2021 World Women's Handball Championship
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Host country |  Spain |
| Dates | 2–19 December 2021 |
| Teams | 32 (from 5 confederations) |
The 2021 World Women's Handball Championship, the 25th event hosted by the International Handball Federation, will be held in Spain from 2 to 19 December 2021.[1] On 18 October 2018, at a congress in Doha, Qatar, the IHF announced that the World Championship would be expanded from 24 teams to 32 teams from 2021 onwards.[2] The Netherlands will be the defending champions after winning for the first time in 2019.
Bidding process
Spain and Hungary bid for the right to organise the 2021 Women's World Handball Championship. The International Handball Federation decided that the voting process would take place during the 2017 World Men's Handball Championship.
The Spanish bid included the following six host cities and venues:
| Host City | Venue | Capacity |
|---|---|---|
| Barcelona | Nou Palau Blaugrana | 12,000 |
| Granollers | Palau d'Esports de Granollers | 5,200 |
| Tarragona | Palacio de Deportes de Tarragona | 5,000 |
| Lleida | Pavelló Barris Nord | 5,500 |
| Castellón de la Plana | Pavelló Ciutat de Castelló | 5,200 |
| Badalona | Palau Municipal d'Esports de Badalona | 12,500 |
The President of the Royal Spanish Handball Federation confirmed that full support is granted by the Olympic Movement, Spanish government and the handball community. The Spanish government guaranteed the introduction of all necessary measures so that the event could be celebrated in a full security setting, with special attention paid to key infrastructures for the staging of the competitions and to IHF operations, its subsidiaries and delegations from different countries.
The Hungarian bid included the following six host cities and venues:
| Host City | Venue | Capacity |
|---|---|---|
| Veszprém | Veszprém Aréna | 8,000 |
| Győr | Audi Aréna | 5,500 |
| Szeged | Arena Szeged | 8,000 |
| Budapest | László Papp Budapest Sports Arena | 12,000 |
| Debrecen | Főnix Hall | 6,000 |
| Tatabánya | Tatabánya Arena | 6,000 |
The 2021 Women's World Handball Championship was awarded to Spain by a secret ballot of members of the IHF Council.
Venues
The 2021 tournament wil be held in the following six host cities and venues:
| Host City | Venue | Capacity |
|---|---|---|
| Barcelona | Nou Palau Blaugrana | 12,000 |
| Granollers | Palau d'Esports de Granollers | 5,200 |
| Tarragona | Palacio de Deportes de Tarragona | 5,000 |
| Lleida | Pavelló Barris Nord | 5,500 |
| Castellón de la Plana | Pavelló Ciutat de Castelló | 5,200 |
| Badalona | Palau Municipal d'Esports de Badalona | 12,500 |
Qualification
| Competition | Dates | [citation needed] | Qualified |
|---|---|---|---|
| Host nation | 28 January 2017 | 1 | Spain
|
| 2019 World Championship | 30 November–15 December 2019 | 1 |  Netherlands
|
| 2020 European Championship | 3–20 December 2020 | 4 | |
| 2020 Asian Championship | 3–12 December 2020 | 6 | |
| 2020 South and Central American Championship | 3 | ||
| 2020 African Championship | 11–20 June 2021 | 4 | |
| European qualification | 27 November 2020 – 21 April 2021 | 10 | |
| 2021 Nor.Ca. Women's Championship | 1 | ||
| Oceania | 3–12 December 2020 | 0 or 1[1] | |
| Wild card | TBD | 1 or 2[1] |
^ 1. Since 2018 countries from Oceania (Australia and New Zealand) are participating in the Asian Championships: if one of them finishes within the top five, it qualifies for the World Championship. Otherwise the place will transfer to the wild card spot.
Qualified teams
| Country | Qualified as | Qualification date | Previous appearances in tournament[a] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spain |
Host | 28 January 2017 | 10 (1993, 2001, 2003, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019) |
| Netherlands |
Defending world champion | 15 December 2019 | 12 (1971, 1973, 1978, 1986, 1999, 2001, 2005, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019) |
- ^ Bold indicates champion for that year, Italics indicates host for that year.
References
- ^ "2021 and 2023 IHF Women's World Championships awarded". International Handball Federation. 28 January 2017.
- ^ "IHF Council decides to increase number of teams at World Championships". ihf.info. 19 October 2018.