Top Qs
Timeline
Chat
Perspective
IHF World Women's Handball Championship
International handball tournament for women's national teams From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Remove ads
The IHF Women's Handball World Championship has been organized by the International Handball Federation since 1957. European teams have won every time except 1995 where South Korea won as the first team outside Europe and 2013 where Brazil won as the first American team.
Nine teams participated in the first championship, this number has grown in steps to 32 (from 2021). In 1977 a B-tournament was introduced and later in 1986 a C-tournament which served as qualification for the real championship or A-tournament. Since 2021, the championship has expanded to the current system with 32 national teams, divided into eight groups of four. The B- and C-tournament qualifications were replaced by the present qualification system based on continental confederations in 1993.[1]
From 1993 it has been held every other year. Between 1978 and 1990 it was held every fourth alternating with the Olympic tournament (introduced for women handball in 1976). The first five tournaments were held in the summer or early fall whereas the rest has been held in November or December.[1]
Norway and Russia are the most successful national team with four championship titles while East Germany, France and the Soviet Union has three titles each. Nine national teams won world title once each – Brazil, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Netherlands, Romania, South Korea and Yugoslavia.
Norwegian national team players Camilla Herrem and Katrine Lunde (Haraldsen) are the only athletes who have won six medals.
Remove ads
History
Summarize
Perspective
1957–1970: Beginning
After the first men’s indoor World Championship in 1938, women had to wait until 1949 for their first international competition, largely due to World War II. This inaugural tournament was played outdoors with eleven players per side. Hungary, the host nation, won the competition. Two further editions of the eleven-a-side women’s World Championship were held in 1956 and 1960, both won by Romania.
The first seven-a-side World Championship took place in 1957 in Yugoslavia, featuring nine European teams. Although designated as a World Championship, only European teams participated in this edition. While still played outdoors, it marked the first official competition with seven-a-side teams, distinguishing it from the previous eleven-a-side tournaments. Approximately 8,000 spectators attended the final, where Czechoslovakia defeated Hungary 7–1.[2]
The first non-European team, Japan, participated in the 1962 edition,[3] held in Romania. Matches were played outdoors on clay courts during the day, in two twenty-minute halves. Romanian coaches Niculae Nedeff and Constantine Popescu guided the host team to victory, defeating Denmark 8–5 in the final.
From the 1965 edition, hosted by West Germany, all matches were held indoors. Eight teams participated, divided into two groups of four. The group winners advanced to the final, where Hungary claimed its first title by defeating Yugoslavia 5–3. The host nation, West Germany, finished in third place.
The 1968 edition, originally scheduled for November, was canceled in August by the IHF following the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia.[4] Nine teams had qualified, including only one non-European team, Japan. In December 1968, the USSR organized an unofficial replacement tournament featuring four of the nine qualified teams. Since no country expressed interest in hosting a full championship, no women’s World Championship was held in 1969 or 1970.
1970–1990: Domination of East Germany and Soviet Union
Two teams dominated women’s handball competitions in the 1970s and 1980s: East Germany and then the Soviet Union. In 1971, nine teams were divided into three groups of three. The top two teams from each group advanced to a main round consisting of two groups, with the first-, second-, and third-place teams meeting respectively for the final and the classification matches for third and fifth place. This edition marked East Germany’s first title, defeating Yugoslavia 11–8 in the final.
Two years later, in a competition with twelve teams, Yugoslavia took revenge by winning the 1973 World Championship on home soil. This edition also marked the rise of the Soviet Union, which defeated the defending East German champions in the group stage and finished in third place, achieving their first podium finish.[5] Yugoslavia claimed its first title after previous final losses in 1965 and 1971, defeating Romania 16–11 in the final.[6]
The 1975 tournament, held in the Soviet Union, saw East Germany emerge victorious ahead of the host nation. With no knockout matches or finals, the title was decided based on the draw between East Germany and the USSR (10–10) early in the competition, and, crucially, the Soviet defeat to Hungary, which allowed the East Germans to claim their second title after 1971 without defeating their closest rival. For the first time, the United States and Tunisia participated, representing their continents at this level. The tournament also served as the qualifying event for the first women’s handball tournament at the 1976 Olympic Games, which was won by the Soviet Union, who later repeated the achievement at the 1980 Olympics.
