Men's handball world championship 2009

21st Men's Handball World Championship 2009
21st Men's Handball World Championship
Number of nations	24
World Champion	France (3rd title)
venue	Croatia
Opening game	January 16, 2009
Endgame	February 1, 2009
Games	110
Gates	6,090   (∅: 55.36 per game)
Top scorer	Kiril Lazarov , 92 goals
Best player	Igor Vori (MVP)
yellow cards	673  (∅: 6.12 per game)
Time penalties	874  (∅: 7.95 per game)
Red cards	29  (∅: 0.26 per game)
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The mascot of this World Cup is the caterpillar Ruksi

The 21st men's handball world championship was held from January 16 to February 1, 2009 in Croatia . A total of 24 teams competed against each other in groups in the preliminary round and the main round. This was followed by elimination games with semi-finals and finals as well as placement games for places 3 to 24. The team from France was world champion ahead of Croatia and Poland.

The men's handball world championship took place for the first time on Croatian soil; the 2003 women's handball world championship had already taken place in the country. The host's greatest successes include the Olympic gold medals in 1996 and 2004, the 2003 World Cup, the 1995 and 2005 Vice World Championships and the 2008 Vice European Championship. These successes contributed to the country being able to host this competition. The International Handball Federation (IHF) had also gone a separate way this time, because at the time of the award, none of the main round halls in the host country were in place. Six modern and large halls were built especially for the World Cup. Croatia gained confidence through the well-organized Women's World Cup, and the country's application won the bid.

A total of six cities hosted the 2009 World Cup. The main focus was on the size and sporting success of the regions in Germany. In addition, good area coverage was achieved through the distribution of the venues. The World Cup final took place in Zagreb .

Venues

view	information	city	capacity
	Arena Zagreb The hall is Croatia's largest multifunctional hall . It is located in central Croatia. The final of the World Cup took place here.	Zagreb	15,200
	Spaladium Arena This newly built multifunctional hall is to be used mainly by the KK Split basketball club in the future, as the handball club from Split is rather mediocre in the first Croatian league. It will cover the south of Croatia.	Split	12,500
	Dvorana Krešimira Ćosića The hall was rebuilt before the World Cup and serves as the home ground of the KK Zadar basketball club . Located in the middle of Dalmatia, it also covers this area.	Zadar	09,000
	Dvorana Gradski vrt In Osijek, too, the hall was planned and built before the World Cup. Since the end of the World Cup, it has served the first division handball team Osijek Elektromodul as a venue. The location covers the region of Slavonia in northeastern Croatia.	Osijek	03,538
	Gradska dvorana Varaždin The city of Varaždin is located in northern Croatia. The hall, which opened as a new building in December 2008, serves as the venue for the first division handball team RK Varteks Di Caprio .	Varaždin	05,200
	Športska dvorana Žatika Poreč is located directly on the coast in the Istria region in northwestern Croatia. The RK Porec is represented in the first Croatian handball league. The Žatika hall is a new building and was opened in November 2008.	Poreč	03.710
	Dom sportova Mate Parlov Pula is the largest city in the Istria region. The arena was built in 1978 and renovated in 2003.	Pula	02,300

Zagreb Split Zadar Osijek Varaždin Poreč Pula Location of the venues

qualification

Europe (14 participants)

Were set:

•  Croatia as host
•  Germany as defending champion

as well as the three best placed (and not pre-qualified) participants of the European Championship 2008 :

•  Denmark as European champion 2008
•  France third in the European Championship
•  Sweden fifth in the European Championship

In addition, the following nine teams qualified in the qualifying round:

•  Macedonia
•  Norway
•  Poland
•  Romania
•  Russia
•  Serbia
•  Slovakia
•  Spain
•  Hungary

Qualifying round

In the qualifying round, the 21 European teams that did not qualify for the 2008 European Handball Championship played against each other in seven groups. This group stage took place from January 2nd to 20th, 2008. The group winners (after a return match against each group opponent, in the event of a tie, the direct comparison counted) reached the qualifying games that took place in June 2008. There they met the eleven teams that took part in the European Championship but were unable to qualify for the World Cup finals there.

Group 1

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Pt.
1.	Ukraine	4th	3	0	1	123: 103	6th
2.	Austria	4th	3	0	1	121: 121	6th
3.	Estonia	4th	0	0	4th	105: 125	0

03/01/08	Ukraine	-	Estonia	29:27 (10:12)
01/06/08	Estonia	-	Ukraine	21:30 (9:15)
01/09/08	Estonia	-	Austria	26:32 (13:14)
01/12/08	Austria	-	Estonia	34:31 (17:14)
01/16/08	Austria	-	Ukraine	24:39 (12:20)
01/20/08	Ukraine	-	Austria	25:31 (9:16)

Group 2

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Pt.
1.	Greece	4th	3	0	1	108: 83	6th
2.	Netherlands	4th	3	0	1	95:98	6th
3.	Turkey	4th	0	0	4th	87: 109	0

