The 2007 World Men's Handball Championship was the 20th edition of the tournament that took place from 19 January to 4 February 2007 in Germany. 24 national teams played in 12 German cities. It was the 20th edition of the World Championship in team handball and was won by the hosts.

Stadiums 12 German cities were hosts for the 2007 Championship. The most modern stadiums – spread all over the country – had been selected. The final match took place in the Kölnarena in Cologne (Köln).

TownStadiummax. spectatorsKölnKölnarena19.000MannheimSAP-Arena14.300HamburgColor Line Arena12.500DortmundWestfalenhalle12.000HalleGerry-Weber-Stadion11.000KielOstseehalle10.200BerlinMax-Schmeling-Halle10.000BremenAWD-Dome9.200MagdeburgBördelandhalle7.850StuttgartPorsche Arena6.100LemgoLipperlandhalle5.000WetzlarMittelhessen-Arena5.000

Venues

Kölnarena (Kölnarena) Location: Cologne Capacity: 19,500 Club: VfL GummersbachSAP Arena (SAP-Arena) Location: Mannheim Capacity: 14,300 Club: Rhein-Neckar LöwenColor Line Arena (Color Line Arena) Location: Hamburg Capacity: 13,800 Clubs: HSV HandballWestfalenhalle (Westfalenhalle) Location: Dortmund Capacity: 12,000 Club:Gerry Weber Stadion (Gerry Weber Stadion) Location: Halle Capacity: 11,000 Club:Ostseehalle (Ostseehalle) Location: Kiel Capacity: 10,200 Club: THW KielMax-Schmeling-Halle (Max-Schmeling-Halle) Location: Berlin Capacity: 10,000 Club: Füchse BerlinAWD-Dome (AWD-Dome) Location: Bremen Capacity: 9,200 Club:Bördelandhalle (Bördelandhalle) Location: Magdeburg Capacity: 7,850 Club: SC MagdeburgPorsche Arena (Porsche Arena) Location: Stuttgart Capacity: 6,100 Club:Lipperlandhalle (Lipperlandhalle) Location: Lemgo Capacity: 5,000 Club: TBV LemgoRittal Arena Wetzlar (Rittal Arena Wetzlar) Location: Wetzlar Capacity: 5,000 Club: HSG Wetzlar

Qualification

Competition Dates Host Vacancies Qualified Host nation 1 2005 World Championship 23 January – 6 February 2005 1 2006 African Championship 10–20 January 2006 4 2006 European Championship 26 January – 5 February 2006 3 2006 Asian Championship 12–21 February 2006 Bangkok 3 2006 Oceania Championship 22–24 May 2006 Sydney 1 2006 Pan American Championship 6–10 June 2006 Aracaju 3 European qualification 4 January – 18 June 2006 Various 8

Tournament structure

Preliminary round

The 24 competing teams will be drawn into six preliminary groups of four teams each, and the matches in the preliminary round are scheduled to be held from 20 to 22 January. The two top teams from each group then proceed to the main round, while the third and fourth-placed teams play in the Presidents-Cup. Spielplan – Handball-WM 2007, from the tournament's official site

On 14 July 2006, the groups of the tournament were determined: , from RP-Online, retrieved 15 July 2006

Group A (Wetzlar):

Group B (Magdeburg):

Group C (Berlin, Halle):

Group D (Bremen):

Group E (Kiel):

Group F (Stuttgart):

Presidents-Cup

The teams placed third and fourth in the preliminary round groups are divided into four groups of three teams, as such:

Group I: 3rd-placed group A 3rd-placed group B 3rd-placed group CGroup II: 3rd-placed group D 3rd-placed group E 3rd-placed group FGroup III: 4th-placed group A 4th-placed group B 4th-placed group CGroup IV: 4th-placed group D 4th-placed group E 4th-placed group F

The matches are scheduled for 24 to 26 January. On 28 January, the winners of group I and II then play each other for the 13th place, the runners-up play each other for the 15th place, and the third-placed play off for 17th place. The Group III and IV teams play off for 19th, 21st and 23rd place in the same fashion.