A similar situation occurred in 1978. The reigning world champions, East Germany, lost to the Soviet Union in the final group stage (12–14), but the Soviets’ one-goal loss (10–11) to Czechoslovakia in the preliminary round allowed East Germany to be crowned champions for the third time of the decade. Hungary completed the podium. Two players left a significant mark on the tournament: Waltraud Kretzschmar, captain of the East German team, and Zinaida Turchina of Spartak Kiev, who led the Soviet squad. In addition to Kretzschmar, four other East German players became three-time world champions: Hannelore Burosch, Kristina Richter, Petra Uhlig and Hannelore Zober.
At the 1982 World Championship, the Soviet Union confirmed its dominance, winning its first world title. Turchina’s teammates won all their matches except for a final inconsequential match against Hungary, which allowed the Hungarians to take the silver medal. Yugoslavia earned bronze, while East Germany, in decline, finished just off the podium. This edition also marked the arrival of South Korea at the highest level, finishing sixth, signaling the emergence of competitive teams outside Europe and the continued globalization of handball.
This development likely contributed to the expansion from twelve to sixteen teams for the 1986 World Championship. The Soviet team, still led by Zinaida Turchina, defeated Czechoslovakia 30–22 in the final, retaining their title from 1982. In the third-place match, Norway defeated East Germany 23–19, achieving its first podium finish at the world level.
The 1990 World Championship was the last edition of the Cold War era. Although German reunification had occurred two months earlier in October, two German teams still participated, with the former East Germany defeating the former West Germany 25–19 in the third-place match, a result rich in symbolic significance.[10] The tournament was also the first held outside Europe, in South Korea. The host Koreans, who had sensationally won the Olympic title in Seoul two years earlier, were favorites but finished in a disappointing eleventh place. Reflecting the dominance of Eastern Bloc countries, the USSR and Yugoslavia met in the final after dominating their opponents. Although the Soviets quickly took a 4-goal (9–5) and later 6-goal lead (17–11), the Yugoslavs closed the gap to one goal with 12 minutes remaining (20–19). However, the USSR quickly restored a three-goal margin to ultimately win 24–22, securing their third consecutive title. Soviet player Maryna Bazanova became the sixth athlete to achieve three world championship titles.
1990–2000: The emergence of the Scandinavian national teams
The Norwegian women’s handball team, finalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics, hosted the 1993 Women’s Handball World Championship with the ambition of winning, at home, their first title in the competition. The Russian women’s handball team, struggling throughout the tournament, nevertheless achieved an important victory against the host nation (19–14), depriving Norway of a place in the final. Norway was edged out on goal difference by the Denmark, led by Anja Andersen, even though Norway had defeated them in the last match of the main round. The second team to qualify for the final was the Germany, coached by Lothar Doering, an Olympic champion in 1980 as a player. This is the first championship in which a unified Germany appeared.
