1954 World Men's Handball Championship

The 1954 World Men's Handball Championship was the second indoor handball world championship. It was held in Sweden from 13–17 January 1954, and the hosts also won the championship.

1954 World Men's Handball Championship

Tournament details
Host country	Sweden
Venue(s)	7 (in 7 host cities)
Dates	13–17 January
Teams	6 (from 1 confederation)
Final positions
Champions	Sweden (1st title)
Runners-up	West Germany
Third place	Czechoslovakia
Tournament statistics
Matches played	9
Goals scored	274 (30.44 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Otto Maychrzak 16
Awards
Best player	Bernhard Kempa
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It was the first world championship governed by the International Handball Federation, after the first one was governed by the International Amateur Handball Federation (IAHF).^[1]

Qualification

Competition	Dates	Vacancies	Qualified
Host nation		1	Sweden
Qualification	28 November – 13 December 1953	5	Czechoslovakia  Denmark  France  West Germany   Switzerland

Results

Group A

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GR	Pts
Sweden	2	2	0	0	39	22	1.773	4
Czechoslovakia	2	1	0	1	32	36	0.889	2
Denmark	2	0	0	2	21	34	0.618	0

Source: ^[2]

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13 January 1954	Sweden	16–8	Denmark	Mässhallen, Gothenburg Attendance: 4200[3]
	Stockenberg 6	(7–5)	Madsen & Theilmann each 2
		Report Denmark

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14 January 1954	Czechoslovakia	18–13	Denmark	Jönköping
		(9–8)	Theilmann 4
		Report Denmark

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14 January 1954	Sweden	23–14	Czechoslovakia	Idrottshallen, Örebro Attendance: 2000[2]
	Almqvist 4	(10–6)

Group B

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GR	Pts
West Germany	2	2	0	0	47	13	3.615	4
Switzerland	2	0	1	1	20	31	0.645	1
France	2	0	1	1	15	38	0.395	1

Source: ^[2]

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13 January 1954	West Germany	27–4	France	Sporthallen, Kristianstad Attendance: 1925
	Maychrzak 7	(12–1)

^[4]

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14 January 1954	France	11–11	Switzerland	Malmö Attendance: 1200 Referees: Sohre (BRD)
	3 players each 3	(2–3)	Bertschinger 6
		[5] Report Switzerland

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15 January 1954	West Germany	20–9	Switzerland	Idrottshallen, Lund Attendance: 2000 Referees: Kling (SWE)
	Maychrzak 6	(11–4)	Bertschinger 3
		[2][6] Report Switzerland

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Finals

5th–6th-place match

16 January 1954	Denmark	23–11	France	Växjö
	Theilmann 10	(9–3)	Pichot 4[7]
		Report Denmark

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Bronze-medal match

17 January 1954	Czechoslovakia	24–11	Switzerland	Frölundaborg, Gothenburg Attendance: 5500[8]
		(13–3)	Bertschinger 3
		Report Switzerland

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Final match

17 January 1954	Sweden	17–14	West Germany	Mässhallen, Gothenburg Attendance: 5500[8]
	Almqvist 5	(8–5)	3 players each 3

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Final standings

Rank	Team
	Sweden
	West Germany
	Czechoslovakia
4	Switzerland
5	Denmark
6	France

Medalists

Gold	Silver	Bronze
Sweden Gunnar Brusberg Roland Mattsson Sten Åkerstedt Rolf Almqvist Kjell Jönsson Per-Olof Larsson Rune Lindqvist Åke Moberg Hans Olsson [sv] Bertil Rönndahl Ewerth Sjunnesson Carl-Erik Stockenberg Rolf Zachrisson	West Germany Harry Kamm Fredi Pankonin Markus Bernhard Heinrich Dahlinger Adolf Giele Karl Hebel Horst Käsler Bernhard Kempa Otto Maychrzak Herbert Podolske Wolfgang Schütze Hinrich Schwenker Werner Vick	Czechoslovakia Miloš Bačák Miroslav Baumruk Karel Čermák Jiří Klemm Jiří Korbel Bedřich König Alois Navrátil Vladimír Nykl Zdeněk Pešl Dušan Ruža Oldřich Spáčil Josef Trojan Jiří Vícha
Curt Wadmark (Coach)	Fritz Fromm (Coach)	Jan Voreth (Coach)