The 2019 IHF World Men's Handball Championship was the 26th event hosted by the International Handball Federation and held in Denmark and Germany from 10 to 27 January 2019. It was the first IHF World Men's Handball Championship to include more than one host country. It was also the first time a unified Korean team participated.
Denmark, in a clean sweep, won their first title by defeating Norway 31–22 in the final. This was Norway's second final in a row and the first final since 1995 between two nations who had not won before. France captured the bronze medal after a 26–25 win over Germany.
The tournament set a new spectator record with 906,283, helped by the fact that there were two home teams. Biggest number of spectator at single events was 19,250 at Germany's matches in the main round.
Bidding process Denmark/Germany presented a bid and were up against competitors from Poland and Slovakia/Hungary. The International Handball Federation announced on 28 October 2013 that Denmark/Germany would be awarded the 2019 World Men's Handball Championship.
Format This edition saw a format change back to the one used in 2011. The 24 teams were split into four groups, in which the first three teams qualified for the main round. The bottom three teams of each group played the Presidents' Cup to determine the positions from 13 to 24. In the main round, the 12 teams were split into two groups. Their points from the preliminary round against the other qualified team were carried over, and the best two placed teams in each main round group qualified for the semifinals, while the third- and fourth ranked teams played placement matches. From the semifinals on, a knockout system was used.
Venues Following is a list of all venues and host cities which was used.Host cities All venues have a capacity of more than 10,000 spectators. The final was held in Jyske Bank Boxen in Herning, Denmark.
Copenhagen Herning Berlin Royal Arena Jyske Bank Boxen Mercedes-Benz Arena Capacity: 16,000 Capacity: 15,000 Capacity: 17,000 Cologne Munich Hamburg Lanxess Arena Olympiahalle Barclaycard Arena Capacity: 20,000 Capacity: 15,500 Capacity: 16,000
Qualification Competition Dates Vacancies Qualified Host nations 28 October 2013 2 2017 World Championship 11–29 January 2017 1 2018 European Men's Handball Championship 12–28 January 2018 1 2018 African Men's Handball Championship 17–27 January 2018 3 2018 Asian Men's Handball Championship 18–28 January 2018 4 European qualification 25 October 2017 – 14 June 2018 9 2018 Pan American Men's Handball Championship 16–24 June 2018 3 Wildcard 9 May 201810 October 2018 2
Qualified teams Country Qualified as Qualified on Previous appearances1 Host 28 October 2013 22 (1938, 1954, 1958, 1961, 1964, 1967, 1970, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1993, 1995, 1999, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017) Host 28 October 2013 24 (1938, 1954, 1958, 1961, 1964, 1967, 1970, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1986, 19903, 1993, 1995, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017) World champion 29 January 2017 21 (1954, 1958, 1961, 1964, 1967, 1970, 1978, 1990, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017) Semifinalist of 2018 Asian Championship 23 January 2018 8 (1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2009, 2013, 2015, 2017) Semifinalist of 2018 Asian Championship 23 January 2018 6 (2003, 2005, 2007, 2013, 2015, 2017) Semifinalist of 2018 Asian Championship 11 (1986, 1990, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013) Semifinalist of 2018 Asian Championship 24 January 2018 2 (2011, 2017) Finalist of 2018 African Championship 25 January 2018 13 (1967, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017) Finalist of 2018 African Championship 25 January 2018 14 (1964, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017) Third place of 2018 African Championship 27 January 2018 3 (2005, 2007, 2017) European Champion 28 January 2018 19 (1958, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017) Wildcard 9 May 2018 14 (1961, 1964, 1967, 1970, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1990, 1995, 1997, 2005, 2011, 2017) European playoffs 12 June 2018 12 (1993, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2013, 2015, 2017) European playoffs 12 June 2018 14 (1958, 1961, 1964, 1967, 1970, 1993, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2017) European playoffs 13 June 2018 5 (1999, 2009, 2013, 2015, 2017) European playoffs 13 June 2018 19 (1958, 1964, 1967, 1970, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2017) European playoffs 13 June 2018 23 (1938, 1954, 1958, 1961, 1964, 1967, 1970, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2009, 2011, 2015, 2017) European playoffs 13 June 2018 5 (1938, 1958, 1993, 2011, 2015) European playoffs 13 June 2018 19 (1958, 1961, 1964, 1970, 1974, 1978, 1986, 1990, 1993, 1995, 1997, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017) European playoffs 14 June 2018 12 (1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017) European playoffs 14 June 2018 3 ( 2009, 2011, 2013) Finalist of 2018 Pan American Championship 23 June 2018 13 (1958, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017) Finalist of 2018 Pan American Championship 23 June 2018 11 (1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017) Third place of 2018 Pan American Championship 24 June 2018 4 (2011, 2013, 2015, 2017) Wildcard2 0 (debut) 1 Bold indicates champion for that year. Italic indicates host country for that year 2 The associations of South Korea and North Korea were invited by the International Handball Federation to enter a unified team in the championship. South Korea, which had 11 previous appearances (1986, 1990, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013), originally qualified as the semifinalist of the 2018 Asian Championship. 3 From both German teams only East Germany was qualified in 1990
Draw The draw took place on 25 June 2018 in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Seeding The seedings and draw procedure were announced on 22 June 2018.
Pot 1 Pot 2 Pot 3 Pot 4 Pot 5 Pot 6 3 4 3 Official name since February 2019. During the championships: Former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia (FYROM). 4 Later replaced by a team
Squads
Referees The referee pairs were selected on 25 October 2018.