Germany managed to overcome a mediocre start to the tournament — finishing third in their preliminary-round group — by achieving a perfect record in the main round. The final turned out to be one of the tightest in the history of the competition up to that point. Sixty minutes were not enough to separate the two teams, and the match went into extra time. Despite their dominance, the Danish side failed to pull away, and the Germans stayed close. During the overtime, Lothar Doering brought on Karen Heinrich, who had until then played an unremarkable tournament, but who would go on to give Germany a 22–21 victory. In the bronze medal match, Norway consoled themselves by winning a narrow 20–19 victory over Romania. Despite finishing 2nd, the World Championship marked the beginning of the Danish Golden generation known as the Iron Ladies.[11]
Two years later, the 1995 World Championship was marked by innovation. Co-hosted for the first time by Austria and Hungary, the competition adopted a new biennial format and was expanded to twenty teams. These were divided into four groups of five in the preliminary round, with the top three from each group advancing to a knockout stage starting from the round of 16. The remaining spots were decided through playoff matches. As expected, the quarterfinals were dominated by European teams, joined only by South Korea. In the semifinals, however, the favorites — Denmark and Norway — were eliminated by South Korea (33–31) and Hungary (22–21) respectively.[13]
The South Koreans, who had already defeated the defending champions Germany twice during the tournament, displayed a full-court, speed-based style of play never before seen. In the final, held as scheduled in Vienna, Hungary failed to contain the fast-paced game of the Asian players and logically lost 25–20. South Korea thus won its first world title — the first-ever victory by a non-European team in the history of the competition.[13]
In the 1997 World Championship, the tournament was again expanded — this time to 24 teams — matching the format of the men’s championship. Four groups of six were formed for the preliminary round, with the top four advancing to the round of 16. Some favorites, such as Romania, Austria, and Hungary, were eliminated early. In the quarterfinals, the defending champions South Korea were knocked out. Previously unbeaten in the competition, Germany, the host nation, lost in the semifinals to Norway (23–25). During the other semifinal, a drunken German spectator stabbed three Danish supporters, two of whom later died from their injuries.[14] The tournament was on the verge of being canceled, but ultimately continued, and Denmark advanced to a historic all-Scandinavian final, where they easily defeated Norway 33–20. Already Olympic champions (1996) and European champions (1996), the Danes thus achieved a historic treble. Germany finished third after defeating Russia 27–25 in the placement match.[15]
Two years later, the two 1997 finalists co-hosted the 1999 World Championship, with no change in format. The home tournament turned into a disappointment for the defending champions Denmark, who were eliminated by France in the quarterfinals (19–17 after extra time). In the semifinals, Norway outclassed Austria (30–18) to reach the final once again, as in the previous edition. In the other semifinal, France, newcomers at this level of competition, eliminated Romania (18–17), securing their first-ever podium finish at a World Championship.[16]
In a very tight final, it took two periods of extra time to decide the winner (18–18 after regulation, then 21–21 after the first overtime), with Norway ultimately prevailing 25–24 — their first-ever world title, and yet another new champion in the sport’s history.[16]
2000–2010: Russian domination
The 2001 World Championship was held in Italy, with no change to the format. In this edition, Russia finished as champions and undefeated after successively eliminating Italy, Hungary, and Denmark, before defeating the defending champions Norway—also unbeaten and impressive up to that point—in the final (30–25). FR Yugoslavia won third place thanks to its victory over Denmark, 42–40 after extra time, in what remains one of the highest-scoring matches in the history of the knockout stages[17].
Since the single-elimination system starting from the round of 16 did not meet with unanimous approval, the format was changed for the 2003 World Championship in Croatia. The 24 participants were first divided into four groups of six teams in a preliminary round; the top three from each group qualified for a main round composed of two groups of six, with the first- and second-placed teams then facing each other in cross semifinals. This format made it possible to smooth out the impact of an off-day. Thus, the France, despite a loss to South Korea (25–27), finished first in their main-round group thanks to a decisive victory over Russia (20–19). This defeat dropped the Russians, the defending champions, to fourth place in the final standings of their group, whereas a win would have allowed them to take the lead. In the second main-round group, the situation was just as tight, with three teams tied on points. Thanks to their victories in the head-to-head matches among these three teams, Hungary and Ukraine qualified at the expense of Norway. France defeated Ukraine in the semifinals to reach its second final, while at the same time Hungary eliminated South Korea. In a memorable final, France came back from a seven-goal deficit with eight minutes left in regulation time (18–25) to equalize in the final seconds (28–28) and ultimately win in extra time, 32–29. This victory gave France the first major title in history.
After its failure in 2003, Russia hosted the 2005 World Championship. For the first time, all matches were held in a single city, Saint Petersburg. At home, the Russians—still led masterfully by Yevgeni Trefilov were flawless in the group stages, as were the Romanians, securing their spots in the final four. In the semifinals, Russia comfortably defeated Denmark, 31–24, and was joined, as expected, by Romania, who beat Hungary. Before 12,300 spectators at Saint Petersburg’s Ice Palace, Russia ultimately defeated Romania, 28–23, marking its return to the top of world handball. It was the country’s fifth title, after the three won under the Soviet Union banner in 1982, 1986, and 1990, and the one from 2001—setting a new competition record[18].
