The 2017 IHF World Men's Handball Championship was the 25th event hosted by the International Handball Federation. The event was held in France from 11 to 29 January 2017.

France, in a clean sweep, defended their title by defeating Norway 33–26 in the final, which secured France their sixth title. Slovenia defeated Croatia 31–30 to capture the bronze medal. Norway (from a wildcard) and Slovenia earned their first World Championship medals ever.

The championship set a record of attendance in total of 540,000 spectators with 23 matches being sold out and with a venue record of 28,010 at both of France's knock-out matches in Lille.

Venues The championship was played at eight venues in Paris-Bercy, Rouen, Nantes, Metz, Albertville, Montpellier, Lille, and Brest. All the venue capacities are the capacity for handball events.

LilleParisNantesStade Pierre-MauroyAccorHotels ArenaHall XXLCapacity: 27,500Capacity: 15,700Capacity: 10,800Montpellier Park&Suites ArenaCapacity: 9,853AlbertvilleLa halle de glace OlympiqueCapacity: 6,500RouenMetzBrestKindarenaArènes de MetzBrest ArenaCapacity: 5,700Capacity: 5,127Capacity: 4,000 8 venues

Bidding process Denmark and France were bidding to host the 2017 Men's World Championships. The IHF Council awarded the Men’s and Women’s World Championships 2017 at their meeting on the fringes of the Women’s World Championships in São Paulo, Brazil on Thursday 15 December 2011.

Denmark was the co-host of the 1999 Women’s World Championship and host of the 1978 Men's World Championship. Denmark has also hosted the Women's EHF EURO twice and was awarded with the Men's EHF EURO 2014.

France hosted the Men's World Championships in 1970 and 2001 and was host of the 2007 Women's World Championship.

Qualification Twenty-four teams participated in the final tournament. France were automatically qualified as hosts. An additional automatic qualification spot was given to the defending champions, but because this was also France, the berth was given to the next best placed team from the last World Championship, losing finalists Qatar. The remaining 22 available places were for the best teams of each continental qualification tournament, the winners of an additional European qualification competition and an additional intercontinental qualification tournament.

Competition Dates Vacancies Qualified Host nation 15 December 2011 1 2015 World Championship 15 January – 1 February 2015 1 2016 Asian Men's Handball Championship 15–28 January 2016 3 2016 African Men's Handball Championship 21–30 January 2016 3 2016 European Men's Handball Championship 15–31 January 2016 3 European qualification 4 November 2015 – 16 June 2016 9 2016 Pan American Men's Handball Championship 11–19 June 2016 3 Wildcard 1

Qualified teams Country Qualified as Qualified on Previous appearances1, 2 00Hosts 15 December 2011 20 (1954, 1958, 1961, 1964, 1967, 1970, 1978, 1990, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015) 01Finalist of 2015 World Championship 30 January 2015 5 (2003, 2005, 2007, 2013, 2015) Semifinalist of 2016 Asian Championship 24 January 2016 1 (2011) Semifinalist of 2016 Asian Championship 24 January 2016 12 (1961, 1964, 1967, 1970, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1990, 1995, 1997, 2005, 2011) Semifinalist of 2016 Asian Championship 24 January 2016 7 (1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2009, 2013, 2015) Finalist of 2016 African Championship 29 January 2016 13 (1964, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015) Finalist of 2016 European Championship 29 January 2016 23 (1938, 1954, 1958, 1961, 1964, 1967, 1970, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1986, 19903, 1993, 1995, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015) Finalist of 2016 European Championship 29 January 2016 18 (1958, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015) Finalist of 2016 African Championship 29 January 2016 12 (1967, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015) Third place at 2016 African Championship 30 January 2016 2 (2005, 2007) Third place at 2016 European Championship 31 January 2016 11 (1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015) European playoffs 3 (1995, 2013, 2015) European playoffs 21 (1938, 1954, 1958, 1961, 1964, 1967, 1970, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1993, 1995, 1999, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015) European playoffs 18 (1958, 1964, 1967, 1970, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013) European playoffs 4 (1999, 2009, 2013, 2015) European playoffs 14 (1958, 1967, 1970, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990, 2003, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015) European playoffs 11 (1993, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2013. 2015) European playoffs 7 (1995, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2013, 2015) European playoffs 22 (1938, 1954, 1958, 1961, 1964, 1967, 1970, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2009, 2011, 2015) European playoffs 18 (1958, 1961, 1964, 1970, 1974, 1978, 1986, 1990, 1993, 1995, 1997, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2011, 2013, 2015) Finalist of 2016 Pan American Championship 12 (1958, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015) Finalist of 2016 Pan American Championship 3 (2011, 2013, 2015) Third place at 2016 Pan American Championship 10 (1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015) Wildcard 13 (1958, 1961, 1964, 1967, 1970, 1993, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011) 1 Bold indicates champion for that year 2 Italic indicates host country for that year 3 From both German teams only East Germany was qualified in 1990

