The 2029 IHF World Men's Handball Championship, will be the 31st event hosted by the International Handball Federation. It will take place in France and Germany from 17 January to 4 February 2029.
Bidding process In April 2023, the IHF stated that they were looking for bids. In the end, three bids expressed interest in hosting the tournament.
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The bids were confirmed on 1 March 2024:
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France and Germany were given the hosting rights on 16 April 2024 in Créteil, France.
Venues The proposed venues are: Paris – Plenitude Arena, capacity 25,000 Paris – Accor Arena, capacity 14,000 Lyon – LDLC Arena, capacity 10,000 Strasbourg – Rhénus Sport, capacity 8,000 Cologne – Lanxess Arena, capacity 20,000 Stuttgart – Porsche-Arena, capacity 6,200 Düsseldorf – PSD Bank Dome, capacity 11,600 Mannheim – SAP Arena, capacity 15,000 There will be 3 venues for each nation, with the finals at Paris La Défense Arena, although Germany and France opened the door for a possible third co-host country.
Qualification Qualification system will still depend on number of compulsory and performance places, as for 2027 World Championship. The World Championship hosts will be directly qualified, along with the reigning world champions. The number of compulsory places awarded to other continental confederation keeps unchanged and is divided as follows: four places each for Europe, Asia and Africa, three places for the South and Central America zone and one place for the North America and Caribbean zone. One additional place is available for Oceania, but only when that region's national team ranks fifth or higher at the Asian Championship. If no Oceania team places among the top five at the Asian Championship, the IHF will award an additional wild card. In addition, there will be 12 performance places for the continental confederations, which are based on the teams ranked 1–12 in the preceding World Championship. According to the new qualification system and taking into consideration the results of the 2027 Men's World Championship, 20 out of 32 places are distributed as follows:
Distribution of places (following current IHF rules) Vacancies Details Comments Organisers 1 1 Reigning world champion 2 1 Performance places for the continental confederations 12 Based on teams ranked 1–12 in the preceding world championshipAfrica ?Asia ?Europe ?North America and the Caribbean ?South and Central America ?Oceania ? Compulsory places for the continental confederations 17 Africa 4Asia 4Europe 4 1North America and the Caribbean 1South and Central America 3Oceania 1 3 Place allocated to Oceania or an additional free wild card Wild card 4 1 Total 32 1All hosting federations are automatically entitled to take part in the World Championship. If there is more than one organiser from the same continental confederation, the number of compulsory places of the respective confederation shall be reduced accordingly. If there is more than one organiser and the organisers are not from the same confederation, the IHF Council shall decide about the reduction of the compulsory places, considering only the compulsory places of the confederations involved. 2The reigning world champion automatically qualifies for the next World Championship and, as a rule, is placed first in the first performance row. In case the reigning world champion is also hosting the next World Championship, the confederation of the reigning world champion obtains one additional performance place. 3The compulsory place for Oceania is subject to fulfilling certain conditions. The continental confederation of Oceania does not have a direct compulsory place for a confederational qualification event. The confederation of Oceania is invited to participate in the Asian qualification events. The compulsory place is awarded to Oceania if the representative from Oceania is ranked 5th or higher in the Asian qualification. If Oceania fails to rank 5th or does not participate, the IHF Council will award this place as a free wild card. 4The wild card shall be awarded by the IHF Council.
Competition Dates Host Vacancies Qualified Host nations 16 April 2024 Créteil2 2027 World Championship 13 – 31 January 1 2028 European Men's Handball Championship 13 –31 January 2028 3 2028 African Men's Handball Championship TBD TBD4(+?) 2028 Asian Men's Handball Championship TBD TBD4(+?) 2028 South and Central American Men's Handball Championship TBD TBD 3(+?) 2028 Nor.Ca. Men's Handball Championship TBD TBD 1(+?) European qualification TBD Various? Oceania TBD TBD1 Wild card TBD TBD1 or 2
1. If countries from Oceania (Australia or New Zealand) participating in the Asian Championships finish within the top 5, they will qualify for the World Championships. If they finish placed sixth or lower, the place would have been transferred to the wild card spot.
Qualified teams TeamQualification methodDate of qualificationAppearance(s)Previous best performance Co-host nation 1954 202520 1938 202716
References
External links IHF website