1968 World Women's Handball Championship

4th Women's Handball World Championship 1968
4th Women's Handball World Championship
Number of nations	9 (planned)
World Champion	not determined
venue	Soviet Union (planned)
Opening game	December 13, 1968 (planned)
Endgame	December 21, 1968 (planned)
←  World Cup 1965 WM 1971  →

The women's handball world championship in 1968 was the fourth edition of this event for the period from 13 to 21 December 1968 in the Soviet Union . First of all, the period of November 16 and 24 was set. However, since decisive ice hockey games were taking place in the country at the time , the tournament was postponed to December.

On August 30, 1968, the Congress of the International Handball Federation (IHF) met to vote on a motion from the IHF Presidium. This decision provided for the cancellation of the World Cup. The background was the invasion of the Warsaw Pact troops into Czechoslovakia on August 21st. On August 30, 1968, the Congress passed the resolution by 13 votes to 12, with two abstentions.

Eligible teams

Nine teams were to take part in the 1968 World Cup. The host Soviets and world champions Hungary were directly qualified . The Federal Republic of Germany moved into the main field by bye. The remaining six places were awarded through continental qualifications - five European and one Asian.

country	continent	Qualified as	Qualification date	Previous participation in world championships
Soviet Union	Europe	host		1962
Hungary	Europe	World champion 1965	November 13, 1965	1957, 1962, 1965
BR Germany	Europe	bye		1957, 1962, 1965
Czechoslovakia	Europe	European playoff winner	18th February 1968	1957 , 1962, 1965
Romania	Europe	European playoff winner	February 21, 1968	1957, 1962 , 1965
Yugoslavia	Europe	European playoff winner	March 16, 1968	1957, 1962, 1965
German Democratic Republic	Europe	European playoff winner	March 20, 1968	-
Denmark	Europe	European playoff winner	March 23, 1968	1957, 1962, 1965
Japan	Asia	Asia qualifier		1962, 1965

bold = world champion in the respective year

Draw of the preliminary round groups

The division of the three pots, each with three teams, was made on the basis of the placements at the 1965 World Cup .

Lottery pot 1	Hungary	Yugoslavia	BR Germany
Lottery pot 2	Czechoslovakia	Romania	Denmark
Lottery pot 3	Japan	Soviet Union	German Democratic Republic

Group A

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
01.	Yugoslavia	00	00	00	00	0000-0000	± 0	00
02.	Czechoslovakia	00	00	00	00	0000-0000	± 0	00
03.	Soviet Union	00	00	00	00	0000-0000	± 0	00

Group B

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
01.	Hungary	00	00	00	00	0000-0000	± 0	00
02.	Romania	00	00	00	00	0000-0000	± 0	00
03.	German Democratic Republic	00	00	00	00	0000-0000	± 0	00

Group C

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
01.	BR Germany	00	00	00	00	0000-0000	± 0	00
02.	Denmark	00	00	00	00	0000-0000	± 0	00
03.	Japan	00	00	00	00	0000-0000	± 0	00

Replacement tournament

Despite the cancellation, the Soviet Handball Association held a country tournament in which four of the original nine World Cup participants - the GDR, Hungary, Romania and the Soviet Union itself - took part. Then there were Poland and Bulgaria . The tournament took place in Moscow's Luzhniki Sports Palace from December 17th to 22nd .

Results and table

The Soviet Union won the everyone against everyone round due to the better goal difference in front of the GDR team tied on points.

date	pairing			Result
17th December 1968	Bulgaria	-	Poland	0-: - 0(- :–)
17th December 1968	German Democratic Republic	-	Hungary	09:13 (- :–)
17th December 1968	Romania	-	Soviet Union	11:16 (- :–)
18th December 1968	Hungary	-	Romania	10: 7 0(- :–)
18th December 1968	Bulgaria	-	German Democratic Republic	06:19 (- :–)
18th December 1968	Poland	-	Soviet Union	006:16 (4:10)
19th December 1968	Romania	-	Bulgaria	11:10 (5: 5)
19th December 1968	German Democratic Republic	-	Poland	14: 8 0(- :–)
19th December 1968	Soviet Union	-	Hungary	14: 7 0(9: 4)
December 21, 1968	Romania	-	German Democratic Republic	07: 8 0(3: 1)
December 21, 1968	Hungary	-	Poland	11: 7 0(- :–)
December 21, 1968	Soviet Union	-	Bulgaria	14: 5 0(- :–)
22nd December 1968	Poland	-	Romania	11:10 (- :–)
22nd December 1968	Bulgaria	-	Hungary	03: 7 0(- :–)
22nd December 1968	German Democratic Republic	-	Soviet Union	07: 7 0(3: 6)

Closing table

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
01.	Soviet Union	05	04th	01	00	0067:3600	+31	09
02.	German Democratic Republic	05	04th	01	00	0061:3700	+24	09
03.	Hungary	05	03	00	02	0044:4400	± 0	06th
04th	Poland	05	02	00	03	0000-0000	± 0	04th
05.	Romania	05	01	00	04th	0046:5500	−9	02
06th	Bulgaria	05	00	00	05	0000-0000	± 0	00

Remarks

1. ↑ ^{a b c} The exact result is not known. Poland won the game. This means that the final placements are known, but the goal relationships of both teams are not.

Individual evidence

1. ^ O. V .: "Replacement World Cup" in Moscow . In: Mindener Tageblatt , No. 292, December 17, 1968, p. 11.