IHF World Men's Handball Championship

IHF World Men's Handball Championship
Current season, competition or edition:
Current sports event 2025 World Men's Handball Championship
SportHandball
Founded1938; 86 years ago (1938)
FounderInternational Amateur Handball Federation
First season1938
No. of teams32 (finals)
ContinentInternational (IHF)
Most recent
champion(s)
 Denmark (3rd title)
Most titles France (6 titles)

The IHF Men's Handball World Championship has been organized indoor by the International Handball Federation since 1938.

In the twenty-eight tournaments held, twelve national teams have won the title. France is the most successful team with six titles, followed by Sweden and Romania with four titles each.

The current champion is Denmark, which won its third consecutive title at the 2023 tournament in Poland and Sweden.[1]

History

The first indoor championship took place in Germany in 1938, involving four teams from Europe made up of 7 players who competed in a round robin stage to find a winner. It wouldn't be until sixteen years later where the second World Championship was held in the country of Sweden. Throughout their history, the World Championships have been dominated by European teams, with no medals being won by non-European countries until 2015, by Qatar. Over the years, the organization of the World Championships has changed. Initially, there were group games in both the preliminary and main rounds, but since the 1995 edition a knockout system has been applied after the preliminary round.[2]

Tournaments

Year Host Final Third place match Teams
Champions Score Runners-up Third place Score Fourth place
1938
Details
Nazi Germany
Germany

Germany
Round-robin
Austria

Sweden
Round-robin
Denmark
4
1954
Details
Sweden
Sweden

Sweden
17–14
Germany[a]

Czechoslovakia
24–11
Switzerland
6
1958
Details
East Germany
East Germany

Sweden
22–12
Czechoslovakia

Germany[b]
16–13
Denmark
16
1961
Details
West Germany
West Germany

Romania
9–8 (2ET)
Czechoslovakia

Sweden
17–14
Germany[b]
12
1964
Details
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia

Romania
25–22
Sweden

Czechoslovakia
22–15
West Germany
16
1967
Details
Sweden
Sweden

Czechoslovakia
14–11
Denmark

Romania
21–19 (ET)
Soviet Union
16
1970
Details
France
France

Romania
13–12 (2ET)
East Germany

Yugoslavia
29–12
Denmark
16
1974
Details
East Germany
East Germany

Romania
14–12
East Germany

Yugoslavia
18–16
Poland
16
1978
Details
Denmark
Denmark

West Germany
20–19
Soviet Union

East Germany
19–15
Denmark
16
1982
Details
West Germany
West Germany

Soviet Union
30–27 (ET)
Yugoslavia

Poland
23–22
Denmark
16
1986
Details
Switzerland
Switzerland

Yugoslavia
24–22
Hungary

East Germany
24–23
Sweden
16
1990
Details
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia

Sweden
27–23
Soviet Union

Romania
27–21
Yugoslavia
16
1993
Details
Sweden
Sweden

Russia
28–19
France

Sweden
26–19
Switzerland
16
1995
Details
Iceland
Iceland

France
23–19
Croatia

Sweden
26–20
Germany
24
1997
Details
Japan
Japan

Russia
23–21
Sweden

France
28–27
Hungary
24
1999
Details
Egypt
Egypt

Sweden
25–24
Russia

FR Yugoslavia
27–24
Spain
24
2001
Details
France
France

France
28–25 (ET)
Sweden

FR Yugoslavia
27–17
Egypt
24
2003
Details
Portugal
Portugal

Croatia
34–31
Germany

France
27–22
Spain
24
2005
Details
Tunisia
Tunisia

Spain
40–34
Croatia

France
26–25
Tunisia
24
2007
Details
Germany
Germany

Germany
29–24
Poland

Denmark
34–27
France
24
2009
Details
Croatia
Croatia

France
24–19
Croatia

Poland
31–23
Denmark
24
2011
Details
Sweden
Sweden

France
37–35 (ET)
Denmark

Spain
24–23
Sweden
24
2013
Details
Spain
Spain

Spain
35–19
Denmark

Croatia
31–26
Slovenia
24
2015
Details
Qatar
Qatar

France
25–22
Qatar

Poland
29–28 (ET)
Spain
24
2017
Details
France
France

France
33–26
Norway

Slovenia
31–30
Croatia
24
2019
Details
Denmark Germany
Denmark / Germany

Denmark
31–22
Norway

France
26–25
Germany
24
2021
Details
Egypt
Egypt

Denmark
26–24
Sweden

Spain
35–29
France
32
2023
Details
Poland Sweden
Poland / Sweden

Denmark
34–29
France

Spain
39–36
Sweden
32
2025
Details
Croatia Denmark Norway
Croatia / Denmark / Norway
32
2027
Details
Germany
Germany
32
2029
Details
TBD 32
2031
Details
TBD 32

Medal table

RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 France62412
2 Sweden44412
3 Romania4026
4 Denmark3317
5 Germany2215
6 Russia2103
7 Spain2035
8 Croatia1315
9 Czechoslovakia1225
10 Soviet Union1203
11 Yugoslavia1124
12 West Germany1001
13 East Germany0224
14 Norway0202
15 Poland0134
16 Austria0101
 Hungary0101
 Qatar0101
19 Yugoslavia0022
20 Slovenia0011
Totals (20 entries)28282884