03/01/08	Netherlands	-	Turkey	28:24 (14:11)
01/06/08	Turkey	-	Netherlands	22:25 (12:13)
01/10/08	Turkey	-	Greece	18:29 (9:10)
01/13/08	Greece	-	Turkey	27:23 (17:14)
01/16/08	Greece	-	Netherlands	33:20 (14:13)
01/20/08	Netherlands	-	Greece	22:19 (10: 9)

Group 3

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Pt.
1.	Romania	4th	4th	0	0	151: 105	8th
2.	Latvia	4th	2	0	2	128: 121	4th
3.	Cyprus	4th	0	0	4th	91: 144	0

03/01/08	Romania	-	Cyprus	36:23 (17:12)
01/06/08	Cyprus	-	Romania	23:39 (12:19)
01/09/08	Cyprus	-	Latvia	26:33 (12:14)
01/13/08	Latvia	-	Cyprus	36:19 (17:10)
01/16/08	Latvia	-	Romania	30:37 (17:17)
01/20/08	Romania	-	Latvia	39:29 (22:14)

Group 4

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Pt.
1.	Switzerland	4th	3	1	0	136: 113	7th
2.	Italy	4th	2	1	1	108: 106	5
3.	Belgium	4th	0	0	4th	109: 134	0

03/01/08	Switzerland	-	Belgium	44:31 (19:13)
05.01.08	Belgium	-	Switzerland	28:36 (11:18)
01/09/08	Belgium	-	Italy	23:25 (9:11)
01/13/08	Italy	-	Belgium	29:27 (14: 8)
01/16/08	Italy	-	Switzerland	27:27 (11:14)
01/20/08	Switzerland	-	Italy	29:27 (16:15)

Group 5

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Pt.
1.	Bosnia and Herzegovina	4th	3	0	1	119: 124	6th
2.	Lithuania	4th	2	0	2	130: 121	4th
3.	Finland	4th	1	0	3	118: 122	2

01/02/08	Lithuania	-	Finland	29:30 (13:17)
05.01.08	Finland	-	Lithuania	32:33 (17:16)
01/09/08	Finland	-	Bosnia and Herzeg.	28:29 (13:14)
01/12/08	Bosnia and Herzeg.	-	Finland	31:28 (13:12)
01/16/08	Bosnia and Herzeg.	-	Lithuania	34:29 (18:16)
01/19/08	Lithuania	-	Bosnia and Herzeg.	39:25 (18:16)

Group 6

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Pt.
1.	Macedonia	4th	3	0	1	138: 117	6th
2.	Portugal	4th	3	0	1	148: 112	6th
3.	Bulgaria	4th	0	0	4th	102: 159	0

03/01/08	Portugal	-	Bulgaria	42:17 (22: 6)
01/06/08	Bulgaria	-	Portugal	31:43 (16:25)
01/09/08	Bulgaria	-	Macedonia	30:33 (15:14)
01/12/08	Macedonia	-	Bulgaria	41:24 (23:13)
01/17/08	Macedonia	-	Portugal	38:32 (21:15)
01/20/08	Portugal	-	Macedonia	31:26 (15:14)

Group 7

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Pt.
1.	Serbia	4th	4th	0	0	158: 119	8th
2.	Israel	4th	2	0	2	124: 120	4th
3.	Faroe Islands	4th	0	0	4th	94: 137	0

01/02/08	Serbia	-	Faroe Islands	47:24 (25:11)
05.01.08	Faroe Islands	-	Serbia	28:33 (14:15)
01/09/08	Faroe Islands	-	Israel	21:26 (8:15)
01/12/08	Israel	-	Faroe Islands	31:21 (17:11)
01/16/08	Israel	-	Serbia	31:34 (17:15)
01/19/08	Serbia	-	Israel	44:36 (20:15)

Playoffs

The winners of the seven pre-qualification groups and the eleven participants in the 2008 European Championship who had not already qualified for the World Cup took part in the qualifying matches.

Match pairing			First leg 7./8. June 2008	Second leg 14./15. June 2008	total
Slovenia	-	Slovakia	33:33	29:30	62:63
Spain	-	Greece	32:24	31:32	63:56
Norway	-	Ukraine	29:22	32:30	61:52
Belarus	-	Russia	26:26	30:34	56:60
Montenegro	-	Romania	31:27	24:29	55:56
Czech Republic	-	Serbia	38:33	24:29	62:62 1
Poland	-	Switzerland	32:24	22:24	54:48
Hungary	-	Bosnia and Herzegovina	27:25	27:24 2	54:49
Macedonia	-	Iceland	34:26	24:30	58:56

¹ Serbia qualified due to the more away goals scored.
² The second leg was abandoned when the score was 24:27 for Hungary in the 49th minute of the game after the spectators had thrown several objects onto the field. The EHF Disciplinary Commission decided to use the result at the time of the cancellation as the official final result. So Hungary qualified for the World Cup with an overall result of 54:49. In addition, the handball association of Bosnia-Herzegovina was fined € 7,500 and a penalty of two home games in camera.

