The 2027 IHF Men's Handball World Championship will be the 30th edition of the IHF World Men's Handball Championship, the biennial international handball championship organised under the aegis of IHF for the men's national teams across the world. The tournament will be held from 13 to 31 January 2027. The championship will be hosted by Germany, with six venues across the country being for the tournament. The final will be held at the Lanxess Arena in Cologne.
For the fourth time, 32 teams will take part, following the expansion in 2021. Continental championships acted as qualification, with the exception of Europe, who also use their own qualification process alongside the European Championship. As hosts, Germany automatically qualified. Qualifiers took place between October 2025 and May 2026. Faroe Islands and Turkey will make their debut, with the former becoming the smallest country to ever qualify, while Greece return after a long absence.
This tournament will act as a qualifier for the 2028 Summer Olympics, as the winners will automatically qualify for the games. Alongside that, six spots in the Olympics qualifying tournaments will be allocated via this event.
Denmark is the four time defending champion, most recently beating Croatia in the 2025 final in Bærum.
Bidding process Five nations expressed interest in hosting the tournament. The awarding of the events took place at the next IHF Council meeting in Cairo, Egypt, on 28 February 2020.
// (withdrew, awarded the 2025 edition) (withdrew)
At the meeting, Germany was chosen as the host after the other bids withdrew. This will be the eighth time Germany will host this tournament, after 1958 and 1974 as East Germany, 1961 and 1982 as West Germany, and 1938, 2007 and 2019 as a unified country. This marks the first time the event will be held in a single country since 2021.
Qualification
The World Championship hosts were directly qualified, along with the reigning world champions. The number of compulsory places awarded to other continental confederation remained unchanged. In regards to the 12 performance spots, and based on the results of the 2025 Men's World Championship, Europe receives 10 more spots, while Africa and South and Central America takes 1.
The slot allocation was as follows: AHF (Asia): 4 slots CAHB (Africa): 5 slots EHF (Europe): 16 slots (including hosts Germany) NACHC (North America and the Caribbean): 1 slot OCHF (Oceania): 0 slots SCAHC (South and Central America): 4 slots Wildcards: 2 slots
Detailed summary of qualification processConfederationDirect slotsTeams startedTeams eliminatedTeams qualifiedPercentage of entered teams with spots in finalsQualifying start dateQualifying end dateAHF 4+1 14 10 4 26.67% 15 January 2026 29 January 2026CAHB 5 16 11 5 31.25% 21 January 2026 31 January 2026EHF 14+1+1 36 20 14+1+1 44.4% 29 October 2025 17 May 2026NACHC 1 4 3 1 25% 12 May 2026 16 May 2026OCHF 0 or 1 1 1 0 6.25% 11 January 2024 25 January 2024SCAHC 4 6 2 4 67% 19 January 2026 24 January 2026Total29784627+1+2 29 October 2025 16 May 2026
Qualifying occurred between October 2025 and May 2026. Each region's continental championships acted as world championship qualification, although Europe also has its own qualification process. With the exception of Belarus and Russia, who are banned of the IHF due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, all remaining IHF member associations were eligible to enter qualification. In total, 78 nations have entered the continental championships and European qualifiers, which act as world championship qualification.
Faroe Islands and Turkey will make their debut, with the former becoming the smallest country to take part at the world championship. Greece will make their return after last appearing in 2005. Angola will come back after last taking part in 2021. Serbia, wildcards Saudi Arabia and Uruguay secured their ticket after missing out in the previous edition. Italy qualify for a second consecutive edition for the first time.
Of the absentees, Hungary failed to advanced for the first time since 2015. Netherlands didn't qualify after being present in the last two championships while Austria, Czech Republic, 2025 debutants Guinea and Switzerland failed to qualify after taking part in 2025. Previous qualifiers Cuba didn't enter qualification.
AHF (4+1)
WC
CAHB (5)
EHF (16+1)
(hosts)
WC
NACHC (1)
OCHF (0) None qualified
SCAHC (4)
Wildcards After no Oceanian team achieved a top 5 finish in the Asian Championship, two wildcards were given out.
On 9 June 2026, the IHF decided, after receiving 13 applications, decided to award the wildcards spots to Saudi Arabia and Turkey. Both sides were awarded the wildcards based off their "broader contribution of the national federations to the growth and visibility of the sport, as well as focusing on the development of handball throughout the globe".
Qualified teams
Preparations Tickets Tickets were released at 12:00 CET on 15 December 2025, after the 2025 World Women's Handball Championship final.
