2031 World Women's Handball Championship

The 2031 IHF World Women's Handball Championship, will be the 30th event hosted by the International Handball Federation. It will take place in December 2031 in Czech Republic and Poland.

2031 World Women's Handball Championship

Tournament details
Host countries	Czech Republic  Poland
Teams	32 (from 5 confederations)
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Bidding process

In April 2023, the IHF stated that they were looking for bids.^[1] In the end, two bids expressed interest in hosting the tournament.

•  China and  Russia^[2][3]
•  Czech Republic and  Poland^[4][5][6][7]

The bids were confirmed on 1 March 2024:^[8]

•  Czech Republic and  Poland

Czech Republic and Poland won the hosting right on 16 April 2024 in Créteil, France.^[9][10][11]

Venues

The proposed venues are:^[12]

• Katowice – Spodek, capacity 11,016
• Katowice – GWS Katowice Sports Hall, capacity 3,001
• Sosnowiec – Arena Sosnowiec, capacity 3,052
• Brno – Arena Brno, capacity 13,300

The proposed venues are in Brno, Katowice and Sosnowiec. The final will be in the Spodek in Katowice.^[10][11]

Qualification

Competition	Dates	Host	Vacancies	Qualified
Host nations	16 April 2024	Créteil	2	Czech Republic  Poland
2029 World Championship	December 2029	Spain	1
2030 European Women's Handball Championship	28 November–15 December 2030		3 + ?
European qualification
2030 Asian Championship			4 + ?
2030 South and Central American Championship			3 + ?
2030 African Championship			4 + ?
2031 Nor.Ca. Women's Championship			1 + ?
Wild card	TBD	TBD	1 or 2[1]

^ 1. If countries from Oceania (Australia or New Zealand) participating in the Asian Championships finish within the top 5, they will qualify for the World Championships. If either finishes sixth or lower, the place would have been transferred to the wild card spot.

Qualified teams

Country	Qualified as	Qualification date	Previous appearances in tournament[a]
Czech Republic	Co-host	16 April 2024	8 (1995, 1997, 1999, 2003, 2013, 2017, 2021, 2023)
Poland			18 (1957, 1962, 1965, 1973, 1975, 1978, 1986, 1990, 1993, 1997, 1999, 2005, 2007, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2021, 2023)

1. Bold indicates champion for that year, Italics indicates host for that year.

References

1. "Invitation to tender for the Senior World Championship 2029 and 2031". IHF. 25 April 2023.
2. "China and Russia considering joint bid for Women's World Handball Championship". Around the Rings. Infobae. 5 April 2022.
3. "China may join forces with Russia to bid for World Women's Handball Championship". Inside the Games. 4 April 2022.
4. "Polska chce zorganizować trzy wielkie turnieje! Niedługo ważne spotkania". Fakt24. 6 February 2024.
5. Betlej, Ewa (6 February 2024). "Polska składa aplikację dotyczącą organizacji turniejów mistrzowskich w piłce ręcznej!". Polski Sport.
6. "Polska walczy o trzy wielkie turnieje w piłce ręcznej. W tym mistrzostwa świata". Polski Sport. February 2024.
7. "Polska chce zorganizować mistrzostwa świata!". Telewizja Polska. 6 February 2024.
8. "2029 and 2031 IHF World Championship organising rights to be awarded on 16 April". IHF. 1 March 2024.
9. "IHF Council Awards 2029 and 2031 Editions of the IHF World Championship". IHF. 16 April 2024.
10. "Další fantastická zpráva! Česko bude společně s Polskem pořádat mistrovství světa žen 2031". Česká Házená/Czech Handball. 16 April 2024.
11. Szarek, Maciej (16 April 2024). "Mistrzostwa Świata Kobiet w 2031 roku odbędą się w Polsce!". ZPRP. Związek Piłki Ręcznej w Polsce (Polish Handball Association).
12. https://www.ihf.info/sites/default/files/2024-05/6_council_minutes_FRA_2024_E.pdf