World Men's Handball Championship
The World Men's Handball Championship has been organized indoor by the International Handball Federation since 1938.
Current season, competition or edition:![]() | |
Sport | Handball |
---|---|
Founded | 1938 |
Founder | International Amateur Handball Federation |
Inaugural season | 1938 |
No. of teams | 32 |
Continent | International (IHF) |
Most recent champion(s) | ![]() |
Most titles | ![]() |
In the twenty-seven tournaments held, eleven nations have won the title. France is the most successful team with six titles, followed by Sweden and Romania with four titles each.
Denmark is the current champion after winning its maiden title in 2019, they repeated the feat in 2021
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 has 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 more recently a knockout system has been applied after the preliminary round.
Tournaments
- 1: Germany sent a united team composed of players from the GDR and the FRG.
Medal table
Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() | 6 | 1 | 4 | 11 |
2 | ![]() | 4 | 4 | 4 | 12 |
3 | ![]() | 4 | 0 | 2 | 6 |
4 | ![]() | 2 | 3 | 1 | 6 |
5 | ![]() | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
6 | ![]() | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
7 | ![]() | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
8 | ![]() | 1 | 3 | 1 | 5 |
9 | ![]() | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
10 | ![]() | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
11 | ![]() | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
12 | ![]() | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
13 | ![]() | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
14 | ![]() | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
15 | ![]() | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
16 | ![]() | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
![]() | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
![]() | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
19 | ![]() | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
20 | ![]() | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Totals (20 nations) | 27 | 27 | 27 | 81 |
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 | ![]() 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 |
![]() ![]() 2019 |
![]() 2021 |
![]() ![]() 2023 |
![]() ![]() ![]() 2025 |
![]() 2027 |
Total |
![]() | Part of ![]() | × | × | × | 15th | • | 16th | 16th | 16th | • | 16th | 17th | 15th | 13th | 18th | 17th | • | 19th | 15th | 17th | 24th | • | • | 22nd | • | • | • | 15 | |||
![]() | Part of ![]() | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 20th | 21st | • | • | • | • | 24th | 23rd | 30th | • | • | • | 5 | |||||||
![]() | × | × | × | × | × | × | × | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 22nd | 21st | 15th | 17th | 18th | 16th | 18th | 12th | 18th | 12th | 18th | 17th | 11th | • | • | • | 13 |
![]() | × | × | × | × | × | × | × | × | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 24th | • | 21st | 24th | 24th | 24th | 24th | 24th | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 7 |
![]() | 2nd | × | 11th | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 14th | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 18th | • | 13th | • | 19th | 26th | • | • | • | 7 |
![]() | Part of ![]() | × | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 23rd | • | • | 23rd | 20th | 21st | • | • | • | 4 | ||||||
![]() | Part of ![]() | • | 9th | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 15th | 18th | 11th | • | 17th | • | • | • | 5 | |||||||||||
![]() | Part of ![]() | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 20th | • | • | • | • | • | • | 1 | |||||||||||
![]() | × | × | 15th | × | × | × | × | • | • | • | • | • | • | 24th | 24th | 16th | 19th | 22nd | 19th | 19th | 21st | 21st | 13th | 16th | 16th | 9th | 18th | • | • | • | 15 |
![]() | × | × | × | × | × | × | • | 11th | 14th | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 2 |
![]() | × | × | × | × | • | 16th | • | × | 15th | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 23rd | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 3 |
