2017 Men's Handball World Championship / Qualification

The qualification for the men's handball world championship 2017 was held in 2015 and 2016. There were 22 places in the final round to be awarded. Host France and vice-world champion Qatar were automatically qualified, since 2015 world champion France is already qualified as the organizer.

The places for the final round were allocated as follows:

• Africa: 3 qualified participants
• America: 3 qualified participants
• Asia: Vice World Champion Qatar and 3 qualified participants
• Europe: Organizer France and 13 qualified participants

Europe

Europe has 14 participants in the World Cup. France was automatically qualified as host. In addition, the top three teams in the 2016 European Championship, Germany, Spain and Croatia, qualified .

Qualification groups

The not for the European Championship 2016 qualified teams competed in a qualifying round of 4 November 2015 to 16 January 2016 in group matches. The six group winners and the twelve teams that did not qualify for the European Championship then played off the nine other European teams in a play-off round.

Group 1

Pl.	society	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
01.	Bosnia and Herzegovina	06th	05	01	00	0187: 1520	+35	0011: 1000
02.	Slovakia	06th	03	01	02	0162: 1420	+20	0007: 5000
03.	Lithuania	06th	02	02	02	0166: 1560	+10	0006: 6000
04th	Kosovo	06th	00	00	06th	0145: 2100	−65	0000:1200

November 4, 2015 7:00 p.m.	Kosovo	26:30	Lithuania	Shani Nushi Sports Hall , Gjakovë Spectators: 2,200 Referees: Hájek, Macho
	Hoxha 6	(8:15)	Drabavičius , Petreikis 6
	3 ×  3 ×	Match report	2 ×  6 ×

November 4, 2015 8:15 pm	Bosnia and Herzegovina	29:25	Slovakia	KSPC Mejdan , Tuzla Spectators: 5,000 Referees: Olesen, Pedersen
	Prce 9	(14:14)	Antl 8
	3 ×  7 ×  1 ×	Match report	3 ×  6 ×

November 7, 2015 6:00 p.m.	Slovakia	38:20	Kosovo	Športová hala Na Zábraní , Hlohovec Spectators: 1,400 Referees: Lillepea, Kull
	Urban 10	(19:11)	Jupa 6
	3 ×  6 ×	Match report	3 ×  5 ×  1 ×

November 8, 2015 6:00 p.m.	Lithuania	27:27	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Kaunas Sports Hall , Kaunas Spectators: 1,500 Referees: Álvarez, Bustamante
	Petreikis 8	(12:14)	Prce 6
	3 ×  6 ×  1 ×	Match report	3 ×  4 ×

January 6, 2016 7:15 pm	Kosovo	29:33	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Shani Nushi Sports Hall , Gjakovë Spectators: 1,000 Referees: Cindrić, Gonzurek
	Terziqi 9	(13:17)	Prce 9
	3 ×  2 ×	Match report	2 ×

January 7, 2016 7:00 p.m.	Lithuania	18:18	Slovakia	Kaunas Sports Hall , Kaunas Spectators: 2,000 Referees: Baumgart, Wild
	Bernatonis 6	(10: 7)	Urban 7
	3 ×  4 ×	Match report	3 ×  4 ×

January 9, 2016 6:00 p.m.	Slovakia	31:27	Lithuania	Športová hala Na Zábraní , Hlohovec Spectators: 1,800 Referees: Katsikis, Michailidis
	Antl 6	(19:10)	Malasinskas 6
	3 ×  7 ×	Match report	3 ×  4 ×

January 9, 2016 8:15 pm	Bosnia and Herzegovina	41:25	Kosovo	KSPC Mejdan , Tuzla Spectators: 3,500 Referees: Ben-Dan, Faran
	Ovčina 8	(18:13)	Jupa 5
	3 ×  7 ×	Match report	2 ×  6 ×

January 13, 2016 6:00 p.m.	Slovakia	24:26	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Športová hala Na Zábraní , Hlohovec Spectators: 1,888 Referees: Hansen, Pettersen
	Antl 6	(12:13)	Zulfić 6
	4 ×  3 ×  1 ×	Match report	3 ×  6 ×

