World Men's Handball Championship

World Men's Handball Championship

Current season or competition: 2013 World Men's Handball Championship
Sport	Handball
Founded	1938
No. of teams	159
Continent	International (IHF)
Most recent champion(s)	Spain

The World Championship in team handball for men has been organized by the International Handball Federation since 1938.

History

In 1938, the first indoor handball world championship was played in the Deutschlandhalle in Berlin, Germany on 5 February and 6 February. This first Tournament was held with only four participating teams and played as a Single-Group-Tournament without a knockout-system. Germany became the champion by defeating each of its opponents, one of which was Austria which would become a part of Germany only a month later. The other competitors were Sweden and Denmark, which sent the club team of Ajax Kobenhavn to the championship. Indoor handball was spread only in Scandinavia at this point in time and there had only been one single official international match played indoor before the Championship. In Germany, where the Tournament took place, the indoor game was practically unknown to this point. Nevertheless the Deutschlandhalle was attended by 18,000 spectators in the two days, who were reportedly very pleased by the fast and exciting model of handball. The first World Championship can be said to have been an obscure spectaculum for pure entertaining purposes. Matches lasted only 20 minutes (10 per half-time) and the players were recruited from field handball teams which sought an opportunity to perform their sport during winter. A first field handball WC was held in July of the same year in Berlin and other German cities, which was also won by Germany who were then olympic champions (in 1936) and dual world champions. Both WC tournaments were administered by the IAHF (International Amateur Handball Federation), the forerunner organisation of 1946 founded IHF, which was founded in 1928, and meant to be celebrational events for the 10th "birthday" of the Organisation.

In 1946 – at the initiative and invitation of Denmark and Sweden – France, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Sweden and Switzerland founded the International Handball Federation (IHF). The IHF's official birthday is 11 July.

Five months after the IHF was founded, the first official international match was played under its aegis, with Sweden beating Denmark 9-7 in Gothenburg on 6 November 1946. In those days, the classic eleven-a-side outdoor game of field handball, so dear to the central Europeans, and the still-up-and-coming sport of seven-a-side handball, played indoors on a small court the form preferred in Scandinavia, were equally popular. Both disciplines had their fans: in 1955, 50,000 spectators watched the final of the field handball World Championships between Germany and Switzerland (25-13) in Berlin, but the indoor final between Sweden and Czechoslovakia in East Berlin in 1958, which ended 22-12, was also played in a packed hall in front of 6,500 spectators.

The world record-holder for scored goals in a single World Championship is Kiril Lazarov. In 9 games he scored 92 goals for Macedonia at the 2009 World Men's Handball Championship that took place in Croatia.

List of hosts

List of hosts by number of championships hosted.

Times hosted	Host	Year(s)
6	Germany	1938, 1958, 1961, 1974, 1982, 2007
4	Sweden	1954, 1967, 1993, 2011
3	France	1970, 2001, 2017
2	Czechoslovakia	1964, 1990
1	Croatia	2009
1	Denmark	1978
1	Egypt	1999
1	Iceland	1995
1	Japan	1997
1	Portugal	2003
1	Spain	2013
1	Qatar	2015
1	Switzerland	1986
1	Tunisia	2005

Tournaments

The first World Championship took place in Germany in 1938, involving four teams from Europe. Throughout their history, the World Championships has been dominated by European teams, any medals have yet to be won by non-Europeans.

Over the years, the organization of the World Championships has changed. Initially, there were group games in both the preliminary and main rounds, but more recently a knockout system has been applied after the preliminary round.

Year	Host Country		Gold medal game				Bronze medal game
			Gold	Score	Silver		Bronze	Score	Fourth place
1938 Details	Germany		Germany	Round-robin	Austria		Sweden	Round-robin	Denmark
1954 Details	Sweden		Sweden	17–14	West Germany		Czechoslovakia	24–11	Switzerland
1958 Details	East Germany		Sweden	22–12	Czechoslovakia		Germany1	16–13	Denmark
1961 Details	West Germany		Romania	9–8 after 2nd extra time	Czechoslovakia		Sweden	17–14	Germany1
1964 Details	Czechoslovakia		Romania	25–22	Sweden		Czechoslovakia	22–15	West Germany
1967 Details	Sweden		Czechoslovakia	14–11	Denmark		Romania	21–19 after extra time	Soviet Union
1970 Details	France		Romania	13–12 after 2nd extra time	East Germany		Yugoslavia	29–12	Denmark
1974 Details	East Germany		Romania	14–12	East Germany		Yugoslavia	18–16	Poland
1978 Details	Denmark		West Germany	20–19	Soviet Union		East Germany	19–15	Denmark
1982 Details	West Germany		Soviet Union	30–27 after extra time	Yugoslavia		Poland	23–22	Denmark
1986 Details	Switzerland		Yugoslavia	24–22	Hungary		East Germany	24–23	Sweden
1990 Details	Czechoslovakia		Sweden	27–23	Soviet Union		Romania	27–21	Yugoslavia
1993 Details	Sweden		Russia	28–19	France		Sweden	26–19	Switzerland
1995 Details	Iceland		France	23–19	Croatia		Sweden	26–20	Germany
1997 Details	Japan		Russia	23–21	Sweden		France	28–27	Hungary
1999 Details	Egypt		Sweden	25–24	Russia		FR Yugoslavia	27–24	Spain
2001 Details	France		France	28–25 after extra time	Sweden		FR Yugoslavia	27–17	Egypt
2003 Details	Portugal		Croatia	34–31	Germany		France	27–22	Spain
2005 Details	Tunisia		Spain	40–34	Croatia		France	26–25	Tunisia
2007 Details	Germany		Germany	29–24	Poland		Denmark	34–27	France
2009 Details	Croatia		France	24–19	Croatia		Poland	31–23	Denmark
2011 Details	Sweden		France	37–35 after extra time	Denmark		Spain	24–23	Sweden
2013 Details	Spain		Spain	35–19	Denmark		Croatia	31–26	Slovenia
2015 Details	Qatar
2017 Details	France