Africa (3 participants)

The three best teams of the handball African championship 2008, which took place from 7th to 20th January 2008 in Angola , qualified for the world championship . Qualified for the World Cup are:

• Egypt
• Tunisia
• Algeria

Asia (3 participants)

The three best teams from the 2008 Asian Cup , which took place in Iran from February 17 to 26, 2008, qualified for the World Cup . Qualified for the World Cup were:

• South Korea
• Kuwait
• Saudi Arabia

Panamerica (3 participants)

The top three teams from the 2008 Pan American Championship qualified for the World Cup. The tournament took place in Brazil from June 24th to 28th, 2008 :

• Brazil
• Argentina
• Cuba

Oceania (1 participant)

For the world championship, the winner of the Oceania elimination tournament, which took place from April 7th to 10th, 2008 in Wellington ( New Zealand ) qualified . Qualified for the World Cup is therefore:

• Australia

The tournament also served as the Oceanic Nations Cup and was won by the New Caledonia team. This started out of competition because the country is not a member of the IHF.

referee

Frank Lemme and Bernd Ullrich

The referees were:

Belarus	Andrej Husko Sjarhej Repkin
Brazil	Jesus Nilson Aires Menezes Rogério Aparecido Pinto
Czech Republic	Jiří Opava Pavel Válek
Denmark	Martin Gjeding Mads Hansen
Egypt	Mustafa Mohamed Elmoamli Šaban Mohamed Šaban Ali
France	Nordine Lazaar Laurent Reveret
Croatia	Matija Gubica Boris Milošević
Iran	Mohsen Karbas-Či Majid Kolahdouzan
Lithuania	Mindaugas Gatelis Vaidas Mažeika
Germany	Frank Lemme Bernd Ullrich
Poland	Mirosław Baum Marek Góralczyk
Portugal	Ivan Caçador Eurico Nicolau
Romania	Constantin Din Sorin Laurențiu Dinu
Slovenia	Nenad Krstič Peter Ljubič
Serbia	Zoran Stanojević Slobodan Višekruna
Sweden	Rickard Canbro Mikael Claesson

game schedule

In the preliminary round, four groups of six teams were played. The teams that finished 1st to 3rd in their group after the preliminary rounds moved into the main round. The teams in places 4 to 6 continued to play in the President's Cup.

The two best teams from the main round then qualified for the semi-finals.

If two or more teams are tied, the following criteria will determine the placement:

1. Higher number of points in direct encounters between teams with the same points;
2. better goal difference in direct encounters between teams with the same points;
3. higher number of goals in direct encounters between teams with equal points;
4. better goal difference from all group games;
5. higher number of goals from all group matches;
6. the lot.

Draw of the preliminary round groups

Participants in the World Cup finals

The draw for the preliminary round groups of the 2009 Handball World Cup took place on June 21, 2008 in Zagreb . The 24 qualified teams were divided into four groups of six teams each:

Group A	Group B	Group C	Group D
France  Hungary  Slovakia  Romania  Argentina  Australia	Croatia  Sweden  Spain  South Korea  Kuwait  Cuba	Germany  Poland  Macedonia  Russia  Tunisia  Algeria	Denmark  Norway  Egypt  Brazil  Serbia  Saudi Arabia

Preliminary round

Group A ( Osijek , Dvorana Gradski vrt )

rank	country	Gates	Diff.	Points
1	France	168: 106	+62	10
2	Slovakia	152: 119	+33	7th
3	Hungary	148: 115	+33	7th
4th	Romania	141: 135	+6	4th
5	Argentina	133: 137	−4	2
6th	Australia	76: 206	−130	0

Sat., January 17, 2009, 4:30 p.m.	Slovakia	-	Argentina	27:25 (12:13)
Sat., January 17, 2009, 6:30 p.m.	Hungary	-	Australia	41:17 (20: 8)
Sat, January 17, 2009, 8:30 p.m.	France	-	Romania	31:21 (12: 9)
Sun., January 18, 2009, 3 p.m.	Australia	-	Slovakia	12:47 (6:20)
Sun., January 18, 2009, 5:00 p.m.	Romania	-	Hungary	27:30 (16:13)
Sun., January 18, 2009, 7:00 p.m.	Argentina	-	France	26:33 (15:19)
Mon., January 19, 2009, 3:30 p.m.	Romania	-	Argentina	30:26 (15:13)
Mon., January 19, 2009, 5:30 p.m.	Hungary	-	Slovakia	24:24 (12: 6)
Mon., January 19, 2009, 7:30 p.m.	France	-	Australia	42:11 (20: 3)
Wed., January 21, 2009, 3 p.m.	Australia	-	Romania	20:40 (9:21)
Wed., January 21, 2009, 5:00 p.m.	Hungary	-	Argentina	31:20 (17: 8)
Wed., January 21, 2009, 7:00 p.m.	Slovakia	-	France	26:35 (9:15)
Thursday, January 22, 2009, 3 p.m.	Argentina	-	Australia	36:16 (15: 8)
Thursday, January 22, 2009, 5:00 p.m.	Slovakia	-	Romania	28:23 (12:13)
Thursday, January 22, 2009, 7:00 p.m.	France	-	Hungary	27:22 (13: 8)