January 13, 2016 7:00 p.m.	Lithuania	42:23	Kosovo	Kaunas Sports Hall , Kaunas Spectators: 1,200 Referees: Butskevich, Butskevich
	Bernatonis, Babarskas , Plėta 7	(21:11)	Jupa 9
	2 ×  4 ×	Match report	3 ×  4 ×

January 17, 2016 5:00 p.m.	Kosovo	22:26	Slovakia	Shani Nushi Sports Hall , Gjakovë Spectators: 700 Referees: Čerņavskis, Bogdanovs
	Krasniqi , Ramadani 5th	(12:15)	Urban 8
	3 ×  4 ×	Match report	2 ×  3 ×

January 17, 2016 8:15 pm	Bosnia and Herzegovina	31:22	Lithuania	KSPC Mejdan , Tuzla Spectators: 4,000 Referees: Miklós, Hucker
	Malinović 6	(15:14)	Petreikis 6
	3 ×  4 ×	Match report	2 ×  4 ×  1 ×

Group 2

Group 2 winner: Austria

Pl.	society	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
01.	Austria	06th	05	00	01	0190: 1510	+39	0010: 2000
02.	Romania	06th	05	00	01	0191: 1560	+35	0010: 2000
03.	Italy	06th	01	00	05	0148: 1800	−32	0002:1000
04th	Finland	06th	01	00	05	0144: 1860	−42	0002:1000

November 4, 2015 7:30 p.m.	Italy	27:19	Finland	Palavis di Lavis , Lavis Spectators: 1,100 Referees: Cabrejas, Sánchez
	Turkovic 7	(12:11)	Tamminen 5
	3 ×  6 ×	Match report	2 ×  7 ×  1 ×

November 4, 2015 8:25 pm	Austria	27:24	Romania	Federal Sports and Leisure Center Südstadt , Maria Enzersdorf Spectators: 1,500 Referees: Togstad, Kristiansen
	Bilyk , Weber , Frimmel 6	(13: 9)	Ghionea 9
	3 ×  3 ×	Match report	3 ×  3 ×

November 7, 2015 5:00 p.m.	Finland	29:32	Austria	Energia Areena , Vantaa Spectators: 1,300 Referees: Pandžić, Šatordžija
	Tamminen 11	(11:13)	Zeiner 7
	3 ×  5 ×	Match report	3 ×  5 ×

November 8, 2015 6:00 p.m.	Romania	35:22	Italy	Sala Polivalentă , Călărași Spectators: 1,500 Referees: Herczeg, Südi
	Sadoveac 6	(13:12)	Turkovic 9
	3 ×  8 ×	Match report	2 ×  5 ×

January 6, 2016 4:00 p.m.	Finland	21:34	Romania	Energia Areena , Vantaa Spectators: 800 Referees: Kurtagic, Wetterwik
	Sundberg 6	(9:20)	Ghionea 7
	3 ×  2 ×	Match report	2 ×  6 ×

January 6, 2016 6:00 p.m.	Italy	27:40	Austria	PalaTrieste , Trieste Spectators: 3,290 Referees: Gasmi, Gasmi
	Skatar 7	(12:16)	Bilyk 9
	3 ×  5 ×	Match report	3 ×  3 ×

January 9, 2016 8:25 pm	Austria	30:19	Italy	Federal Sports and Leisure Center Südstadt , Maria Enzersdorf Spectators: 1,500 Referees: Budzák, Záhradník
	Santos 8	(15: 9)	Turkovic 9
	2 ×  3 ×	Match report	3 ×  2 ×

January 10, 2016 8:30 p.m.	Romania	36:29	Finland	Sala Sporturilor “Lascăr Pană” , Baia Mare Spectators: 1,300 Referees: Boričić, Marković
	Ghionea 9	(19:11)	Tamminen 9
	3 ×  5 ×	Match report	3 ×  5 ×

January 13, 2016 6:30 p.m.	Finland	26:25	Italy	Energia Areena , Vantaa Spectators: 500 Referees: Brodbeck, Reich
	Koljon 6	(12:12)	Skatar 9
	3 ×  5 ×	Match report	3 ×  4 ×

January 14, 2016 6:00 p.m.	Romania	32:29	Austria	Sala Sporturilor “Lascăr Pană” , Baia Mare Spectators: 2,080 Referees: Vitaku, Vitaku
	Ramba , Mocanu 7th	(15:15)	Bilyk 9
	4 ×  5 ×  1 ×	Match report	3 ×  5 ×