![]() | Part of ![]() | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | WD | • | • | • | 1 | |||||||
![]() | × | × | × | × | × | × | × | × | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 22nd | 23rd | 23rd | 21st | 16th | 27th | • | • | • | 6 |
![]() | × | × | × | × | × | × | × | × | • | • | • | • | • | • | 20th | 20th | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 2 |
![]() | Part of ![]() | • | 2nd | 13th | 10th | 9th | 1st | 2nd | 5th | 2nd | 5th | 3rd | 6th | 4th | 6th | 15th | • | Q | • | 15 | |||||||||||
![]() | × | × | × | × | × | × | × | × | • | 13th | 15th | 14th | • | 13th | 14th | 8th | • | • | • | • | 20th | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 7 |
![]() | See ![]() | 8th | 11th | • | 18th | • | 10th | 12th | • | • | • | 17th | • | • | WD | • | • | • | 6 | ||||||||||||
![]() | 4th | 5th | 4th | 5th | 7th | 2nd | 4th | 8th | 4th | 4th | 7th | • | 9th | 19th | • | 9th | • | 9th | 13th | 3rd | 4th | 2nd | 2nd | 5th | 10th | 1st | 1st | Q | Q | • | 25 |
![]() | × | × | × | × | × | × | × | × | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 28th | • | • | • | 1 |
![]() | × | × | × | × | 14th | × | × | × | • | • | • | • | 12th | 6th | 6th | 7th | 4th | 15th | 14th | 17th | 14th | 14th | 16th | 14th | 13th | 8th | 7th | • | • | • | 16 |
![]() | × | • | 14th | • | • | • | • | × | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 1 |
![]() | × | 6th | 9th | 8th | 13th | 10th | 12th | • | 16th | • | • | 9th | 2nd | 1st | 3rd | 6th | 1st | 3rd | 3rd | 4th | 1st | 1st | 6th | 1st | 1st | 3rd | 4th | • | • | • | 24 |
![]() (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 | • | • | Q | 26 |
![]() | × | × | × | × | × | × | × | × | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 6th | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 1 |
![]() | × | × | × | × | × | × | × | × | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 20th | 24th | • | 22nd | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 3 |
![]() | × | • | 7th | • | 8th | 8th | 8th | 7th | 9th | 9th | 2nd | 6th | 11th | 17th | 4th | 11th | • | 6th | • | 9th | 6th | 7th | 8th | • | 7th | 10th | 5th | • | • | • | 21 |
![]() | × | × | 10th | 6th | 9th | • | 11th | 14th | 13th | • | 6th | 10th | 8th | 14th | 5th | • | 11th | 7th | 15th | 8th | • | 6th | 12th | 11th | 14th | 11th | 20th | • | • | • | 21 |
![]() | × | × | × | × | × | × | × | × | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 21st | • | • | • | • | • | • | 1 |
![]() | × | × | × | × | × | × | × | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 18th | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 1 |
![]() | × | × | × | 12th | 16th | 11th | 10th | 12th | 12th | 14th | • | 15th | • | 23rd | 15th | • | • | • | 16th | • | • | 16th | • | • | 22nd | 24th | 19th | • | • | • | 15 |
![]() | × | × | × | × | × | × | × | × | • | 15th | • | • | • | 20th | • | 19th | 23rd | 20th | 22nd | 19th | 22nd | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 8 |
![]() | Part of ![]() | • | • | 10th | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 1 | |||||||||||
![]() | × | × | 16th | • | • | × | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 1 |
![]() | Part of ![]() | Part of ![]() | • | • | • | 22nd | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
![]() | ![]() ![]() | × | × | × | × | • | × | • | • | • | • | • | 22nd | 23rd | 17th | 22nd | 23rd | • | 20th | • | • | • | • | • | • | 29th | • | • | • | 7 | |
![]() | × | × | × | 11th | × | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 1 |
![]() | × | × | × | × | × | × | × | × | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 23rd | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 1 |
![]() | Part of ![]() | • | • | • | 18th | • | • | • | • | 11th | • | 14th | 9th | 15th | 15th | 23rd | • | • | • | 7 | |||||||||||
![]() | × | • | 6th | 7th | 11th | 13th | 13th | • | • | • | • | • | 13th | • | 12th | 13th | 14th | • | 7th | 13th | 9th | 9th | • | • | 2nd | 2nd | 6th | • | Q | • | 17 |
![]() | × | × | 5th | • | • | 12th | 14th | 4th | 6th | 3rd | 14th | 11th | • | • | • | • | • | 10th | • | 2nd | 3rd | 8th | 9th | 3rd | 17th | • | 13th | Q | • | • | 17 |
![]() | × | × | × | • | × | × | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 19th | • | 16th | 12th | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 10th | • | • | • | 4 |
