The IHF Beach Handball World Championships is an international beach handball competition contested by the men's and women's national teams of the member federations/associations of International Handball Federation (IHF), the sport's global governing body.
The tournament was established in 2004, taking place every two years to allow continental tournaments to flourish without the burden of the World Championship qualifiers crowding the schedule every 12 months. The current tournament format lasts over approximately 6 days and involves 16 teams initially competing in four groups of four teams. The group winners and runners-up advance to a series of knock-out stages until the champion is crowned. The losing semi-finalists play each other in a play-off match to determine the third and fourth-placed teams.
Brazil is the most successful national team in the competition, having claimed 5 men's and 3 women's world titles. The most recent edition took place in 2024 in China where the Croatian men's national team in the final defeated Denmark, while in the women's competition, Germany defeated Argentina in the final, both teams defending the title from Greece in 2022.
Men's tournament Summary YearHostFinalBronze matchGoldScoreSilverBronzeScoreFourth place2004 DetailsEl Gouna 2–1 2–12006 DetailsRio de Janeiro 2–0 2–12008 DetailsCádiz 2–1 (p.s.) 2–02010 DetailsAntalya 2–0 2–12012 DetailsMuscat 2–1 2–02014 DetailsRecife 2–1 2–12016 DetailsBudapest 2–0 2–12018 DetailsKazan 2–0 2–02020 DetailsPescaraCancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemicCancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic2022 DetailsCrete 2–0 2–02024 DetailsPingtan Island 2–1 2–02026 DetailsZagreb 2–0 2–12028 DetailsSalalah
Medal table
Participating nations Nation 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022 2024 2026 2028 Years 10th 11th 11th 8th 3rd 5 12th 12th 11th 12th 13th 14th 15th 7 7th 6th 9th 9th 4 9th 1st2nd1st1st1st2nd1st 3rd 6th 2nd 11 12th 1 4th 7th 1st 7th 3rd2nd1st2nd 1st 1st 4th 11 5th 4th 7th 2nd 2nd 7th 6 10th 1 13th 11st 4th 4th 4th 6th 8th 8th 15th 8 10th 1 8th 4th 1st Q 4 4th 1 6th 5th 7th 2nd 4th 3rd 7th 8th 8 11th 8th 9th 9th 4 11th 1 10th 1 12th 11th 2 8th 1 16th 14th 2 8th 9th 8th 12th 7th 10th 15th 14th Q 9 10th 1 10th 3rd 6th 3 16th 16th 16th 3 10th 7th 3rd3rd 9th 5th 10th 73rd 9th 8th 6th 4th 7th 6th DQ 7 3rd 6th 2 3rd 5th 8th 5th 5th 5th 5th 7th 5th 5th 10 4th 1 11th 12th 22nd2nd 6th 3rd 4 11th 12th 12th 13th 13th 5 5th 2nd 6th 3 9th 11th 9th 10th 15th 6th 9th 7 14th 1 Total 9 10 12 12 12 12 12 16 16 16 16 16
Women's tournament Summary YearHostFinalBronze matchGoldScoreSilverBronzeScoreFourth place2004 DetailsEl Gouna 2–1 2006 DetailsRio de Janeiro 2–0 2–02008 DetailsCádiz 2–0 2–12010 DetailsAntalya 2–0 2–02012 DetailsMuscat 2–0 2–02014 DetailsRecife 2–0 2–12016 DetailsBudapest 2–1 2–12018 DetailsKazan 2–1 2–02020 DetailsPescara Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemicCancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic2022 DetailsCrete 2–0 2–12024 DetailsPingtan Island 2–0 2–02026 DetailsZagreb 2–1 2–02028 DetailsSalalah
Medal table
Participating nations Nation 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022 2024 2026 2028 Years 11th 7th 7th 2nd 1st Q 6 8th 12th 8th 16th 16th 13th WD 7 WD 0 6th 1st3rd3rd1st1st2nd3rd 6th 8th 4th 11 4th 1 12th 11th 9th 14th 4 10th 6th 13th 3 15th 1 4th 6th 1st 6th 5th 7th 8th 7 2nd2nd 7th 5th 5th 4th 2nd 7 10th 11th 2 11th 1 2nd 1st 1st 5th 4 1st 4th 10th 6th 4 8th 1 5th 7th 7th 4th 2nd 4th 9th 73rd 8th 4th 8th 7th 6th 5th 7 7th 10th 2 10th 1 12th 15th 2 3rd 3rd 7th 3 12th 1 6th 1st3rd3rd3rd2nd 11th 11th 9th 9 Q 1 8th 1 12th 12th 2 10th 10th 6th 3 8th 6th 2 15th 13th 21st3rd 5th 7th 4 8th 1 12th 1 2nd 9th 5th 1st 4th 2nd 5th 3rd 8 11th 9th 9th 15th 10th 5 12th 22nd 5th 5th 3 9th 4th 4th 3 14th 14th 16th 14th 4 9th 7th 6th 8th 11th 10th 12th 10th 8 9th 13th 9th 11th 4 Total 8 10 12 12 12 12 12 16 16 16 16 16
Overall medal count
See also Beach handball at the World Games Asian Beach Handball Championship European Beach Handball Championship (disambiguation) Oceania Beach Handball Championship Pan American Beach Handball Championship South and Central American Beach Handball Championship IHF Youth Beach Handball World Championship
References