¹ Germany sent a united team composed of players from the GDR and the FRG.

• Egypt and Tunisia are the only non-European teams to reach the semi-finals, Egypt in 2001 and Tunisia in 2005. Both have placed 4th.

Medal count

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Sweden	4	3	4	11
2	France	4	1	3	8
3	Romania	4	0	2	6
4	Russia	3	3	0	6
5	Germany	3	2	1	6
6	Spain	2	0	1	3
7	Croatia	1	3	1	5
8	Czech Republic	1	2	2	5
9	Yugoslavia	1	1	4	6
10	Denmark	0	3	1	4
11	East Germany	0	2	2	4
12	Poland	0	1	2	3
13	Austria	0	1	0	1
	Hungary	0	1	0	1

Participating nations

• 21 Appearances
  • Germany
  • Sweden

• 20 Appearances
  • Denmark

• 19 Appearances
  • France

• 18 Appearances
  • Hungary

• 17 Appearances
  • Iceland
  • Spain

• 14 Appearances
  • Romania

• 13 Appearances
  • Algeria
  • Norway
  • Poland

• 12 Appearances
  • Czechoslovakia
  • Egypt
  • Japan

• 11 Appearances
  • Brazil
  • South Korea
  • Tunisia

• 10 Appearances
  • Croatia
  • Russia
  • Switzerland
  • Yugoslavia

• 9 Appearances
  • Argentina

• 8 Appearances
  • East Germany
  • Kuwait
  • Serbia
  • Soviet Union

• 7 Appearances
  • Australia
  • Cuba

• 6 Appearances
  • Czech Republic
  • Morocco
  • Saudi Arabia
  • Slovenia
  • United States

• 4 Appearances
  • Austria
  • Qatar

• 3 Appearances
  • Canada
  • Greenland
  • Macedonia
  • Portugal

• 2 Appearances
  • Angola
  • Belarus
  • Bulgaria
  • Chile
  • China
  • Slovakia
  • Ukraine

• 1 Appearance
  • Bahrain
  • Finland
  • Greece
  • Italy
  • Lithuania
  • Luxembourg
  • Montenegro
  • Netherlands
  • Nigeria