January 16, 2016 6:30 p.m.	Italy	28:30	Romania	Pala San Giacomo , Conversano Spectators: 2,400 Referees: Lah, Sok
	Maione 6	(16:15)	Ghionea 8
	3 ×  6 ×	Match report	2 ×  4 ×

January 17, 2016 4:00 p.m.	Austria	32:20	Finland	Federal Sports and Leisure Center Südstadt , Maria Enzersdorf Spectators: 1,500 Referees: Argyridis, Mouttas
	Bilyk 7	(17:12)	Koljonen, Tamminen, Broman 4
	3 ×  3 ×	Match report	3 ×  3 ×

Group 3

Pl.	society	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
01.	Latvia	06th	05	01	00	0161: 1210	+40	0011: 1000
02.	Ukraine	06th	03	00	03	0149: 1250	+24	0006: 6000
03.	Greece	06th	02	01	03	0148: 1600	−12	0005: 7000
04th	Cyprus	06th	01	00	05	0123: 1750	−52	0002:1000

November 4, 2015 7:15 pm	Latvia	31:22	Greece	Sports Center Dobele , Dobele Spectators: 1,200 Referees: Opava, Válek
	Krištopāns 8	(15:12)	Papadopoulos 8
	1 ×  3 ×	Match report	3 ×  4 ×

November 4, 2015 7:30 p.m.	Cyprus	13:27	Ukraine	University of Cyprus Athletic Center , Nicosia Spectators: 200 Referees: Lindenbaum, Laron
	Argyrou 4	(9:13)	Zhuk 7
	3 ×  4 ×	Match report	3 ×  6 ×

November 8, 2015 3:00 p.m.	Greece	31:27	Cyprus	Sports Hall "Koukouli" , Patras Spectators: 300 Referees: Scevola, Alperan
	Papadopoulos 8	(9: 9)	Nikiforou 8
	3 ×  2 ×	Match report	3 ×  3 ×

November 8, 2015 5:00 p.m.	Ukraine	18:23	Latvia	National University of Sport , Kiev Spectators: 800 Referees: Šniurevičius, Mykolaitis
	Tilte 7	(8: 6)	Jurdžs 9
	2 ×  5 ×	Match report	2 ×  2 ×

January 7, 2016 5:00 p.m.	Ukraine	25:27	Greece	Sports Palace , Kiev Spectators: 300 Referees: Sirbu, Suponicov
	Zhukov 10	(16:13)	Basmalis Gomez , Mylonas , Mallios 5
	3 ×  2 ×	Match report	3 ×  2 ×

January 7, 2016 7:00 p.m.	Cyprus	20:28	Latvia	University of Cyprus Athletic Center , Nicosia Spectators: 450 Referees: Geraets, Geraets
	Argyrou 7	(5:14)	Krištopāns 7
	3 ×  5 ×  1 ×	Match report	2 ×  1 ×

January 10, 2016 3:00 p.m.	Greece	21:27	Ukraine	Mikra 3 , Thessaloniki Spectators: 900 Referees: Cvetko, Kavalar
	Mallios, Papadopoulos 5	(10:17)	Tilte 8
	2 ×  2 ×	Match report	3 ×  2 ×

January 10, 2016 5:05 pm	Latvia	34:17	Cyprus	Vidzemes Olympic Center , Valmiera Spectators: 650 Referees: Jovchev, Jonchev
	Pavlovičs 9	(15:10)	Mpotsaris 6
	2 ×  3 ×	Match report	3 ×  6 ×

January 13, 2016 6:10 pm	Greece	23:23	Latvia	Mikra 3 , Thessaloniki Spectators: 600 Referees: Jorum, Kleven
	Papadopoulos 8	(10:12)	Jurdžs 97
	2 ×  5 ×	Match report	3 ×  5 ×  1 ×

January 14, 2016 5:00 p.m.	Ukraine	31:19	Cyprus	Sports Palace , Kiev Spectators: 550 Referees: Sager, Styger
	Akimenko , Tilte 7	(11: 8)	Argyrou 5
	2 ×  2 ×	Match report	3 ×  1 ×