The 2007 edition was hosted by France. The rules changed slightly for this tournament. The 24 teams were divided into six groups of four, with the top two advancing to two six-team groups in the main round. The top four teams from each group then qualified for cross quarterfinals. The teams eliminated in the preliminary round played a new classification tournament known as the “President’s Cup.” All of the favorites reached the quarterfinals, from which Norway, Germany, Russia, and Romania emerged victorious, with Romania eliminating France, the host nation, 34–31 after two extra-time periods. In a rematch of the previous edition’s final, Russia once again got the better of Romania (30–20) and qualified for the final, where it faced Norway, who had defeated Germany (33–30). The Norwegians, who had beaten Russia one year earlier in the final of the 2006 European Championship, were unable to contain their opponents and lost 24–29. Russia thus retained its title won two years earlier, the first such achievement since the 1990 edition. Anna Kareyeva, Irina Poltoratskaya, and Oksana Romenskaya thereby became triple world champions after their victories in 2001, 2005, and 2007[19].
The tournament headed to East Asia and China for the 2009 edition. The format remained largely the same, with the only changes being the structure of the preliminary groups (six groups of six teams) and the removal of the quarterfinals. France, Russia, Norway, and Spain reached the semifinals. In a rematch of the previous World Championship final, Russia once again defeated Norway (28–20) to reach another final, while France overcame Spain (27–23). And just as in the previous two editions, Russia demonstrated its dominance by defeating France in the final, 25–22, securing a third consecutive title. It was their fourth title in the last five editions, highlighting the Russian team’s dominance throughout the 2000s. Nadezhda Muravyova, Inna Suslina (2001, 2007, and 2009), Lyudmila Postnova, and Emiliya Turey (2005, 2007, and 2009) joined that year the ranks of the most decorated women in the competition, with three world titles.
2010–2020: Norway and the Underdogs
The 20th edition of the World Championship was organized by Brazil in 2011. It was the third time, after South Korea in 1990 and China in 2009, that the competition was held outside Europe, and the first time on the American continent. The favorites of the tournament were Russia, the defending champion, France, Denmark, and Norway. The format returned to that used in the World Championships from 1997 to 2001, with four groups of six teams, the top four of each group in the preliminary round qualifying for a knockout stage starting from the round of 16. Among the main nations, only Germany failed to advance past the preliminary round: despite an initial victory over Norway, the German team subsequently lost to Montenegro (this was Montenegro’s debut participation), Iceland, and Angola. In the round of 16, Angola caused a surprise by qualifying for the quarterfinals at the expense of South Korea, before falling to Denmark in the quarterfinals. The quarterfinals saw France take revenge on Russia with a 25–23 victory, eliminating the three-time defending champions, who thus failed to achieve an unprecedented quadruple. France reached the final once again by defeating Denmark in the semifinals (28–23), as did Norway, who eliminated Spain (30–22). In the final, Norway handed France a second consecutive defeat at this stage of the competition with a decisive 32–24 victory. This was the second title for the Norwegian team after their 1999 victory, again over France[20].
The 2013 tournament took place in Serbia, with the format unchanged. The first surprise occurred during the qualification stages, when Russia was eliminated by the Netherlands in the European playoffs. Russia (formerly the Soviet Union) thus did not participate in the World Championship for the first time since the 1971 edition, which was played with only nine teams. The two finalists from the previous edition, France and Norway, were eliminated in the quarterfinals by Serbia, the host nation, and Poland, respectively. Brazil and Serbia reached the final after victories over Denmark (27–21) and Poland (24–18) in the semifinals, creating an unexpected and unprecedented final. On this occasion, Brazil, led by goalkeeper Bárbara Arenhart and backcourt player Eduarda Amorim, who was named the tournament’s best player, won 22–20, claiming their first World Championship title and the first ever for an American nation. The final, held at the Belgrade Arena, was attended by 19,427 spectators, marking the third time that a world record for the highest attendance at a single World Championship match was broken during this tournament[21].