Participating nations

Legend
  • 1st – Champions
  • 2nd – Runners-up
  • 3rd – Third place
  • 4th – Fourth place
  • 5th – Fifth place
  • 6th – Sixth place
  • 7th – Seventh place
  • 8th – Eighth place
  • 9th – Ninth place
  • 10th – Tenth place
  • 11th – Eleventh place
  • 12th to 24th – Twelfth to twenty-fourth place
  • Q — Qualified for upcoming tournament
  •  ••  — Qualified but withdrew
  •  •  — Did not qualify
  •  ×  — Did not enter / Withdrew from the World Championship / Banned
  •    — Hosts
Team Germany
1938
Sweden
1954
East Germany
1958
West Germany
1961
Czechoslovakia
1964
Sweden
1967
France
1970
East Germany
1974
Denmark
1978
West Germany
1982
Switzerland
1986
Czechoslovakia
1990
Sweden
1993
Iceland
1995
Japan
1997
Egypt
1999
France
2001
Portugal
2003
Tunisia
2005
Germany
2007
Croatia
2009
Sweden
2011
Spain
2013
Qatar
2015
France
2017
Denmark
Germany
2019
Egypt
2021
Poland
Sweden
2023
Croatia
Denmark
Norway
2025
Germany
2027
TBD
2029
TBD
2031
Total
 Algeria Part of  France × × × 15th 16th 16th 16th 16th 17th 15th 13th 18th 17th 19th 15th 17th 24th 22nd 31st Q 17
 Angola Part of  Portugal × × × × 20th 21st 24th 23rd 30th 5
 Argentina × × × × × × × 22nd 21st 15th 17th 18th 16th 18th 12th 18th 12th 18th 17th 11th 19th Q 15
 Australia × × × × × × × × 24th 21st 24th 24th 24th 24th 24th × × 7
 Austria 2nd × 11th 14th 18th 13th 19th 26th 7
 Bahrain Part of  Great Britain × 23rd •• 23rd 20th 21st 16th Q 6
 Belarus Part of  Soviet Union 9th 15th 18th 11th 17th × × 5
 Belgium × × × × × × × × 21st 1
 Bosnia and Herzegovina Part of  Yugoslavia 20th 1
 Brazil × × 15th × × × × 24th 24th 16th 19th 22nd 19th 19th 21st 21st 13th 16th 16th 9th 18th 17th Q 17
 Bulgaria × × × × × × 11th 14th × 2
 Canada × × × × 16th × 15th 23rd × 3
 Cape Verde Part of  Portugal × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × 32nd 23rd Q 3
 Chile × × × × × × × × 22nd 23rd 23rd 21st 16th 27th 26th Q 8
 China × × × × × × × × 20th 20th × 2
 Croatia Part of  Yugoslavia 2nd 13th 10th 9th 1st 2nd 5th 2nd 5th 3rd 6th 4th 6th 15th 9th Q 16
 Cuba × × × × × × × × 13th 15th 14th 13th 14th 8th 20th 7
 Czech Republic See  Czechoslovakia 8th 11th 18th 10th 12th 17th •• 6
 Denmark 4th 5th 4th 5th 7th 2nd 4th 8th 4th 4th 7th 9th 19th 9th 9th 13th 3rd 4th 2nd 2nd 5th 10th 1st 1st 1st Q 26
 DR Congo × × × × × × × × × × × × × × 28th 1
 Egypt × × × × 14th × × × 12th 6th 6th 7th 4th 15th 14th 17th 14th 14th 16th 14th 13th 8th 7th 7th Q 18
 Finland × 14th × 1
 France × 6th 9th 8th 13th 10th 12th 16th 9th 2nd 1st 3rd 6th 1st 3rd 3rd 4th 1st 1st 6th 1st 1st 3rd 4th 2nd Q 25
 Germany
(including West Germany)
1st 2nd 3rd 4th 4th 6th 5th 9th 1st 7th 7th 6th 4th 5th 8th 2nd 9th 1st 5th 11th 5th 7th 9th 4th 12th 5th Q Q 28
 Greece × × × × × × × × 6th 1
 Greenland × × × × × × × × 20th 24th 22nd 3
 Guinea × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × × Q 1
 Hungary × 7th 8th 8th 8th 7th 9th 9th 2nd 6th 11th 17th 4th 11th 6th 9th 6th 7th 8th 7th 10th 5th 8th 22
 Iceland × × 10th 6th 9th 11th 14th 13th 6th 10th 8th 14th 5th 11th 7th 15th 8th 6th 12th 11th 14th 11th 20th 12th 22
 Iran × × × × × × × × 21st 24th 2
 Italy × × × × × × × 18th 1
 Japan × × × 12th 16th 11th 10th 12th 12th 14th 15th 23rd 15th 16th 16th 22nd 24th 19th × Q 16
 Kuwait × × × × × × × × 15th 20th 19th 23rd 20th 22nd 19th 22nd Q 9
 Lithuania Part of  Soviet Union 10th 1
 Luxembourg × × 16th × 1
 Montenegro Part of  Yugoslavia Part of  Serbia and Montenegro 22nd 18th 2
 Morocco France / Spain × × × × × × × 22nd 23rd 17th 22nd 23rd 20th 29th 30th 8
 Netherlands × × × 11th × 14th 2
 Nigeria × × × × × × × × × × × 23rd × × × 1
 North Macedonia Part of  Yugoslavia 18th 11th 14th 9th 15th 15th 23rd 27th 8
 Norway × 6th 7th 11th 13th 13th 13th 12th 13th 14th 7th 13th 9th 9th 2nd 2nd 6th 6th Q 18
 Poland × × 5th 12th 14th 4th 6th 3rd 14th 11th 10th 2nd 3rd 8th 9th 3rd 17th 13th 15th 17
 Portugal × × × × × 19th 16th 12th 10th 13th 5
 Qatar Part of  Great Britain × 16th 21st 23rd 20th 2nd 8th 13th 8th 22nd Q 10
 Romania × × 13th 1st 1st 3rd 1st 1st 7th 5th 9th 3rd 10th 10th 15th 19th 14
 Russia See  Soviet Union 1st 5th 1st 2nd 6th 5th 8th 6th 16th 7th 19th 12th 14th 14th × × 14[c]
 Saudi Arabia × × × × × × × × 21st 22nd 21st 10th 23rd 19th 22nd 20th 21st 29th 10
 Serbia Part of  Yugoslavia Part of  Serbia and Montenegro 8th 10th 10th 18th 11th 5
 Slovakia Part of  Czechoslovakia 10th 17th 2
 Slovenia Part of  Yugoslavia 18th 17th 11th 12th 10th 4th 8th 3rd 9th 10th 10
 South Korea × × × × × × × × 12th 12th 15th 12th 8th 14th 12th 15th 12th 13th 21st Korea S. 31st 28th 13
 Spain × 12th 13th 10th 8th 5th 5th 5th 11th 7th 4th 5th 4th 1st 7th 13th 3rd 1st 4th 5th 7th 3rd 3rd 22
 Sweden 3rd 1st 1st 3rd 2nd 5th 6th 10th 8th 11th 4th 1st 3rd 3rd 2nd 1st 2nd 13th 11th 7th 4th 10th 6th 5th 2nd 4th Q 27
  Switzerland × 4th × 10th 12th 14th 15th 12th 11th 13th 4th 7th 16th 11
 Tunisia France France × × × 15th × 15th 16th 12th 10th 14th 4th 11th 17th 20th 11th 15th 19th 12th 25th 25th Q 17
 Ukraine Part of  Soviet Union 7th 14th 2
 United States × × × × 15th 16th 16th 16th 21st 24th •• 20th Q Q 9
 Uruguay × × × × × × × × 24th 32nd 2
Discontinued teams
 Czechoslovakia × 3rd 2nd 2nd 3rd 1st 7th 6th 11th 10th 13th 7th 7th See  Czech Republic 12
 East Germany Germany × Germany Germany 10th 9th 2nd 2nd 3rd 6th 3rd 8th See  Germany 8
 Korea See  North Korea and  South Korea 22nd  North Korea/ South Korea 1
 Serbia and Montenegro Part of  Yugoslavia 9th 3rd 3rd 8th 5th See  Serbia and  Montenegro 5
 Soviet Union × × × 5th 4th 9th 5th 2nd 1st 10th 2nd See  Russia 8
 Yugoslavia × × 8th 9th 6th 7th 3rd 3rd 5th 2nd 1st 4th 10
Total 4 6 16 12 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 32 32 32 32 32 32


