2021 World Men's Handball Championship Explained

The 2021 IHF World Men's Handball Championship was the 27th event hosted by the International Handball Federation and held in Egypt from 13 to 31 January 2021.

Starting with this edition, the World Championship was expanded from 24 teams to 32.^[1] It was also the third World Championship hosted in Africa, the second in Egypt, and the first to be hosted outside of Europe since 2015.

Denmark were the defending champions, having won their first World Championship title in 2019 on home soil. They defended the title by beating Sweden in the final,^[2] the second final between two Scandinavian countries in a row. On the way, Denmark defeated hosts Egypt in the quarter-finals, and the reigning European champions Spain in the semi-finals. The latter secured the bronze medal after defeating France in the third place game.^[3]

The tournament was played behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[4]

Bidding process

Seven nations initially expressed interest in hosting the tournament:^[5]

However, until the bidding phase expired on 15 April 2015, only three nations entered documents to bid for the event:^[6]

A decision was scheduled for 4 June 2015, but the Congress was moved to 6 November 2015, where Egypt was chosen as the host.^[7]

Format

The 2021 edition saw a format change as the tournament was expanded. The 32 teams were split into eight groups of four teams each. The top three teams from each group progressed to the main round, while the teams ranked last in their preliminary round groups played the President's Cup. The 24 main round teams were divided into four groups of six teams each. The top two teams from each group advanced to the quarter-finals.

Venues

Following is a list of all venues and host cities.

		Cairo	New Administrative Capital
		Cairo Stadium Indoor Halls Complex	New Capital Sports Hall
		Capacity: 17,000	Capacity: 7,500
		Alexandria	6th of October City
		Borg El Arab Sports Hall	Dr. Hassan Moustafa Sports Hall
		Capacity: 5,000	Capacity: 4,500

Qualification

As is the previous edition, the World Championship organizer was directly qualified, along with the reigning world champions.Following the decision about increasing the number of participating teams, changes were made in the distribution of places by the Continental Confederations. The number of compulsory places awarded to each Continental Confederation was increased as follows: four places each for Africa, Asia, and Europe.Starting from this tournament, Pan America was split into two zones: the North America and Caribbean Zone with one compulsory place, and the South and Central America Zone with three places. There was also a South and Central American Men's Last Chance Qualification Tournament which provided a qualification spot for the winning team.One additional place was available for Oceania, but only in the case where that national team would rank fifth or higher at the Asian Championship. Since no Oceania team placed among the top five at the Asian Championship, the IHF awarded an additional wild card.^[8] In addition, there were 12 performance places for the Continental Confederations, which were based on the teams ranked 1–12 of the preceding World Championship.According to the new qualification system^[9] and taking into consideration the results of the 2019 Men's World Championship, 32 places were distributed as follows:

• Host nation: 1
• Reigning world champion: 1
• Africa: 6
• Asia: 4
• Europe: 13
• Pan America: 5
  • North America and Caribbean: 1
  • South and Central America: 3
  • South and Central American Last Chance Qualification Tournament: 1
• Oceania/additional wild card: 1
• Wild card: 1

Competition	Dates	Host	Vacancies	Qualified
Host nation	6 November 2015	Sochi	1
2019 World Championship	10–27 January 2019		1
2020 European Championship	9–26 January 2020		3
2020 African Championship	16–26 January 2020		6
2020 Asian Championship	16–27 January 2020	Kuwait City	4
2020 South and Central American Championship[10]	21–25 January 2020	Maringá	3
	(Cancelled)	Mexico City	1-1	[11]
2020 South and Central American Last Chance Qualification Tournament	(Cancelled)	[12]	1	[13]
European qualification	23 October 2019 – 5 July 2020 (cancelled)	Various (cancelled)	10+1	(replacement) (replacement)
Wild card[14]	9 July 2020	—	2	Russian Handball Federation