For the 2015 edition, organized in Denmark, the defending champions Brazil, unbeaten in the group stage, failed to progress past the round of 16, being eliminated by Romania. In the following round, Romania defeated the Danish team, who were playing in front of their home crowd (31–30), before losing themselves to Norway (33–35), who returned to the top level after the disappointment of 2013. Norway met the Netherlands, the surprise team of the tournament, in the final; the Dutch had successively eliminated Serbia, France, and Poland to reach their first World Championship final. Norway won the final convincingly, 31–23, becoming world champion for the third time. The bronze medal was claimed by Romania, largely thanks to Cristina Neagu, who finished as top scorer, was named the best player, and was later voted best handball player of 2015[22].
The 2017 World Championship was held in Germany. The Netherlands confirmed their presence at the top level by reaching the semifinals, where they were defeated by Norway (23–32). Norway, favorites to defend their title after a controlled tournament in which they had notably beaten Russia comfortably in the quarterfinals (34–17), faced France in the final, who had defeated Sweden in the semifinals (24–22). However, in a very tight final, France prevented Norway from playing their usual attacking game and won 23–21. This was the French team’s second World Championship title, after their 2003 victory, following two final defeats in 2009 and 2011. The Netherlands won the third-place match against Sweden (24–21), and Norway’s Stine Bredal Oftedal was named the tournament’s best player[23].
The 2019 World Championship in Japan was won for the first time by the Netherlands, who defeated Spain in the final; this marked Spain’s best-ever result at a World Championship[24]. In the bronze medal match, Russia defeated Norway[25]. France, the defending champion, failed to progress past the first round.
2020 – present day
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Tokyo Olympic Games were postponed to 2021, and as a result, the 2021 World Championship in Spain was held four months later. France was on course to achieve the double but was defeated in the final by Norway, who claimed their fourth world title. With only six goals scored in the second half, France became the team with the lowest output in a single half in the final of the IHF Women’s World Championship since 1973, when Romania scored only four times against Yugoslavia in their 11:16. Thanks to its victory over the host nation Spain, Denmark won its first medal, bronze, since 2013[26].
In reaction to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the International Handball Federation banned Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials, and the European Handball Federation suspended the national teams of Russia and Belarus, as well as Russian and Belarusian clubs competing in European handball competitions.[27] Referees, officials, and commission members from Russia and Belarus will not be called upon for future activities[27].
The 2023 World Championship took place in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. While all three host countries managed to qualify their teams for the semifinals, it was a fourth nation, France, that won the competition for the third time, following their victories in 2003 and 2017. Norway, defeated 31–28 in the final, took the silver medal, while Denmark confirmed their return to the top by securing the bronze medal with a one-goal victory (28–27) over Sweden[28].
Remove ads
Tournaments
Remove ads
Medal table
IHF only includes medals won at the indoor championships.[29]
Participating nations
Summarize
Perspective
Source: IHF official site.[29]
- 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 – Twelfth place
- MR – Main round
- GS – Group stage
- Q – Qualified for upcoming tournament
- •• – Qualified but withdrew
- • – Did not qualify
- × – Did not enter / Withdrew from the World Championship / Banned
- – Hosts
For each tournament, the number of teams in each finals tournament (in brackets) are shown.
Since first entering the tournament in 1957, Romania are the only team to have appeared in all 27 tournaments to date.
 |
|
Remove ads
Most successful players
Summarize
Perspective
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 players who have won at least 3 gold medals at the World Championships.
** including two medals won at the 1956 and 1960 World Outdoor Field Handball Championships
Multiple medalists
The table shows players who have won at least 4 medals in total at the World Championships.
Remove ads
Top scorers and best players by tournament
Summarize
Perspective
The record-holder for scored goals in a single World Championship is Bojana Radulović. She scored 97 goals for Hungary at the 2003 World Championship.
Remove ads
Largest winning margin
Source: TV2Sporten.no
Remove ads
See also
Notes
- Russia's total includes one appearance as Russian Handball Federation in 2021.
References
External links
Wikiwand - on
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Remove ads