Group B ( Split , Spaladium Arena )

rank	country	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Croatia	170: 115	+55	10
2.	Sweden	162: 118	+44	8th
3.	South Korea	140: 126	+14	6th
4th	Spain	167: 127	+40	4th
5.	Cuba	106: 181	−75	2
6th	Kuwait	99: 177	−78	0

Friday, January 16, 2009, 8:30 p.m.	Croatia	-	South Korea	27:26 (14:13)
Sat., January 17, 2009, 4:30 p.m.	Spain	-	Kuwait	47:17 (18: 9)
Sat., January 17, 2009, 6:30 p.m.	Sweden	-	Cuba	41:14 (19: 7)
Sun., January 18, 2009, 4:30 p.m.	Cuba	-	Spain	20:45 (10:24)
Sun., January 18, 2009, 6:30 p.m.	South Korea	-	Sweden	25:31 (12:16)
Sun., January 18, 2009, 8:30 p.m.	Kuwait	-	Croatia	21:40 (13:22)
Mon., January 19, 2009, 4:30 p.m.	South Korea	-	Kuwait	34:19 (15: 9)
Mon., January 19, 2009, 6:30 p.m.	Sweden	-	Spain	34:30 (19:13)
Mon., January 19, 2009, 8:30 p.m.	Croatia	-	Cuba	41:20 (20: 9)
Wed., January 21, 2009, 4:30 p.m.	Cuba	-	South Korea	26:31 (13:17)
Wed., January 21, 2009, 6:30 p.m.	Sweden	-	Kuwait	30:19 (17: 9)
Wed., January 21, 2009, 8:30 p.m.	Spain	-	Croatia	22:32 (11:18)
Thursday, January 22, 2009, 4:30 p.m.	Kuwait	-	Cuba	23:26 (9:12)
Thursday, January 22, 2009, 6:30 p.m.	Spain	-	South Korea	23:24 (15:14)
Thursday, January 22, 2009, 8:30 p.m.	Croatia	-	Sweden	30:26 (14:13)

Group C ( Varaždin , Gradska dvorana Varaždin )

rank	country	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Germany	147: 116	+31	9
2.	Macedonia	145: 136	+9	6th
3.	Poland	146: 131	+15	6th
4th	Russia	143: 145	−2	5
5.	Tunisia	143: 142	+1	4th
6th	Algeria	114: 168	−54	0

Sat., January 17, 2009, 3:30 p.m.	Poland	-	Algeria	39:22 (17: 8)
Sat, January 17, 2009, 5:30 p.m.	Germany	-	Russia	26:26 (15:14)
Sat, January 17, 2009, 7:30 p.m.	Macedonia	-	Tunisia	24:25 (14:13)
Sun., January 18, 2009, 3:30 p.m.	Algeria	-	Macedonia	19:32 (8:16)
Sun., January 18, 2009, 5:30 p.m.	Tunisia	-	Germany	24:26 (12:12)
Sun., January 18, 2009, 7:30 p.m.	Russia	-	Poland	22:24 (14:11)
Mon., January 19, 2009, 3:30 p.m.	Poland	-	Macedonia	29:30 (15:16)
Mon., January 19, 2009, 5:30 p.m.	Germany	-	Algeria	32:20 (16:10)
Mon., January 19, 2009, 7:30 p.m.	Russia	-	Tunisia	36:31 (16:11)
Wed., January 21, 2009, 3:30 p.m.	Algeria	-	Russia	28:29 (14:17)
Wed., January 21, 2009, 5:30 p.m.	Macedonia	-	Germany	23:33 (14:13)
Wed., January 21, 2009, 7:30 p.m.	Poland	-	Tunisia	31:27 (16:11)
Thursday, January 22, 2009, 3:30 p.m.	Macedonia	-	Russia	36:30 (15:14)
Thursday, January 22, 2009, 5:30 p.m.	Germany	-	Poland	30:23 (14:11)
Thursday, January 22, 2009, 7:30 p.m.	Tunisia	-	Algeria	36:25 (18:11)

Group D ( Poreč , Sportski centar Žatika)

rank	country	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Denmark	167: 121	+46	10
2.	Serbia	161: 146	+15	6th
3.	Norway	162: 123	+39	6th
4th	Egypt	110: 126	−16	4th
5.	Brazil	128: 158	−30	4th
6th	Saudi Arabia	107: 161	−54	0