1. Since countries from Oceania (Australia or New Zealand) participating in the Asian Championships did not finish within the top five, they did not qualify for the World Championship. Since they placed sixth or lower, the place transferred to the wild card spot.
2. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the South and North American qualification tournaments were scrapped. The IHF Council decided to extend the deadline for the organisation of the remaining qualification tournaments until 31 October 2020.^[15]
3. Because the European qualification was cancelled, the final ranking of the 2020 European Men's Handball Championship was used to determine the participants.^[16]
4. On 9 December 2019, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) banned Russia from all international sport for a period of four years, after the Russian government was found to have tampered with laboratory data that it provided to WADA in January 2019 as a condition of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency being reinstated. As a result of the ban, WADA plans to allow individually cleared Russian athletes to take part in the 2020 Summer Olympics under a neutral banner, as instigated at the 2018 Winter Olympics, but they will not be permitted to compete in team sports. The title of the neutral banner has yet to be determined; WADA Compliance Review Committee head Jonathan Taylor stated that the IOC would not be able to use "Olympic Athletes from Russia" (OAR) as it did in 2018, emphasizing that neutral athletes cannot be portrayed as representing a specific country.^{[17] [18] [19]} Russia later filed an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against the WADA decision.^[20] After reviewing the case on appeal, CAS ruled on 17 December 2020 to reduce the penalty that WADA had placed on Russia. Instead of banning Russia from sporting events, the ruling allowed Russia to participate at the Olympics and other international events, but for a period of two years, the team cannot use the Russian name, flag, or anthem and must present themselves as "Neutral Athlete" or "Neutral Team". The ruling does allow for team uniforms to display "Russia" on the uniform as well as the use of the Russian flag colors within the uniform's design, although the name should be up to equal predominance as the "Neutral Athlete/Team" designation.^[21] The Russian team will play under the name "Russian Handball Federation Team".^[22]

Qualified teams

Country	Qualified as	Qualified on	Previous appearances1, 2
	Host	6 November 2015	15 (1964, 1993, 1995, 1997,1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019)
[23]		27 January 2019	23 (1938, 1954, 1958, 1961, 1964, 1967, 1970, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1993, 1995, 1999, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019)
		20 January 2020	4 (2005, 2007, 2017, 2019)
	Top seven at 2020 African Championship	20 January 2020	14 (1974, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015)
	Top seven at 2020 African Championship	20 January 2020	14 (1967, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019)
		21 January 2020	7 (2003, 2005, 2007, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019)
	Semifinalist at 2020 Asian Championship	23 January 2020	14 (1961, 1964, 1967, 1970, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1990, 1995, 1997, 2005, 2011, 2017, 2019)
	Semifinalist at 2020 Asian Championship	23 January 2020	3 (2011, 2017, 2019)
	Semifinalist at 2020 Asian Championship	23 January 2020	12 (1986, 1990, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 20193)
		23 January 2020	12 (1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019)
	Top three at 2020 South and Central American Championship	23 January 2020	14 (1958, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019)
		24 January 2020	13 (1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019)
	Top three at 2020 European Championship	24 January 2020	20 (1958, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019)
	Top seven at 2020 African Championship	24 January 2020	0 (debut)
	Top seven at 2020 African Championship	24 January 2020	6 (1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2007)
	Top three at 2020 European Championship	25 January 2020	15 (1958, 1961, 1964, 1967, 1970, 1993, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2017, 2019)
	Top three at 2020 South and Central American Championship	25 January 2020	0 (debut)
	Top seven at 2020 African Championship	26 January 2020	0 (debut)
		24 April 2020	6 (1938, 1958, 1993, 2011, 2015, 2019)
	2020 European Championship final ranking	24 April 2020	4 (1995, 2013, 2015, 2017)
4	2020 European Championship final ranking	24 April 2020	6 (1995, 1997, 2001, 2005, 2007, 2015)
	2020 European Championship final ranking	24 April 2020	22 (1954, 1958, 1961, 1964, 1967, 1970, 1978, 1990, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019)
	2020 European Championship final ranking	24 April 2020	25 (1938, 1954, 1958, 1961, 1964, 1967, 1970, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1986, 19907, 1993, 1995, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019)
	2020 European Championship final ranking	24 April 2020	20 (1958, 1964, 1967, 1970, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2017, 2019)
	2020 European Championship final ranking	24 April 2020	20 (1958, 1961, 1964, 1970, 1974, 1978, 1986, 1990, 1993, 1995, 1997, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019)
	2020 European Championship final ranking	24 April 2020	3 (1997, 2001, 2003)
	2020 European Championship final ranking	24 April 2020	8 (1995, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2013, 2015, 2017)
	2020 European Championship final ranking	24 April 2020	24 (1938, 1954, 1958, 1961, 1964, 1967, 1970, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2009, 2011, 2015, 2017, 2019)
	Wildcard	9 July 2020	15 (1958, 1967, 1970, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990, 2003, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017)
	Wildcard	9 July 2020	13 (1993, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019)5
6	North America and Caribbean representative	2 November 2020	6 (1964, 1970, 1974, 1993, 1995, 2001)
	South and Central America representative	10 November 2020	5 (2011, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019)
4	Replacement	12 January 2021	6 (1999, 2009, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019)
6	Replacement	12 January 2021	10 (1954, 1961, 1964, 1967, 1970, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1993, 1995)

