Twelve more participants confirmed

Only two of the 32 spots open for the tournament in Germany and the Netherlands, group draw will take place on 22 May  

The field of participants for the IHF Women’s World Championship 2025 in Germany and the Netherlands (26 November to 14 December 2025) is almost complete: 11 European starters were determined in play-offs at the weekend, while Cuba secured their ticket on Saturday as winners of the North America/Caribbean Continental Confederation tournament. Only one starter from South/Central America and the allocation of the second wild card by the IHF are still open.

Among the 11 European teams which qualified for the IHF Women’s World Championship 2025 are two debutants: the Faroe Islands and Switzerland. Romania, Poland, Sweden, Serbia, Montenegro, the Czech Republic, Spain, Austria and Iceland also clinched their berth.

The closest pairing was between Serbia and Slovenia: after a draw in the first leg, the Serbs capitalised on their home advantage in the second leg to win 33:31. Sweden celebrated the clearest play-off success with two resounding victories (51:16/43:24) against Kosovo.

The results of the European World Cup play-offs:
Switzerland – Slovakia 38:22/30:24
Italy – Romania 21:30/17:31
Poland – North Macedonia 22:18/23:21
Sweden – Kosovo 51:16/43:24
Slovenia – Serbia 29:29/31:33
Portugal – Montenegro 19:31/26:30
Faroe Islands – Lithuania 36: 26/29:30
Czech Republic – Ukraine 35:19/26:27
Croatia – Spain 27:26/17:23
Austria – Turkey 36:29/30:25
Iceland – Israel 39:27/31:21

Cuba, meanwhile, won all their matches at the North America/Caribbean Qualifying Tournament in Mexico, including a dominant 32:21 in the final against the hosts. The IHF had awarded the first of two wildcards to China. Among the non-European teams that have qualified, Egypt are also a World Championship debutant.

So far, the following teams have qualified for the IHF Women’s World Championship 2025:
Hosts (2): Germany, Netherlands
World champions (1): France
Europe (14): Norway, Denmark, Hungary (medallists of the EHF EURO 2024), Faroe Islands, Switzerland, Romania, Poland, Sweden, Serbia, Montenegro, Czech Republic, Spain, Austria, Iceland (winners of the World Cup play-offs)
Africa (4): Angola, Senegal, Tunisia, Egypt
Asia (4): Japan, Korea, Kazakhstan, Iran
South America (4): Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay – one place still open
North America (1): Cuba
Wildcard (2): China, one place still open

The draw for the preliminary round groups will take place on 22 May in s’Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands. The venues in Germany are Stuttgart, Trier (both preliminary rounds) and Dortmund (main round and two quarter-finals). In the Netherlands, the tournament will be staged in s’Hertogenbosch (preliminary round and President’s Cup) and Rotterdam (preliminary round, main round, quarter-finals, final weekend).

The following teams are seeded for the eight preliminary round groups with four teams each:

• Group A in Rotterdam: Denmark
• Group B in s’Hertogenbosch: Hungary
• Group C in Stuttgart: Germany
• Group E in Rotterdam: the Netherlands
• Group F in s’Hertogenbosch: France
• Group G in Stuttgart: Sweden
• Group H in Trier: Norway 

Slovenia had been seeded for Group D in Trier in the event of qualification, but as the team missed out on a World Championship ticket against Serbia, this spot is currently open. The organizers and IHF are currently discussing which team will be seeded from the qualified teams. However, it is certain that Montenegro will play in Group H in Trier. The 2012 European champions are the only unseeded team from Pot 1.

Schedule: The preliminary round matches will take place in the Porsche Arena Stuttgart and the SWT Arena Trier from 26 November to 1 December and in Rotterdam and s’Hertogenbosch from 27 November until 2 December. The main round will follow on German side from 2 to 7 December in Dortmund’s Westfallenhalle, and in Ahoj Sports Centre in Rotterdam from 3 to 8 December – each with two groups of six teams. The two best teams in each of these groups will then qualify for the quarter-finals on 9 December (Dortmund) and 10 December (Rotterdam). The semi-finals and medal matches will be held on 12 and 14 December 2025 in Rotterdam.