Statistics

List of hosts

List of hosts by number of championships hosted.

Times
hosted
Host Year(s)
8  Germany (including East* and West Germany**) 1938, 1958*, 1961**, 1974*, 1982**, 2007, 2019, (2027)
5  Sweden 1954, 1967, 1993, 2011, 2023
3  Denmark 1978, 2019, (2025)
3  France 1970, 2001, 2017
2  Croatia 2009, (2025)
2  Czechoslovakia 1964, 1990
2  Egypt 1999, 2021
1  Iceland 1995
1  Japan 1997
1  Norway (2025)
1  Poland 2023
1  Portugal 2003
1  Qatar 2015
1  Spain 2013
1  Switzerland 1986
1  Tunisia 2005

All-time table for champions (1938–2023)

Team Participations Pld W D L Titles Top 4
 Croatia 15 123 89 6 28 1 6
 Czechoslovakia 12 72 41 7 24 1 5
 Denmark 25 174 115 8 51 3 13
 France 24 178 121 6 51 6 14
 Germany[a][b] 19 145 99 11 35 2 8
 Romania 14 83 51 4 28 4 6
 Russia[d] 13 107 66 8 33 2 3
 Soviet Union 8 51 35 2 14 1 4
 Spain 22 164 114 8 42 2 8
 Sweden 26 187 129 6 52 4 15
 West Germany 7 44 28 4 12 1 2
 Yugoslavia 10 92 57 7 28 1 5

Draws include knockout matches decided in a penalty shootout.

Most successful players

Boldface denotes active handball players and highest medal count among all players (including these who not included in these tables) per type.