¹ Bold indicates champion for that year.

² Italic indicates host country for that year.

³ Participated as a Unified Korea team in 2019.

⁴ On 12 January, the International Handball Federation announced that the Czech Republic had withdrawn from the tournament due to high number of COVID-19 infected players. North Macedonia replaced them.^[24]

⁵ Participated as Russia in 1993–2019.

⁶ On 12 January, the International Handball Federation announced that the United States had withdrawn from the tournament due to high number of COVID-19 infected players. Switzerland replaced them.^[25]

⁷ From both German teams only East Germany was qualified in 1990

Draw

The draw was held on 5 September 2020 at the Giza Pyramids Plateau.^{[26] [27]} As hosts, Egypt had the privilege to assign itself to a group.^[28]

Seeding

On 23 July 2020, the pots were announced.^[29]

Groups

This is the result of the draw with all groups

Referees

The referee pairs were selected on 4 January 2021.^[30]

Referees
	Youcef Belkhiri Sid Ali Hamidi
	Julian Grillo Sebastián Lenci
	Matija Gubica Boris Milošević
	Václav Horáček Jiří Novotný
	Mads Hansen Jesper Madsen
	Alaa Emam Hossam Hedaia
	Charlotte Bonaventura Julie Bonaventura
	Karim Gasmi Raouf Gasmi
	Robert Schulze Tobias Tönnies
	Majid Kolahdouzan Alireza Mousaviannazhad

Referees
	Gjorgji Nachevski Slave Nikolov
	Ivan Pavićević Miloš Ražnatović
	Håvard Kleven Lars Jørum
	Duarte Santos Ricardo Fonseca
	Bojan Lah David Sok
	Óscar Raluy Ángel Sabroso
	Mirza Kurtagic Mattias Wetterwik
	Arthur Brunner Morad Salah
	Samir Krichen Samir Makhlouf

Squads

See main article: 2021 World Men's Handball Championship squads.

Preliminary round

All times are local (UTC+2).^{[31] [32]}

Group A

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Group B

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Group C

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Group D

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Group E

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Group F

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Group G

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Group H

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Presidents Cup

Group I

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Group II

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25th place game

Main round

All points obtained in the preliminary round against teams that advance as well, are carried over.

Group I

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Group II

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Group III

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Group IV

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Final round

Quarterfinals

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Semifinals

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Final

Final ranking and awards

Final ranking

Places 1 to 4 and 25 to 32 were decided by play-off or knock-out. The losers of the quarter-finals were ranked 5th to 8th according to the places in the main round, points gained and goal difference. Teams finishing third in the main round were ranked 9th to 12th, teams finishing fourth in the main round were ranked 13th to 16th, teams finishing fifth in the main round were ranked 17th to 20th and teams ranked sixth were ranked 21st to 24th. In case of a tie in points gained, the goal difference of the main round were taken into account, then number of goals scored. If teams would still be equal, number of points gained in the preliminary round would be considered followed by the goal difference and then number of goals scored in the preliminary round.^[33]

Rank	Team
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14	Russian Handball Federation
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32

Qualified for the 2023 World Men's Handball Championship

All-star Team

The All-star Team was announced on 31 January 2021.^[34]