Sat, January 17, 2009, 4:15 p.m.	Norway	-	Saudi Arabia	39:23 (19:10)
Sat, January 17, 2009, 6:15 p.m.	Egypt	-	Serbia	22:30 (12:12)
Sat, January 17, 2009, 8:15 pm	Denmark	-	Brazil	40:27 (19:12)
Sun., January 18, 2009, 4:15 p.m.	Brazil	-	Norway	21:39 (8:17)
Sun., January 18, 2009, 6:15 p.m.	Saudi Arabia	-	Egypt	18:26 (8:12)
Sun., January 18, 2009, 8:15 p.m.	Serbia	-	Denmark	36:37 (22:16)
Mon., January 19, 2009, 5:00 p.m.	Brazil	-	Serbia	32:30 (14:14)
Mon., January 19, 2009, 7:10 p.m.	Norway	-	Egypt	30:20 (14:10)
Mon., January 19, 2009, 9:15 p.m.	Denmark	-	Saudi Arabia	32:13 (17: 4)
Wed., January 21, 2009, 5:00 p.m.	Saudi Arabia	-	Brazil	24:26 (10:14)
Wed., January 21, 2009, 7:10 p.m.	Norway	-	Serbia	26:27 (10:12)
Wed., January 21, 2009, 9:15 p.m.	Egypt	-	Denmark	17:26 (7:12)
Thursday, January 22, 2009, 4:15 p.m.	Serbia	-	Saudi Arabia	38:29 (21:13)
Thursday, January 22, 2009, 6:15 p.m.	Egypt	-	Brazil	25:22 (13: 6)
Thursday, January 22, 2009, 8:15 p.m.	Denmark	-	Norway	32:28 (16:14)

Main round

The main round of the 2009 World Cup was held in two groups. In group 1, the first three teams from preliminary round groups A and B played, in group 2 the first three teams from preliminary round groups C and D. The match results achieved against each other from the preliminary round were carried over to the main round. The first two teams from groups 1 and 2 played the semi-finals, the remaining teams played from places 5 to 12. The winners of the semi-finals will determine the 2009 world champion, the losers will play for third place in the tournament.

Group I ( Zagreb , Arena Zagreb )

rank	country	Gates	Diff.	Points
1	Croatia	137: 118	+19	10
2	France	139: 112	+27	8th
3	Hungary	127: 135	−8	5
4th	Sweden	135: 140	−5	4th
5	Slovakia	124: 137	−13	3
6th	South Korea	119: 139	−20	0

Sat., January 24, 2009, 4:30 p.m.	Slovakia	-	South Korea	23:20 (15:12)
Sat., January 24, 2009, 6:30 p.m.	France	-	Sweden	28:21 (16:10)
Sat., January 24, 2009, 8:30 p.m.	Hungary	-	Croatia	22:27 (12:14)
Sun., January 25, 2009, 4:30 p.m.	Sweden	-	Hungary	30:31 (18:16)
Sun., January 25, 2009, 6:30 p.m.	South Korea	-	France	21:30 (15:15)
Sun., January 25, 2009, 8:30 p.m.	Croatia	-	Slovakia	31:25 (18:13)
Tue., January 27, 2009, 4:30 p.m.	Hungary	-	South Korea	28:27 (11:14)
Tue., January 27, 2009, 6:30 p.m.	Slovakia	-	Sweden	26:27 (11:16)
Tue., January 27, 2009, 8:30 p.m.	France	-	Croatia	19:22 (7:11)

Group II ( Zadar , Dvorana Krešimira Ćosića )

rank	country	Gates	Diff.	Points
1	Denmark	156: 145	+11	8th
2	Poland	150: 141	+9	6th
3	Germany	147: 133	+14	5
4th	Serbia	153: 161	−8	5
5	Norway	138: 141	−3	4th
6th	Macedonia	132: 155	−23	2

Sat., January 24, 2009, 3:30 p.m.	Macedonia	-	Norway	27:29 (13:16)
Sat., January 24, 2009, 5:30 p.m.	Germany	-	Serbia	35:35 (16:19)
Sat, January 24, 2009, 8:15 p.m.	Poland	-	Denmark	32:28 (20:12)
Sun., January 25, 2009, 3:30 p.m.	Serbia	-	Poland	23:35 (7:21)
Sun., January 25, 2009, 5:30 p.m.	Norway	-	Germany	25:24 (12:12)
Sun., January 25, 2009, 8:15 p.m.	Denmark	-	Macedonia	32:24 (13:12)
Tue., January 27, 2009, 3:30 p.m.	Macedonia	-	Serbia	28:32 (16:15)
Tue., January 27, 2009, 5:30 p.m.	Germany	-	Denmark	25:27 (14:14)
Tuesday, January 27, 2009, 8:15 p.m.	Poland	-	Norway	31:30 (14:14)