Draw The draw was held on 23 June 2016 at 14:00 in Paris, France.

Seeding Pot 1Pot 2Pot 3Pot 4Pot 5Pot 6

Squads

Referees 16 referee pairs are selected:

Referees Julian GrilloSebastián Lenci Václav HoráčekJiří Novotný Martin GjedingMads Hansen Charlotte BonaventuraJulie Bonaventura Laurent ReveretStevann Pichon Lars GeipelMarcus Helbig Majid KolahdouzanAlireza Mousaviannazhad Renārs LīcisZigmārs Sondors

Referees Mindaugas GatelisVaidas Mažeika Gjorgji NachevskiSlave Nikolov Ivan PavićevićMiloš Ražnatović Bojan LahDavid Sok Lee Se-okKoo Bon-ok Óscar LópezÁngel Ramírez Arthur BrunnerMorad Salah Ismail BouallouchaRamzi Khenissi

Preliminary round The schedule was announced on 23 September 2015.Match schedule

All times are local (UTC+1).

Group A

Group B

Group C

Group D

Presidents Cup 21st–24th place bracket

21st–24th place semifinals

23rd place game

21st place game

17–20th place bracket

17–20th place semifinals

19th place game

17th place game

Knockout stage Bracket

Round of 16

Quarterfinals

Semifinals

Third place game

Final

Final ranking For places 5–16 the criterion was the number of points gained against the teams ranked first to fourth in the preliminary round in their group.

Rank TeamFinal ranking456789101112131415161718192021222324

Awards All-Star Team All-Star Team of the tournament: Goalkeeper: Vincent Gérard Right wing: Kristian Bjørnsen Right back: Nedim Remili Centre back: Domagoj Duvnjak Left back: Sander Sagosen Left wing: Jerry Tollbring Pivot: Bjarte Myrhol

Other awards Most Valuable Player: Nikola Karabatić

Statistics

Top goalscorers RankNameTeamGoalsShots% 1 Kiril Lazarov 50 81 62 2 Sérgio Lopes 47 88 533 Amine Bannour 45 84 54 Kristian Bjørnsen 59 76 5 Niclas Ekberg 43 60 72 6 Bjarte Myrhol 42 53 79 7 Sander Sagosen 41 79 528 Luka Cindrić 39 65 60 Federico Fernandez 58 6710 Gábor Császár 38 55 69 Gašper Marguč 48 79 Jerry Tollbring 46 83 Source: IHF

Top goalkeepers RankNameTeam%SavesShots 1 Espen Christensen 44 32 73 2 Andreas Wolff 43 60 1413 Vincent Gérard 40 62 155 Niklas Landin Jacobsen 66 167 Andreas Palicka 51 127 6 Mikael Appelgren 39 55 1417 Rodrigo Corrales 36 43 121 Maik dos Santos 46 129 Silvio Heinevetter 25 69 10 Makrem Missaoui 35 73 210 Source: IHF

References

External links Official website IHF website