Logo unveiling On 3 November 2025, the logo was unveiled. The slogan for the tournament was also announced, with it being "Where handball is alive". Mark Schober, CEO of the German Handball Federation, said the following:
Venues At the presentation during the IHF Council Meeting in Cairo, Egypt on 27 and 28 February 2020 the bid delegation presented eight venues. Six venues were ultimately announced in October 2024, with the opening match to be played in Munich and the final in Cologne. Andreas Michelmann, the president of the German Handball Federation, said that tradition was behind the venue selection, with places like Hanover, Kiel and Magdeburg being chosen. Berlin, Mannheim, Hamburg, Frankfurt and Leipzig, who were all proposed cities, didn't make the cut. Cologne, Kiel, Magdeburg and Munich have experience hosting the men's world championship, while Stuttgart have experience with the women's edition. Hanover will host a major handball championship for the first time, having originally been part of Germany's bid for the 2024 European Men's Handball Championship before being excluded.
Overview of venues The Lanxess Arena in Cologne is one of the biggest indoor venues in Germany and boasts 19,250 seats. The venue is accustomed to hosting prestigious events, previously organising the 2001, 2010 and 2017 IIHF World Championship and EuroBasket 2022. Handball-wise, it has hosted every EHF Final Four since its inception in 2010. The SAP Garden in Munich is a newly built arena, that replaced the Olympiahalle. Housing 11,000 seats, the venue was planned to host the 2024 European Men's Handball Championship but this didn't happen due delays in construction. This will therefore be the first major championship in any sport held in this arena. The Wunderino Arena in Kiel, home to powerhouse THW Kiel, will return to hosting a major handball championship. Hosting a capacity of 10,250, the venue previously hosted the 1982 and 2007 World Men's Handball Championship. The ZAG-Arena in Hanover will host its first major tournament since the 2001 IIHF World Championship. Being constructed with a capacity of 10,000, it also hosted Expo 2000 and is home to TSV Hannover-Burgdorf. The GETEC Arena in Magdeburg is holding a handball championship for the first time since 2007. Home to Champions League winning side, SC Magdeburg, the venue also held the 2023 IHF Men's U21 Handball World Championship. The Porsche-Arena in Stuttgart was built in 2006. The venue has hosted the 2007 World Men's Handball Championship, 2015 Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships and 2025 World Women's Handball Championship.
Cologne Munich Kiel Lanxess Arena SAP Garden Wunderino Arena Capacity: 19,250 Capacity: 11,000 Capacity: 10,250 Hanover Magdeburg Stuttgart ZAG-Arena GETEC Arena Porsche-Arena Capacity: 10,000 Capacity: 6,500 Capacity: 6,200
+Tournament venues information Venue Lanxess Arena Main round Group II, Group IV and Final round 19 ZAG-Arena Main round Group I and Group III 18 SAP Garden Group A and C 12 Porsche-Arena Group B and D 12 Wunderino Arena Group E and Group G 12 GETEC Arena Group F, Group H and Presidents Cup 28
Draw The draw took place on 10 June 2026 in Munich, Germany.
Seeding The seeding was revealed on 9 February 2026. On 19 March 2026, the allocated cities for some teams were announced.
Pot 1 Pot 2 Pot 3 Pot 4 (assigned to G1) (assigned to A1) (assigned to C1) (assigned to H1) (assigned to F1) (assigned to E1) (assigned to D2) (assigned to B2)
Preliminary round The schedule was announced on 9 February 2026, with the throw-off times being revealed on 18 June 2026.
All times are local (UTC+1).
Group A
Group B
Group C
Group D
Group E
Group F
Group G
Group H
Presidents Cup Group I
Group II
31st place game
29th place game
27th place game
25th place game
Main round All points obtained in the preliminary round against teams that advance as well are carried over.
Group I
Group II
Group III
Group IV
Final round Bracket
Fifth place bracket
Quarterfinals
5–8th place semifinals
Semifinals
Seventh place game
Fifth place game
Third place game
Final
Final ranking Places 1 to 8 and 25 to 32 will be decided by play-off or knock-out. Teams finishing third in the main round will be ranked 9th to 12th, teams finishing fourth in the main round will be ranked 13th to 16th, teams finishing fifth in the main round will be ranked 17th to 20th and teams ranked sixth will be ranked 21st to 24th. In case of a tie in points gained, the goal difference of the main round will be taken into account, then number of goals scored. If teams are still be equal, number of points gained in the preliminary round would be considered followed by the goal difference and then number of goals scored in the preliminary round.
Rank Team 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 Qualified for the 2029 World Championship and 2028 Summer Olympics
Notes
References
External links Official website IHF website