Placement games (places 5–12)

Seats 11 and 12	Thursday, January 29, 2009, 12:30 p.m. in Zagreb, Arena Zagreb	South Korea	-	Macedonia	31:32 (14:14)
Places 09 and 10	Thursday, January 29, 2009, 8:15 p.m. in Zagreb, Arena Zagreb	Slovakia	-	Norway	27:34 (14:18)
Places 07 and 08	Thursday, January 29, 2009, 5:30 p.m. in Zagreb, Arena Zagreb	Sweden	-	Serbia	37:29 (20:16)
Places 05 and 06	Thursday, January 29, 2009, 3 p.m. in Zagreb, Arena Zagreb	Hungary	-	Germany	25:28 (13:16)

Final round (Zagreb, Split)

The Zagreb Arena at the final

	Semifinals				final
	January 30, 2009, Split, 5:30 p.m.
	Denmark	22 (11)
	France	27 (16)
					February 1, 2009, Zagreb, 5:30 p.m.
					France	24 (11)
					Croatia	19 (12)
					Game for third place
	January 30, 2009, Zagreb, 8:30 p.m.				February 1, 2009, Zagreb, 3 p.m.
	Croatia	29 (14)			Denmark	23 (11)
	Poland	23 (13)			Poland	31 (14)

The half-time results are in brackets.

President's Cup (places 13-24)

Places 13–24 were determined in the President's Cup. The fourth, fifth and sixth placed in the preliminary round groups were divided into two groups of six, with the teams from preliminary round groups A and B playing in group PC I, the teams from groups C and D in group PC II. The match results achieved against each other from the preliminary round were taken over into the President's Cup.

Group PC I ( Poreč , Sportski centar Žatika)

rank	country	Gates	Diff.	Points
1	Spain	205: 98	+107	10
2	Romania	175: 141	+34	8th
3	Argentina	137: 125	+12	6th
4th	Cuba	124: 154	−30	4th
5	Kuwait	119: 157	−38	2
6th	Australia	87: 172	−85	0

Sat., January 24, 2009, 3 p.m.	Argentina	-	Kuwait	26:25 (12:12)
Sat., January 24, 2009, 5:00 p.m.	Australia	-	Spain	10:42 (6:18)
Sat., January 24, 2009, 7:00 p.m.	Romania	-	Cuba	39:28 (21:15)
Sun., January 25, 2009, 3 p.m.	Spain	-	Argentina	31:19 (15:11)
Sun., January 25, 2009, 5:00 p.m.	Kuwait	-	Romania	27:34 (12:16)
Sun., January 25, 2009, 7:00 p.m.	Cuba	-	Australia	27:17 (14: 6)
Mon., January 26, 2009, 3 p.m.	Australia	-	Kuwait	24:27 (10:14)
Mon., January 26, 2009, 5:00 p.m.	Argentina	-	Cuba	30:23 (16:15)
Mon., January 26, 2009, 7:00 p.m.	Romania	-	Spain	32:40 (16:19)

Group PC II ( Pula , Dom sportova Mate Parlov )

rank	country	Gates	Diff.	Points
1	Egypt	135: 125	+10	8th
2	Russia	151: 127	+24	8th
3	Tunisia	159: 146	+13	6th
4th	Algeria	140: 142	−2	6th
5	Brazil	131: 137	−6	2
6th	Saudi Arabia	105: 144	−39	0

Sat., January 24, 2009, 4 p.m.	Tunisia	-	Saudi Arabia	28:21 (12: 8)
Sat., January 24, 2009, 6 p.m.	Algeria	-	Egypt	28:22 (12: 7)
Sat., January 24, 2009, 8:00 p.m.	Russia	-	Brazil	25:22 (15: 9)
Sun., January 25, 2009, 4 p.m.	Egypt	-	Tunisia	31:30 (15:14)
Sun., January 25, 2009, 6:00 p.m.	Saudi Arabia	-	Russia	15:34 (5:17)
Sun., January 25, 2009, 8:00 p.m.	Brazil	-	Algeria	28:29 (15:10)
Mon., January 26, 2009, 4 p.m.	Algeria	-	Saudi Arabia	30:27 (14:12)
Mon., January 26, 2009, 6:00 p.m.	Tunisia	-	Brazil	34:33 (18:16)
Mon., January 26, 2009, 8:00 p.m.	Russia	-	Egypt	27:31 (12:16)

Placement games (places 13-24)