![]() | Part of ![]() | × | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 16th | 21st | 23rd | • | • | 20th | 2nd | 8th | 13th | 8th | • | • | • | 8 | ||||||
![]() | × | × | 13th | 1st | 1st | 3rd | 1st | 1st | 7th | 5th | 9th | 3rd | 10th | 10th | • | • | • | • | • | • | 15th | 19th | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 14 |
![]() | See ![]() | 1st | 5th | 1st | 2nd | 6th | 5th | 8th | 6th | 16th | • | 7th | 19th | 12th | 14th | 14th | • | • | • | 14 | |||||||||||
![]() | × | × | × | × | × | × | × | × | • | • | • | • | • | • | 21st | 22nd | 21st | 10th | • | • | 23rd | • | 19th | 22nd | 20th | 21st | • | • | • | • | 9 |
![]() | Part of ![]() | Part of ![]() | • | 8th | 10th | 10th | • | • | 18th | • | • | • | • | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
![]() | Part of ![]() | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 10th | 17th | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 2 | ||||||||||||
![]() | Part of ![]() | • | 18th | • | • | 17th | 11th | 12th | 10th | • | • | 4th | 8th | 3rd | • | 9th | • | • | • | 9 | |||||||||||
![]() | × | × | × | × | × | × | × | × | • | • | 12th | 12th | 15th | 12th | 8th | 14th | 12th | • | • | 15th | 12th | 13th | 21st | • | • | ![]() | 31st | • | • | • | 12 |
![]() | × | • | 12th | • | • | • | • | 13th | 10th | 8th | 5th | 5th | 5th | 11th | 7th | 4th | 5th | 4th | 1st | 7th | 13th | 3rd | 1st | 4th | 5th | 7th | 3rd | • | • | • | 21 |
![]() | 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 | Q | • | • | 26 |
![]() | × | 4th | × | 10th | 12th | 14th | 15th | • | • | 12th | 11th | 13th | 4th | 7th | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 16th | • | • | • | 11 |
![]() | ![]() | × | × | × | 15th | × | • | • | • | • | • | • | 15th | 16th | 12th | 10th | 14th | 4th | 11th | 17th | 20th | 11th | 15th | 19th | 12th | 25th | • | • | • | 15 | |
![]() | Part of ![]() | • | • | • | • | 7th | • | • | 14th | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 2 | |||||||||||
![]() | × | × | × | × | 15th | • | 16th | 16th | • | • | • | • | 16th | 21st | • | • | 24th | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | WD | • | Q | Q | 8 |
![]() | × | × | × | × | × | × | × | × | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 24th | • | • | • | 1 |
Discontinued teams | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() | × | 3rd | 2nd | 2nd | 3rd | 1st | 7th | 6th | 11th | 10th | 13th | 7th | 7th | See ![]() | 12 | ||||||||||||||||
![]() | × | × | × | × | 10th | 9th | 2nd | 2nd | 3rd | 6th | 3rd | 8th | See ![]() | 8 | |||||||||||||||||
![]() | See ![]() ![]() | 22nd | • | • | • | • | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() | Part of ![]() | • | • | 9th | 3rd | 3rd | 8th | 5th | See ![]() ![]() | 5 | |||||||||||||||||||||
![]() | × | × | × | • | 5th | 4th | 9th | 5th | 2nd | 1st | 10th | 2nd | See ![]() | 8 | |||||||||||||||||
![]() | × | × | 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 |
---|
Statistics
List of hosts
List of hosts by number of championships hosted.
Times hosted |
Host | Year(s) |
---|---|---|
8 | ![]() | 1938, 1958, 1961, 1974, 1982, 2007, 2019, (2027) |
5 | ![]() | 1954, 1967, 1993, 2011, (2023) |
3 | ![]() | 1978, 2019, (2025) |
3 | ![]() | 1970, 2001, 2017 |
2 | ![]() | 2009, (2025) |
2 | ![]() | 1964, 1990 |
2 | ![]() | 1999, 2021 |
1 | ![]() | 1995 |
1 | ![]() | 1997 |
1 | ![]() | (2025) |
1 | ![]() | (2023) |
1 | ![]() | 2003 |
1 | ![]() | 2015 |
1 | ![]() | 2013 |
1 | ![]() | 1986 |
1 | ![]() | 2005 |
All-time table for champions
Team | Participations | Pld | W | D | L | Titles | Top 4 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | 14 | 117 | 85 | 5 | 27 | 1 | 6 |
![]() | 12 | 72 | 41 | 7 | 24 | 1 | 5 |
![]() | 24 | 165 | 107 | 7 | 51 | 2 | 11 |
![]() | 23 | 169 | 113 | 6 | 50 | 6 | 13 |
![]() | 25 |
180 | 120 | 15 | 45 |
3 | 10 |
![]() | 14 | 83 | 51 | 4 | 28 | 4 | 6 |
![]() | 13 | 107 | 66 | 8 | 33 | 2 | 3 |
![]() ![]() | 21 | 158 | 101 | 10 | 47 | 3 | 7 |
![]() | 21 | 155 | 107 | 8 | 40 | 2 | 7 |
![]() | 25 | 178 | 122 | 6 | 50 | 4 | 14 |
![]() | 10 | 92 | 57 | 7 | 28 | 1 | 5 |
Draws include knockout matches decided in a penalty shootout.