Multiple gold medalists

Rank Player Country From To Gold Silver Bronze Total
1 Thierry Omeyer  France 2001 2017 5 2 7
2 Nikola Karabatić  France 2005 2023 4 1 2 7
3 Jérôme Fernandez  France 2001 2015 4 2 6
Michaël Guigou  France 2005 2019 4 2 6
Daniel Narcisse  France 2001 2017 4 2 6
6 Cédric Sorhaindo  France 2009 2019 4 1 5
7 Mikkel Hansen  Denmark 2011 2023 3 2 5
Niklas Landin Jacobsen  Denmark 2011 2023 3 2 5
9 Cornel Oțelea  Romania 1959 1970 3 * 1 * 1 * 5 *
10 Mads Mensah Larsen  Denmark 2013 2023 3 1 4
Henrik Møllgaard  Denmark 2013 2023 3 1 4

* Including one medal won at the 1959 World Outdoor Field Handball Championship

Multiple medalists

The table shows players who have won at least 6 medals in total at the World Championships.

Rank Player Country From To Gold Silver Bronze Total
1 Thierry Omeyer  France 2001 2017 5 2 7
2 Nikola Karabatić  France 2005 2023 4 1 2 7
3 Jérôme Fernandez  France 2001 2015 4 2 6
Michaël Guigou  France 2005 2019 4 2 6
Daniel Narcisse  France 2001 2017 4 2 6
6 Magnus Andersson  Sweden 1990 2001 2 2 2 6
Ola Lindgren  Sweden 1990 2001 2 2 2 6
Magnus Wislander  Sweden 1990 2001 2 2 2 6
9 Jackson Richardson  France 1993 2005 2 1 3 6

Top scorers by tournament

The record-holder for scored goals in a single World Championship is Kiril Lazarov. He scored 92 goals for Macedonia in nine matches at the 2009 World Championship.

Year Player Goals
1938 Sweden Yngve Lamberg
Germany Hans-Werner Obermark
Germany Hans Theilig
6
1954 Germany Otto Maychrzak 16
1958 Denmark Mogens Olsen 46
1961 Romania Petre Ivănescu
Czechoslovakia Zdeněk Rada
24
1964 Romania Hans (Ioan) Moser 33
1967 West Germany Herbert Lübking 38
1970 Soviet Union Vladimir Maksimov 31
1974 Romania Ștefan Birtalan 43
1978 Poland Jerzy Klempel
Hungary Péter Kovács
47
1982 Romania Vasile Stîngă 65
1986 South Korea Kang Jae-won 67
1990 Cuba Roberto Julián Duranona
Soviet Union Aleksandr Tuchkin
55
1993 Switzerland Marc Baumgartner
Hungary József Éles
South Korea Yoon Kyung-shin
41
1995 South Korea Yoon Kyung-shin 86
1997 South Korea Yoon Kyung-shin 62
1999 Cuba Rolando Uríos 57
2001 Russia Eduard Koksharov 61
2003 Hungary Carlos Pérez 64
2005 Tunisia Wissem Hmam 81
2007 Iceland Guðjón Valur Sigurðsson 66
2009 North Macedonia Kiril Lazarov 92
2011 Denmark Mikkel Hansen 68
2013 Denmark Anders Eggert 62
2015 Slovenia Dragan Gajić 71
2017 North Macedonia Kiril Lazarov 50
2019 Denmark Mikkel Hansen 72
2021 Qatar Frankis Carol 58
2023 Denmark Mathias Gidsel 60

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b In 1954, Germany sent a team fully composed of players from the West Germany.
  2. ^ a b c In 1958 and 1961, Germany sent a united team composed of players from the West Germany and the East Germany.
  3. ^ Russia's total includes one appearance as Russian Handball Federation in 2021.
  4. ^ Not including 2021 results (3 victories, 1 draw and 2 loses in 6 matches) because the team participated as the Russian Handball Federation in accordance with a ban by WADA and a decision by CAS.

References

  1. ^ "Danmark vinder VM for tredje gang i streg efter drama" (in Danish). TV 2. 29 January 2023.
  2. ^ "IHF official website – Men's World Championships – Statistics (1938–2009)" (PDF). IHF.

External links

  • Official website
  • IHF official website – Competition History
  • IHF official website – Men's World Championships
  • IHF official website – Men's World Championships – Statistics (1938–2009)
  • All time statistics with link to all results and all medal winners
  • All time medal winners
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