Seats 23 and 24	Tuesday, January 27, 2009, 3:00 p.m. in Poreč, Sportski centar Žatika	Australia	-	Saudi Arabia	19:23 (11:15)
Seats 21 and 22	Tuesday, January 27, 2009, 4:00 p.m. in Pula, Dom Športova Mate Parlov	Kuwait	-	Brazil	24:27 (12:13)
Places 19 and 20	Tuesday, January 27, 2009, 5:00 p.m. in Poreč, Sportski centar Žatika	Cuba	-	Algeria	27:34 (15:18)
Seats 17 and 18	Tuesday, January 27, 2009, 6:00 p.m. in Pula, Dom Športova Mate Parlov	Argentina	-	Tunisia	23:29 (13:14)
Places 15 and 16	Tuesday, January 27, 2009, 7:00 p.m. in Poreč, Sportski centar Žatika	Romania	-	Russia	42:38 (25:21)
Places 13 and 14	Tuesday, January 27, 2009, 8:00 p.m. in Pula, Dom Športova Mate Parlov	Spain	-	Egypt	28:24 (15:10)

Final placements

rank	team	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.
	France	10	9	0	1	296: 211	+ 085
	Croatia	10	9	0	1	298: 228	+ 070
	Poland	10	7th	0	3	298: 264	+ 034
04th	Denmark	10	7th	0	3	299: 260	+ 039
05.	Germany	9	5	2	2	259: 228	+ 031
06th	Hungary	9	5	1	3	254: 227	+ 027
07th	Sweden	9	6th	0	3	277: 232	+ 045
08th.	Serbia	9	4th	1	4th	280: 281	- 01
09.	Norway	9	6th	0	3	280: 232	+ 048
10.	Slovakia	9	4th	1	4th	253: 231	+ 022
11.	Macedonia	9	4th	0	5	256: 260	- 04th
12.	South Korea	9	3	0	6th	239: 239	0 0
13.	Spain	9	6th	0	3	308: 212	+ 096
14th	Egypt	9	4th	0	5	218: 239	- 021
15th	Romania	9	5	0	4th	288: 268	+ 020
16.	Russia	9	4th	1	4th	267: 255	+ 012
17th	Tunisia	9	5	0	4th	264: 250	+ 014
18th	Argentina	9	3	0	6th	231: 245	- 014
19th	Algeria	9	4th	0	5	235: 272	- 037
20th	Cuba	9	2	0	7th	211: 301	- 090
21st	Brazil	9	3	0	6th	238: 270	- 032
22nd	Kuwait	9	1	0	8th	202: 288	- 086
23.	Saudi Arabia	9	1	0	8th	193: 272	- 079
24.	Australia	9	0	0	9	146: 325	- 0179

Awards

• Most Valuable Player (MVP): Igor Vori Croatia 
• Best attack: Spain 308 goals in 9 games 
• Best defense: France conceded 211 goals in 10 games 

All-Star Team

Michaël Guigou		Igor Vori		Ivan Čupić
	Blaženko Lacković		Marcin Lijewski
		Nikola Karabatić
		Thierry Omeyer

statistics

Goal scorers

Pl.	player	team	Gates	FT	7 m	Games	T / S
01.	Kiril Lazarov	Macedonia	92	62	30th	09	10.22
02.	Ivan Čupić	Croatia	66	39	27	10	6.6
03.	Felipe Borges	Brazil	61	48	13	09	6.78
04th	Valentin Marian Ghionea	Romania	58	33	25th	09	6.44
	Tomasz Tłuczyński	Poland	58	33	25th	10	5.8
06th	Bandar Alharbi	Saudi Arabia	55	38	17th	08th	6.88
07th	Kristian Kjelling	Norway	54	53	1	09	6th
08th.	Momir Ilić	Serbia	52	40	12	09	5.78
	Michaël Guigou	France	52	28	24	10	5.2
010.	Hussein Hussein	Egypt	50	32	18th	09	5.56

FT - field gates; 7m - seven meters; T / S - goals per game

Best goalkeeper

Pl.	player	team	balls held [%]
1	Per Sandström	Sweden	44%
2	Nándor Fazekas	Hungary	41%
	Daouda Karaboué	France	41%
	Richard Štochl	Slovakia	41%
5	Mohamed Nakib El-Bakir	Egypt	39%
	José Manuel Sierra	Spain	39%
7th	Steinar Ege	Norway	38%
	Andreas Palicka	Sweden	38%
9	Thierry Omeyer	France	37%
	Johan Sjöstrand	Sweden	37%

Bids

Medalist

France	Croatia	Poland
Jérôme Fernandez Didier Dinart Guillaume Gille Daniel Narcisse Daouda Karaboué Guillaume Joli Nikola Karabatić Christophe Kempé Franck Junillon Thierry Omeyer Joël Abati Luc Abalo Cédric Sorhaindo Michaël Guigou Sébastien Ostertag Sébastien Bosquet	Venio Losert Ivano Balić Domagoj Duvnjak Blaženko Lacković Marko Kopljar Vedran Zrnić Igor Vori Jakov Gojun Zlatko Horvat Goran Šprem Denis Špoljarić Petar Metličić Tonči Valčić Mirko Alilović Ivan Čupić Mateo Hrvatin	Sławomir Szmal Bartłomiej Jaszka Krzysztof Lijewski Patryk Kuchczyński Mateusz Jachlewski Rafał Gliński Karol Bielecki Artur Siódmiak Damian Wleklak Bartosz Jurecki Mariusz Jurasik Michał Jurecki Daniel Żółtak Rafał Kuptel Tomasz Tłuczyński Marcin Lijewski
Claude Onesta (Trainer)	Lino Červar (coach)	Bogdan Wenta (Trainer)

