the team find themselves in the middle of their most successful international tournament qualification series.

Their world championship debut, at Brazil 2011, got off to a winning start as they saw off Montenegro (22:21) to get their maiden victory. Despite losses against Angola and Norway, wins against 2025 group opponents Germany and then China saw them into the round of 16 where they lost to Russia.

Croatia have always been a dark horse in women’s handball, with their best string of results at the IHF Women’s World Championship being the seventh place at Brazil 2011, when they reach the quarter-finals for the first time in history, and the ninth place in 2007.

Undoubtedly, their peak was reached at the EHF EURO 2020, when the “Queens of Shock”, as they were dubbed during that competition, finished third, sealing the bronze medal with a shocking win against Denmark, in Herning.

Germany/Netherlands 2025 will be Spain’s 10th successive IHF Women’s World Championship appearance, but it comes off the back of one of their worst-ever rankings, 13th place at Denmark/Norway/Sweden 2023.

That lowly place for one of Europe’s handball powerhouses was second only to their 15th place gained on their debut in 1993 and is part of a series of disappointing rankings in their last three major competition.

Since Republic of Korea's first-ever IHF Women’s World Championship qualification in 1978, only two teams in the world have been present at every event since – themselves and Romania.

Not even Germany or Norway can boast such a qualification record, and with a gold and bronze in that period, the Asian nation even has a better medal haul then the Romanians (silver and bronze).

Germany/Netherlands 2025 represents the 30th anniversary of the Brazilian women’s IHF World Championship debut, with their 17th place back at Austria/Hungary 1995 an impressive first ranking.

Since then, they have qualified for every event since, with 2025 their 16th in a row. This perfect qualification sequence highlights their dominance in their continent, since bursting onto the global scene, through the former Pan-American continental federation and now South and Central America Handball Confederation (SCAHC).