January 17, 2016 3:05 pm	Latvia	22:21	Ukraine	Vidzemes Olympic Center , Valmiera Spectators: 11,507 Referees: Aliyev, Aghakishiyev
	Krištopāns 7	(13:10)	Akimenko 9
	3 ×  3 ×	Match report	3 ×  3 ×

January 17, 2016 5:00 p.m.	Cyprus	27:24	Greece	University of Cyprus Athletic Center , Nicosia Spectators: 400 Referees: Bonifert, Oláh
	Argyrou 6	(14:12)	Papadopoulos 8
	3 ×  6 ×	Match report	3 ×  7 ×  1 ×

Group 4

Pl.	society	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
01.	Portugal	03	02	01	00	0101: 7100	+30	0005: 1000
02.	Israel	03	02	00	01	0076:8000	−4	0004: 2000
03.	Estonia	03	00	02	01	0078:8100	−3	0002: 4000
04th	Georgia	03	00	01	02	0066:8900	−23	0001: 5000

November 5, 2015 5:15 pm	Portugal	28:28	Estonia	Drive in Arena , Tel Aviv Spectators: 100 Referees: Mitrevski, Todorovski
	Rocha 6	(14:14)	Patrail 11
	3 ×  3 ×	Match report	3 ×  3 ×

November 5, 2015 7:40 pm	Israel	27:19	Georgia	Drive in Arena , Tel Aviv Spectators: 1,400 Referees: Dzērve, Rutkovskis
	Levy 5	(13: 8)	Chikovani 7
	3 ×  4 ×	Match report	3 ×  6 ×  1 ×

November 6, 2015 4:00 p.m.	Estonia	25:28	Israel	Drive in Arena , Tel Aviv Spectators: 1,400 Referees: Mitrevski, Todorovski
	Rooba 8	(13:14)	Kofman , Pomeranz 8
	3 ×  3 ×	Match report	3 ×  4 ×

November 6, 2015 6:15 pm	Georgia	22:37	Portugal	Drive in Arena , Tel Aviv Spectators: 200 Referees: Dzērve, Rutkovskis
	Datukashvili 6	(10:17)	Areia 9
	3 ×  6 ×  1 ×	Match report	3 ×  2 ×

November 7, 2015 5:00 p.m.	Estonia	25:25	Georgia	Drive in Arena , Tel Aviv Spectators: 100 Referees: Dzērve, Rutkovskis
	Rooba 9	(14:13)	Chikovani 8
	3 ×  5 ×	Match report	3 ×  5 ×

November 7, 2015 7:15 p.m.	Portugal	36:21	Israel	Drive in Arena , Tel Aviv Spectators: 2,000 Referees: Mitrevski, Todorovski
	Rocha 9	(20:11)	Levy 7
	3 ×  3 ×	Match report	3 ×  2 ×

Group 5

Pl.	society	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
01.	Czech Republic	04th	03	00	01	0128: 1190	+9	0006: 2000
02.	Turkey	04th	03	00	01	0117: 1100	+7	0006: 2000
03.	Belgium	04th	00	00	04th	0116: 1320	−16	0000: 8000

November 4, 2015 5:10 pm	Czech Republic	34:32	Belgium	Tipsport Arena , Prague Spectators: 1,400 Referees: Harabagiu, Stănescu
	Jícha 9	(22:18)	Cauwenberghs 8
	3 ×  2 ×	Match report	3 ×  2 ×

November 7, 2015 8:00 p.m.	Belgium	32:36	Czech Republic	Lange Munte , Kortrijk Spectators: 2,300 Referees: Martins, Martins
	T. Bolaers 7	(15:16)	Jícha 10
	3 ×  4 ×	Match report	3 ×  6 ×

January 6, 2016 8:00 p.m.	Belgium	24:31	Turkey	Lange Munte , Kortrijk Spectators: 1,137 Referees: Mitrevski, Todorovski
	Kedziora 8	(10:14)	Dones 10
	3 ×  3 ×	Match report	3 ×  5 ×  1 ×

January 10, 2016 4:00 p.m.	Turkey	31:28	Belgium	THF Sport Hall , Ankara Spectators: 650 Referees: Kouz, Zhoba
	Dones 8	(16:12)	Kedziora 6
	3 ×  8 ×  1 ×	Match report	2 ×  5 ×