5th place: Germany

Johannes Bitter Carsten Lichtlein Christian Schöne Oliver Roggisch Dominik Klein Holger Glandorf

Pascal Hens Jens Tiedtke Stefan Schröder Torsten Jansen Michael Kraus

Martin Strobel Lars Kaufmann Michael Mueller Sebastian Preiss Michael Haass

Trainer: Heiner Brand

Entrance fees, audience numbers

The prices for the cards were between 150 and 700 Croatian kuna , the equivalent of around 20 to 100 euros .

Between 1500 and 3500 spectators came to the games of the German team in the preliminary round in the Varaždin Arena , and 5000 spectators came to the game against Serbia in the Dvorana Krešimira Ćosića Zadar. The host Croatia's games were mostly sold out, with 12,000 spectators in the Spaladium Arena and 15,000 in the Zagreb Arena .

Broadcasts on television

For the first time, television broadcasts of matches played by the German national team were not taken over by the public broadcasters or German sports television (DSF) . The private broadcaster RTL Television (RTL) secured the broadcasting rights on free-to-air television for the 2009 World Cup and, in addition to the games with German participation, also broadcast the finals and highlights of other encounters. The DSF broadcast games without German participation. In addition, all of Sportdigital.tv's games were broadcast live or with a time delay.

All games were broadcast live on the Internet (for a fee). There were television broadcasts in the following countries:

• Egypt: Nile Sport
• Bosnia and Herzegovina: BHT 1
• Denmark: TV 2 , TV 2 Sport
• Germany: RTL , DSF
• France: Sport +
• Croatia: RTL Televizija
• Kuwait: Kuwait Sport Channel 3, Kuwait Sport +
• Macedonia: Sitel
• Middle East: (الجزيرة الرياضية, Al-Jazeera Sports)
• Norway: TV 2
• Poland: Telewizja Polska ( TVP HD , TVP2 , TVP Sport )
• Romania: Televiziunea Română , Sport 1
• Russia: НТВ-Плюс (NTW Plus)
• Saudi Arabia: (الجزيرة الرياضية, Al-Jazeera Sports)
• Sweden: TV 4
• Serbia: Радио-телевизија Србије (Radio-Televizija Srbije)
• Slovenia: Radio Televizija Slovenija (RTVS)
• Spain: TVE (TVE2, Teledeporte)
• Tunisia: Tunis 7
• Hungary: Sport TV

mascot

Ruksi is the official mascot of the 2009 World Handball Championship in Croatia.

criticism

On the sidelines of the Handball World Cup, there was criticism and calls for resignation against Hassan Moustafa , President of the IHF. The Secretary General of the IHF, Peter Mühlematter , criticized Moustafa's management style and publicly called for his resignation: Moustafa prevents doping controls appropriate to the WADA criteria , has a dictatorial management style, is directly responsible for manipulation at qualifying matches and accounts for his own business flights without a receipt. In return, Moustafa demanded that Mühlematter be excluded because of his criticism.

At the handball world championship, Croatians attacked Serb supporters in Zadar. The mayor of the city of Zadar, Živko Kolega, had the 24 flags of the participating nations removed because there were citizen protests against the raised Serbian flag. A bomb threat was received at the hotel where all the crews were staying. A car with a Belgrade number burned down and a Macedonian fan was beaten up and seriously injured. Before that, a Serbian flag on Ban Jelačić Square was lit by two drunk Croatian fans in Zagreb.

Web links

Commons : Men's Handball World Championship 2009  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• International Handball Federation - XXI Men's World Championship (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Official Statement - Case: 2009 World Championship Play-offs Qualification EUROPE
2. ↑ http://www.ihf.info/front_content.php?idart=1630
3. ^ IHF - Result of the draw for the 2009 Men's World Championship
4. ↑ dalje.com ( Memento of the original dated November 30, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
5. ↑ www.sport1.de ( Memento of the original from January 22nd, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
6. ↑ www.handball-world.com
7. ↑ www.handball-world.com
8. ↑ www.handballworldcup.tv ( Memento of the original from November 10, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
9. ↑ Critics before the exclusion IHF General Secretary is isolated in the association
10. ↑ schwaebische.de: Dispute in the IHF: President Moustafa should resign. Secretary General calls for the resignation of the President
11. ↑ Disgrace of a sports nation
12. ↑ Süddeutsche Zeitung : Serbs under police protection ( Memento of the original from February 3, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
13. ↑ Blic Online : Spaljena srpska zastava u Zagrebu