Referees Julian GrilloSebastián Lenci Matija GubicaBoris Milošević Václav HoráčekJiří Novotný Martin GjedingMads Hansen Karim GasmiRaouf Gasmi Robert SchulzeTobias Tönnies Majid KolahdouzanAlireza Mousaviannazhad Gjorgji NachevskiSlave Nikolov
Referees Ivan PavićevićMiloš Ražnatović Håvard KlevenLars Jørum Duarte SantosRicardo Fonseca Bojan LahDavid Sok Óscar LópezÁngel Ramírez Mirza KurtagicMattias Wetterwik Arthur BrunnerMorad Salah Ismail BouallouchaRamzi Khenissi
Preliminary round The provisional schedule was confirmed on 28 June 2018 and the final schedule was announced on 31 October 2018.Match schedule
Tiebreakers In the group stage, teams are ranked according to points (2 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). After completion of the group stage, if two or more teams have scored the same number of points, the ranking will be determined as follows:
Highest number of points in matches between the teams directly involved; Superior goal difference in matches between the teams directly involved; Highest number of goals scored in matches between the teams directly involved (or in the away match in case of a two-team tie); Superior goal difference in all matches of the group; Highest number of plus goals in all matches of the group; If the ranking of one of these teams is determined, the above criteria are consecutively followed until the ranking of all teams is determined. If no ranking can be determined, a decision shall be obtained by IHF through drawing of lots.
During the group stage, only criteria 4–5 apply to determine the provisional ranking of teams.
All times are local (UTC+1).
Group A
Group B
Group C
Jonas Andersen was attending this game as a spectator.
Group D
Presidents Cup
21st–24th place playoffs
21st–24th place semifinals
23rd place game
21st place game
17th–20th place playoffs
17th–20th place semifinals
19th place game
17th place game
13th–16th place playoffs
13th–16th place semifinals
15th place game
13th place game
Main round Points obtained against qualified teams from the same group were carried over.
Group I
Group II
Final round
Bracket
Semifinals
Seventh place game
Fifth place game
Third place game
Final
Final ranking Places 1–8 and 13–24 were decided by play–off or knock–out. Teams finishing fifth in the main round are ranked 9th to 10th and teams ranked sixth are ranked 11th and 12th. In case of a tie in points gained, the goal difference of the preliminary round were taken into account.
Rank Team 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympics and the 2021 World Men's Handball Championship Qualified for the Olympic Qualification Tournament
2019 Men's World Champions DenmarkFirst title Team roster Jannick Green, Simon Hald, Henrik Toft Hansen, Jóhan Hansen, Lasse Svan Hansen, Mikkel Hansen, Rene Toft Hansen, Niklas Landin Jacobsen, Magnus Landin Jacobsen, Mads Mensah Larsen, Hans Lindberg, Nikolaj Markussen, Casper Ulrich Mortensen, Henrik Møllgaard, Nikolaj Øris Nielsen, Morten Olsen, Rasmus Lauge Schmidt, Anders ZachariassenHead coach: Nikolaj Jacobsen
Awards
All-Star Team All-Star Team of the tournament and MVP.
Position Player Goalkeeper Niklas Landin Jacobsen Left wing Magnus Jøndal Left back Sander Sagosen Centre back Rasmus Lauge Schmidt Right back Fabian Wiede Right wing Ferran Solé Pivot Bjarte Myrhol Most valuable player Mikkel Hansen
Statistics
Top goalscorers RankNameTeamGoalsShots% 1 Mikkel Hansen 72 108 67 2 Magnus Jøndal 59 68 87 3 Ferran Solé 58 68 85 4 Uwe Gensheimer 56 75 75 5 Sander Sagosen 51 87 59 6 Kiril Lazarov 48 74 65 7 Youssef Benali 46 61 75 Erwin Feuchtmann 69 67 9 Rasmus Lauge Schmidt 44 63 70 Kentin Mahé 64 69 Source: IHF
Top goalkeepers RankNameTeam%SavesShots 1 Espen Christensen 38 51 136 Niklas Landin Jacobsen 84 223 Ivan Stevanović 34 90 4 Mikael Appelgren 37 64 174 Borko Ristovski 47 126 6 Andreas Palicka 36 61 170 7 Jannick Green 35 43 122 Andreas Wolff 79 223 9 Vincent Gérard 34 86 252 Viktor Kireyev 57 170 Source: IHF
International broadcasters Source:
Television and video streaming
Host broadcasters CountryBroadcasterSummary DR All matches live on all three DR television channels, TV2, and TV2 Sport respectively. Simulcast coverage for a final match.TV 2ARDLive coverage respectively for Germany matches only, with highlights of all other matches.ZDFEurosport15 matches live, excluding Germany.Sportdeutschland.TVAll matchesRTLNews report coverage for other team matches on RTL, RTL II, Nitro, VOX, and N-TVWeltN24News report coverage for Germany team matches only, on Welt and Sky Sport News.Sky
Other broadcasters Country/RegionBroadcasterSummaryWorldwideIHF TVAll 96 matches exclusively live and free via the official IHF tournament website (unsold markets only)SNTVNews report access (49 matches after Preliminary Round – online/social embargoes: France, Germany, Korea, and Scandinavia)Televisión PúblicaEight matches live and free (all Argentina team and a final)Selected matches live and free, including all Argentina team in simulcast with Televisión Pública.EurosportUp to 38 matches live on Eurosport 1 (Australia, Asia-Pacific, and Poland) and Eurosport 2 (Poland only), in English language (for Australia and Asia-Pacific) and Polish language (for Poland).Asia-Pacific
ORF10 matches live and free on ORF Sport +, (all Austria team, both semi-finals, and a final).Balkan countries
Arena SportAll 96 matches exclusively live.PoverkhnostSelected matches live on Sport 1 and Sport 2.Baltic countries