Participation details

Team	1938 (4)	1954 (6)	1958 (16)	1961 (12)	1964 (16)	1967 (16)	1970 (16)	1974 (16)	1978 (16)	1982 (16)	1986 (16)	1990 (16)	1993 (16)	1995 (24)	1997 (24)	1999 (24)	2001 (24)	2003 (24)	2005 (24)	2007 (24)	2009 (24)	2011 (24)	2013 (24)	2015 (24)	2017 (24)	Total
Algeria	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	15th	-	16th	16th	16th	-	16th	17th	15th	13th	18th	17th	-	19th	15th	17th	-	-	13
Angola	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	20th	21st	-	-	-	-	-	2
Argentina	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	22nd	21st	15th	17th	18th	16th	18th	12th	18th	-	-	9
Australia	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	24th	-	21st	24th	24th	24th	24th	24th	-	-	7
Austria	2nd	-	11th	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	14th	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	18th	-	-	-	4
Bahrain	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	23rd	-	-	-	1
Belarus	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	9th	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	15th	-	-	2
Brazil	-	-	15th	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	24th	24th	16th	19th	22nd	19th	19th	21st	21st	13th	-	-	11
Bulgaria	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	11th	14th	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2
Canada	-	-	-	-	-	16th	-	-	15th	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	23rd	-	-	-	-	-	-	3
Chile	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	22nd	23rd	-	-	2
China	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	20th	20th	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2
Croatia	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2nd	13th	10th	9th	1st	2nd	5th	2nd	5th	3rd	-	-	10
Cuba	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	13th	15th	14th	-	13th	14th	8th	-	-	-	-	20th	-	-	-	-	7
Czechoslovakia	-	3rd	2nd	2nd	3rd	1st	7th	6th	11th	10th	13th	7th	7th	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	12
Czech Republic	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	8th	11th	-	18th	-	10th	12th	-	-	-	-	-	5
Denmark	4th	5th	4th	5th	7th	2nd	4th	8th	4th	4th	8th	-	9th	19th	-	9th	-	9th	13th	3rd	4th	2nd	2nd	-	-	20
East Germany	-	-	-	-	10th	9th	2nd	2nd	3rd	6th	3rd	8th	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	8
Egypt	-	-	-	-	14th	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	12th	6th	6th	7th	4th	15th	14th	17th	14th	14th	16th	-	-	12
Team	1938	1954	1958	1961	1964	1967	1970	1974	1978	1982	1986	1990	1993	1995	1997	1999	2001	2003	2005	2007	2009	2011	2013	2015	2017	Total
Finland	-	-	14th	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1
France	-	6th	9th	8th	13th	10th	12th	-	16th	-	-	9th	2nd	1st	3rd	6th	1st	3rd	3rd	4th	1st	1st	6th	-	Q	17
Germany	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	4th	6th	5th	9th	1st	7th	7th	-	6th	4th	-	5th	8th	2nd	9th	1st	5th	11th	5th	-	-	21
Greece	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	6th	-	-	-	-	-	-	1
Greenland	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	20th	24th	-	22nd	-	-	-	-	-	3
Hungary	-	-	7th	-	8th	8th	8th	7th	9th	9th	2nd	6th	11th	17th	4th	11th	-	6th	-	9th	6th	7th	8th	-	-	18
Iceland	-	-	10th	6th	9th	-	11th	14th	13th	-	6th	10th	8th	14th	5th	-	11th	7th	15th	8th	-	6th	12th	-	-	17
Italy	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	18th	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1
Japan	-	-	-	12th	16th	11th	10th	12th	12th	14th	-	15th	-	23rd	15th	-	-	-	16th	-	-	16th	-	-	-	12
Kuwait	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	15th	-	-	-	20th	-	19th	23rd	20th	22nd	18th	22nd	-	-	-	-	8
Lithuania	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	10th	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1
Luxembourg	-	-	16th	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1
Macedonia	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	18th	-	-	-	-	11th	-	14th	-	-	3
Montenegro	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	22nd	-	-	1
Morocco	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	22nd	23rd	17th	22nd	23rd	-	20th	-	-	-	-	-	6
Netherlands	-	-	-	11th	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1
Nigeria	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	23rd	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1
Norway	-	-	6th	7th	11th	13th	13th	-	-	-	-	-	13th	-	12th	13th	14th	-	7th	13th	9th	9th	-	-	-	13
Team	1938	1954	1958	1961	1964	1967	1970	1974	1978	1982	1986	1990	1993	1995	1997	1999	2001	2003	2005	2007	2009	2011	2013	2015	2017	Total
Poland	-	-	5th	-	-	12th	14th	4th	6th	3rd	14th	11th	-	-	-	-	-	10th	-	2nd	3rd	8th	9th	-	-	13
Portugal	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	19th	-	16th	12th	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	3
Qatar	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	16th	21st	23rd	-	-	20th	Q	-	5
Romania	-	-	13th	1st	1st	3rd	1st	1st	7th	5th	9th	3rd	10th	10th	-	-	-	-	-	-	15th	19th	-	-	-	14
Russia	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1st	5th	1st	2nd	6th	5th	8th	6th	16th	-	7th	-	-	10
Saudi Arabia	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	21st	22nd	21st	19th	-	-	23rd	-	19th	-	-	6
Serbia	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	9th	3rd	3rd	8th	5th	-	8th	10th	10th	-	-	8
Slovakia	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	10th	17th	-	-	-	2
Slovenia	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	18th	-	-	17th	11th	12th	10th	-	-	4th	-	-	6
South Korea	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	12th	12th	15th	12th	8th	14th	12th	-	-	15th	12th	13th	21st	-	-	11
Soviet Union	-	-	-	-	5th	4th	9th	5th	2nd	1st	10th	2nd	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	8
Spain	-	-	12th	-	-	-	-	13th	10th	8th	5th	5th	5th	11th	7th	4th	5th	4th	1st	7th	13th	3rd	1st	Q	-	18
Sweden	3rd	1st	1st	3rd	2nd	5th	6th	10th	8th	11th	4th	1st	3rd	3rd	2nd	1st	2nd	13th	11th	-	7th	4th	-	-	-	21
Switzerland	-	4th	-	10th	12th	14th	15th	-	-	12th	11th	13th	4th	7th	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	10
Tunisia	-	-	-	-	-	15th	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	15th	16th	12th	10th	14th	4th	11th	17th	20th	11th	-	-	11
Ukraine	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	7th	-	-	14th	-	-	-	-	-	2
United States	-	-	-	-	15th	-	16th	16th	-	-	-	-	16th	21st	-	-	24th	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	6
Yugoslavia	-	-	8th	9th	6th	7th	3rd	3rd	5th	2nd	1st	4th	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	10

See also

• World Women's Handball Championship

External links

• All time statistics with link to all results and all medal winners