January 13, 2016 7:00 p.m.	Turkey	27:24	Czech Republic	THF Sport Hall , Ankara Spectators: 650 Referees: Konjicanin, Konjicanin
	Ersin , Özbahar 6	(15:13)	Hrstka 7
	3 ×  3 ×	Match report	4 ×  2 ×

January 16, 2016 6:30 p.m.	Czech Republic	34:28	Turkey	Euronicshala Zlín , Zlín Spectators: 2,000 Referees: Leszczynski, Piechota
	Hrstka 8	(17:16)	Dones 11
	3 ×  5 ×  1 ×	Match report	3 ×  9 ×  2 ×

Group 6

Pl.	society	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
01.	Netherlands	04th	04th	00	00	0118: 9200	+26	0008-0000
02.	Switzerland	04th	02	00	02	0108: 9900	+9	0004: 4000
03.	Luxembourg	04th	00	00	04th	0091: 1260	−35	0000: 8000

November 4, 2015 7:30 p.m.	Netherlands	26:20	Luxembourg	Topsportcentrum Almere , Almere Spectators: 1,000 Referees: Jerlecki, Łabuń
	Schagen 5	(15: 9)	Buck 7
	3 ×  5 ×	Match report	3 ×  3 ×

November 7, 2015 7:00 p.m.	Luxembourg	30:34	Netherlands	Center Sportif de Differdange , Differdange Spectators: 720 Referees: Bolic, Hurich
	Miller 10	(13:19)	Boomhouwer , Van Olphen 5
	3 ×  2 ×	Match report	2 ×  3 ×

January 6, 2016 7:30 p.m.	Luxembourg	24:31	Switzerland	d'Coque , Luxembourg Spectators: 650 Referees: Simone, Monitillo
	Müller 6	(8:17)	Liniger 5
	3 ×  2 ×	Match report	3 ×  3 ×

January 9, 2016 7:00 p.m.	Switzerland	30:18	Luxembourg	Schachenhalle , Aarau Spectators: 2,000 Referees: Mykolaitis, Šniurevičius
	Schmid 7	(14: 9)	Müller, Wirtz 4
	3 ×  5 ×	Match report	3 ×  3 ×

January 13, 2016 8:00 p.m.	Switzerland	21:24	Netherlands	Schachenhalle , Aarau Spectators: 2,200 Referees: Caçador, Nicolau
	Schmid 7	(14:13)	Beard 5
	3 ×  2 ×	Match report	3 ×  5 ×

January 17, 2016 2:00 p.m.	Netherlands	34:21	Switzerland	Fitland XL , Sittard Spectators: 1,800 Referees: Kaveshnikov, Plotnikov
	Beard 6	(18: 9)	Raemy 4
	3 ×  2 ×  1 ×	Match report	2 ×  3 ×

Play-off games

The following 18 participants took part in the play-offs:

Seeded teams
placed 4th and 6th – 13th of the European Championship 2016 :

 Norway , Denmark , Poland , Sweden , Russia , Belarus , North Macedonia , Hungary , Iceland        

Unsettled teams
placed 14th-16th of the European Championship 2016 : Slovenia , Serbia , Montenegro   

Qualifying group winners: Portugal , Bosnia and Herzegovina , Czech Republic , Latvia , Netherlands , Austria      

The draw took place on January 31, 2016 at the Tauron Arena Kraków in Kraków . The games were played from June 10 to 12 (first legs) and from June 15 to 16 (second legs).

	total		First leg	Return leg
Sweden	54:46	Bosnia Herzegovina	27:19	27:27
Czech Republic	55:56	Macedonia	28:22	27:34
Poland	51:46	Netherlands	27:21	24:25
Russia	58:41	Montenegro	29:22	29:19
Serbia	50:56	Hungary	25:26	25:30
Iceland	46:44	Portugal	26:23	20:21
Slovenia	51:47	Norway	24:18	27:29
Belarus	52:52	Latvia	26:24	26:28
Denmark	58:47	Austria	35:27	23:20

Individual evidence

1. ^ Play-Off Europe. EHF, accessed January 31, 2016 . 
2. ↑ World Championships Play-off draw takes place in Krakow. EHF, January 29, 2016, accessed on January 31, 2016 . 

Web links