Position	Player
Goalkeeper	Andreas Palicka
Left wing	Hampus Wanne
Left back	Mikkel Hansen
Centre back	Jim Gottfridsson
Right back	Mathias Gidsel
Right wing	Ferran Solé
Pivot	Ludovic Fabregas
	Mikkel Hansen

Statistics

Top goalscorers

Rank	Name	Goals	Shots	%
1	Frankis Marzo	58	96	60
2	Sander Sagosen	54	83	65
3	Hampus Wanne	53	71	75
4	Erwin Feuchtmann	49	78	63
5	Mikkel Hansen	48	69	70
6	Andy Schmid	44	80	55
7	Mohamed Darmoul	40	49	82
8	Mathias Gidsel	39	49	80
	Kim Jin-young		72	54
	Rodrigo Salinas Muñoz		59	66

Top goalkeepers

Rank	Name	%	Saves	Shots
1	Humberto Gomes	43	33	76
2	Johannes Bitter	36	33	92
	Urban Lesjak		27	76
	Leonel Maciel		57	159
	Gonzalo Pérez de Vargas		66	182
6	Adam Morawski	35	56	158
	Stanislav Tretynko		21	60
8	Juan Bar	34	18	53
	Rodrigo Corrales		54	160
	Klemen Ferlin		44	131
	Björgvin Páll Gústavsson		36	107
	Kevin Møller		29	86
	Andreas Palicka		72	213
	Kristian Sæverås		37	108

Broadcasters

Country	Channel
	EPTV (Algeria matches and final)
	ORF
	Belarus 5
	Arena Sport
	TNT Sports (Chile matches and final)
	RTL 2, RTL
	DR1 (TV & Radio), TV 2
and	OnTime Sports (AR)
	beIN Sports, TMC
	RMC (Radio)
	ARD
	ZDF
	Eurosport
	Sportdeutschland.TV
	M4 Sport
	RÚV
	Arena Sport
	MRT, Arena Sport
	TV3/Viaplay
	TVP[35]
	Digi Sport
	RTP (Radio)
	Arena Sport
	Radiotelevizija Slovenija
	Val 202 (Radio)
	Teledeporte
	Nordic Entertainment Group
	Radiosporten (Radio)
	TV24[36]
	RMC Sport
	ESPN+[37]
Countries without a license	YouTube (Telecom Egypt)

Source:^[38]