Main round

The main round is scheduled for 24 to 28 January, and the teams will be divided into two groups of six teams. The teams carry forward match results from matches against the other team from their group to qualify for the main round. Four teams from each main round group qualify for the quarter-finals.

No placement matches for the places 9 to 12 are scheduled.

Knockout stage

The knockout stage is scheduled to make up the last week of the tournament, starting on Tuesday 30 January and continuing until Sunday 4 February. The quarter-finals are set up so that the winner of one group will face the fourth-placed team in the other. Semi-finals and consolation matches are held on 1 February; two days later, the 5th and 7th place play-offs take place on 3 February, with the 3rd place play-off and final is scheduled for the following day.

Seedings

The seedings for the preliminary round have been partially determined; the full seedings will be revealed when all qualifying matches have been played.Asian Championship: Qatar wins bronze and a ticket to the 2007 World Championship, from IHF, retrieved 27 February 2006 Currently, the following seedings (in IHF terminology, performance row) have been confirmed:

Pot 1: Spain, France, Denmark, Tunisia, Croatia, Germany Pot 2: Europe 4, Europe 5, Europe 6, Europe 7, Europe 8, Europe 9 Pot 3: Egypt, Kuwait, Morocco, Europe 10, Europe 11, Brazil Pot 4: Angola, South Korea, Qatar, Argentina, Greenland, Australia

Preliminary round All times are local (UTC+1).

Group A

Group B

Group C

Group D

Group E

Group F

President's Cup Group I

Group II

Group III

Group IV

23rd place game

21st place game

19th place game

17th place game

15th place game

13th place game

Main round Group I

Group II

Knockout stage Bracket Championship bracket

5th place bracket

Quarterfinals

5–8th place semifinals

Semifinals

Eleventh place game

Ninth place game

Seventh place game

Fifth place game

Third place game

Final

Ranking and statistics

Final ranking

Rank Team 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Qualified for the 2008 Summer Olympics Qualified for the 2008 Summer Olympics through other tournaments Qualified for the Olympic Qualification Tournament Ineligible to qualify for the Olympics: Greenland do not have a National Olympic Committee recognized by the IOC

2007 Men's World Champions GermanySecond Title

Team roster: Henning Fritz, Pascal Hens, Oliver Roggisch, Dominik Klein, Michael Haaß, Sebastian Preiß, Holger Glandorf, Johannes Bitter, Markus Baur, Christian Zeitz, Torsten Jansen, Andrej Klimovets, Michael Kraus, Florian Kehrmann, Lars Kaufmann and Christian Schwarzer.Head coach: Heiner Brand.

All Star Team Goalkeeper: Left wing: Left back: Pivot: Centre back: Right back: Right wing:

Other awards Most Valuable Player:

Top goalscorers RankNameTeamGoalsShots% 1 Guðjón Valur Sigurðsson 66 93 71 2 Filip Jícha 57 100 57 3 Karol Bielecki 56 103 54 4 Eduard Koksharov 55 77 715 Ivano Balić 53 82 65Snorri Guðjónsson 89 60Ólafur Stefánsson 92 58 8 Nikola Karabatić 50 86 58 9 Angutimmarik Kreutzmann 49 93 5310 Cho Chi-hyo 48 67 72Logi Geirsson 92 52Alexander Petersson 74 65 Source: IHF

Top goalkeepers RankNameTeam%SavesShots 1 Ole Erevik 51 30 59 2 Lars Olav Olaussen 45 23 51 3 Maik dos Santos 40 65 1634 Dragan Jerković 39 81 209Nenad Puljezević 57 147 6 Johannes Bitter 38 42 1127 Yousif Al-Fadhli 37 88 239Mirko Alilović 52 140 Vadym Brazhnyk 20 54Steinar Ege 47 127Kasper Hvidt 125 337Sławomir Szmal 120 327 Source: IHF

References

External links

Official website IHF website