^ As of 2021 (with the exception of Russia, which has not been updated yet, as the team participated as RHF in 2021).
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
The table shows those who have won at least 3 gold medals at the World Championships.
Rank | Player | Country | From | To | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Thierry Omeyer | ![]() | 2001 | 2017 | 5 | – | 2 | 7 |
2 | Jérôme Fernandez | ![]() | 2001 | 2015 | 4 | – | 2 | 6 |
Michaël Guigou | ![]() | 2005 | 2019 | 4 | – | 2 | 6 | |
Nikola Karabatić | ![]() | 2005 | 2019 | 4 | – | 2 | 6 | |
Daniel Narcisse | ![]() | 2001 | 2017 | 4 | – | 2 | 6 | |
6 | Cédric Sorhaindo | ![]() | 2009 | 2019 | 4 | – | 1 | 5 |
7 | Cornel Oțelea | ![]() | 1959 | 1970 | 3 | 1 * | 1 | 5 * |
8 | Didier Dinart | ![]() | 2001 | 2011 | 3 | – | 2 | 5 |
9 | Luc Abalo | ![]() | 2009 | 2019 | 3 | – | 1 | 4 |
10 | William Accambray | ![]() | 2011 | 2017 | 3 | – | – | 3 |
Xavier Barachet | ![]() | 2011 | 2017 | 3 | – | – | 3 | |
Guillaume Joli | ![]() | 2011 | 2017 | 3 | – | – | 3 |
* including one medal won at the 1959 World Outdoor Field Handball Championship
Multiple medalists
The table shows those 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 | ![]() | 2001 | 2017 | 5 | – | 2 | 7 |
2 | Jérôme Fernandez | ![]() | 2001 | 2015 | 4 | – | 2 | 6 |
Michaël Guigou | ![]() | 2005 | 2019 | 4 | – | 2 | 6 | |
Nikola Karabatić | ![]() | 2005 | 2019 | 4 | – | 2 | 6 | |
Daniel Narcisse | ![]() | 2001 | 2017 | 4 | – | 2 | 6 | |
6 | Magnus Andersson | ![]() | 1990 | 2001 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
Ola Lindgren | ![]() | 1990 | 2001 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | |
Magnus Wislander | ![]() | 1990 | 2001 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | |
9 | Jackson Richardson | ![]() | 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 eight matches at the 2009 World Championship.
Year | Player | Goals |
---|---|---|
1938 | ![]() ![]() |
6 |
1954 | ![]() |
16 |
1958 | ![]() |
46 |
1961 | ![]() ![]() |
24 |
1964 | ![]() |
33 |
1967 | ![]() |
38 |
1970 | ![]() |
31 |
1974 | ![]() |
43 |
1978 | ![]() ![]() |
47 |
1982 | ![]() |
65 |
1986 | ![]() |
67 |
1990 | ![]() ![]() |
55 |
1993 | ![]() ![]() ![]() |
41 |
1995 | ![]() |
86 |
1997 | ![]() |
62 |
1999 | ![]() |
57 |
2001 | ![]() |
61 |
2003 | ![]() |
64 |
2005 | ![]() |
81 |
2007 | ![]() |
66 |
2009 | ![]() |
92 |
2011 | ![]() |
68 |
2013 | ![]() |
62 |
2015 | ![]() |
71 |
2017 | ![]() |
50 |
2019 | ![]() |
72 |
2021 | ![]() |
58 |