External links

• • IHF website

Notes and References

1. Web site: IHF Council decides to increase number of teams at World Championships. 19 October 2018. ihf.info.
2. Web site: Denmark claim second straight Men’s World Championship gold. 31 January 2021. ihf.info.
3. Web site: Superb Dujshebaev brothers help Spain secure bronze medal. 31 January 2021. ihf.info.
4. Web site: Egypt 2021 – World Championship to be staged without spectators. 10 January 2021. ihf.info.
5. Web site: Bidding process for the 2021/2023 Men's and Women's World Championships. 18 February 2015. ihf.info.
6. Web site: Applications for Men's World Championships 2021/2023. 15 April 2015. 6 May 2015. ihf.info.
7. Web site: 2021 and 2023 IHF Men's World Championships Awarded. 6 November 2015. 6 November 2015. ihf.info.
8. Web site: Distribution of places for expanded World Championship. 9 March 2019. 9 June 2019. ihf.info. 17 December 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191217065941/http://portaladmin.ihf.info/en-us/mediacentre/news/newsdetails.aspx?ID=6397. dead.
9. Web site: Pathway to Men's World Championship 2021 and Men's EHF Euro 2022 Qualifiers. 20 July 2018. 3 August 2019. eurohandball.com.
10. Web site: Argentina beat Brazil for South and Central American title. 27 January 2020. 27 January 2020. ihf.info.
11. Web site: 2 November 2020. United States of America nominated for Egypt 2021. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20201102133038/https://www.ihf.info/media-center/news/united-states-america-nominated-egypt-2021. 2 November 2020. 2 November 2020. International Handball Federation.
12. Web site: uruguay confirma sede para el último cupo egipto 2021. 5 September 2020. 11 September 2020. es. handballsca.tv.
13. Web site: 10 November 2020. Chile nominated for Egypt 2021. 10 November 2020. International Handball Federation.
14. Web site: Wild cards awarded to Poland and Russia . . 9 July 2020 . 9 July 2020.
15. Web site: Qualification deadline for 2021 Men's World Championship extended. 15 May 2020. 15 May 2020. ihf.info.
16. Web site: Information on the future of the European handball season 2019/20. 24 April 2020. eurohandball.com.
17. News: Russia banned from Tokyo Olympics and football World Cup. MacInnes. Paul. 9 December 2019. The Guardian. 9 December 2019. en-GB. 0261-3077. https://web.archive.org/web/20191209155622/https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/dec/09/russia-banned-from-tokyo-olympics-and-football-world-cup. 9 December 2019. live.
18. News: Russia banned for four years to include 2020 Olympics and 2022 World Cup. BBC Sport. 9 December 2019. 9 December 2019. en-GB . https://web.archive.org/web/20191211171354/https://www.bbc.com/sport/olympics/50710598 . 11 December 2019 . live.
19. Web site: WADA lawyer defends lack of blanket ban on Russia . 13 December 2019 . 17 December 2019 . . . https://web.archive.org/web/20191214162048/https://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2019/12/13/olympics/wada-lawyer-defends-lack-blanket-ban-russia/#.Xfknqej7S00 . 14 December 2019 . dead.
20. Web site: Russia Confirms It Will Appeal 4-Year Olympic Ban . 27 December 2019 . . . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20191227213853/https://time.com/5756077/russia-olympic-ban-appeal/ . 27 December 2019.
21. Web site: Russia can't use its name and flag at the next 2 Olympics . Graham . Dunbar . 17 December 2020 . 17 December 2020 . .
22. News: Appearance of Russian Handball Federation at the 27th IHF Men’s World Championship. 25 December 2020. ihf.info. 25 December 2020.
23. Web site: Flawless Denmark claim first world title. 27 January 2019.
24. Web site: Egypt 2021 – North Macedonia replace Czech Republic. 12 January 2021. ihf.info.
25. Web site: Egypt 2021 – Switzerland replace USA. 12 January 2021. ihf.info.
26. Web site: Giza Pyramids Plateau hosts Egypt 2021 Draw Ceremony.
27. Web site: Groups set for Egypt 2021. ihf.info. 5 September 2020.
28. Web site: Egypt 2021 draw details confirmed. ihf.info. 25 August 2020.
29. Web site: IHF publish pots for Egypt 2021. 23 July 2020.
30. Web site: IHF confirms referees for Egypt 2021. 4 January 2021. ihf.info.
31. Web site: Fiery opening clashes as Egypt 2021 playing schedule set. 10 September 2020. ihf.info.
32. Web site: Egypt 2021 throw-off times confirmed. 23 September 2020. ihf.info.
33. Web site: Egypt 2021: Semi-finals Schedule, 5-32 Ranking Confirmed . ihf.info. 28 January 2021.
34. Web site: Egypt 2021 All-star Team. ihf.info. 31 January 2021.
35. Web site: 21 January 2021. Mistrzostwa świata w piłce ręcznej: mecze reprezentacji Polski od drugiej fazy w TVP!. 21 January 2021. Sport.tvp.pl. TVP Sport.
36. Web site: Schlageter. Matthias. 13 January 2021. Schweizer WM-Vorrundenspiele live auf TV24. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20210113224745/https://www.handball.ch/de/news/2021/schweizer-wm-vorrundenspiele-live-auf-tv24/. 13 January 2021. 21 January 2021. Schweizerischer Handball-Verband. de.
37. USA Team Handball . USA Team Handball . USATH . 1348009418735177732 . 9 January 2021 . We've got HUGE news . 21 January 2021 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20210121154812/https://twitter.com/USATH/status/1348009418735177732 . 21 January 2021.
38. Web site: 13 January 2021. Rightsholder Broadcasters. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20210121154800/https://www.facebook.com/egypt2021/posts/2760171850914484. 21 January 2021. 21 January 2021. Facebook. International Handball Federation.