The 2026 Asian Men's Handball Championship was the 22nd edition of the Asian Men's Handball Championship, the biennial international men's handball championship of Asia and Oceania organized by AHF. The tournament was held from 15 to 29 January 2026 in Sabah Al-Salem, Kuwait.
It was the fourth time in history that the championship was organised by the Kuwait Handball Association.
It also acted as a qualification tournament for the 2027 World Men's Handball Championship in Germany, with top four teams from the championship directly qualifying for the event. If Australia would have finished inside the top five, they would have qualified as well, as the representative of Oceania.
Qatar were the six time defending champions, recently beating Japan 30–24 in the 2024 final in Isa Town. Bahrain won their first title with a win over Qatar in the final.
Host selection Kuwait was given the hosting rights on 24 February 2025. It will be the fourth time in history that the championship will be organised by the Kuwait Handball Association after 1977, 1995, and 2020.
Teams TeamAppearance(s)Previous best performance 20221N/A 2024133rd 210th 413th 316th 146th 48th 22nd 20221N/A (H) 202444th 312th 131st 109th 115th 117th
Venue The venue was the Sheikh Saad Al-Abdullah Al-Salim Al-Sabah Covered Halls Complex in Sabah Al-Salem.
Sabah Al-SalemSheikh Saad Al-Abdullah Al-Salim Al-Sabah Covered Halls ComplexCapacity: TBD
Draw The draw was held at 17:30 AST on 15 October 2025 at the Conference Room of the Safir Fintas Kuwait Hotel, Fintās, Kuwait. The draw started with, in order, pots 4, 3, 2 and 1 being drawn, with each team selected then allocated into the first available group alphabetically.
Seeding The seeding was based on the results of the previous edition. Pot 1Pot 2Pot 3Pot 4
Draw results + Group A TeamA1 A2 A3 + Group B TeamB1 B2 B3 B4 + Group C TeamC1 (H)C2 C3 C4 + Group D TeamD1 D2 D3 D4
Schedule ScheduleRoundMatchdayDatePreliminary roundMatchday 1 15–16 January 2026Matchday 2 17–18 January 2026Matchday 3 19–20 January 2026Main round and Ranking groupsMatchday 4 22 January 2026Matchday 5 23 January 2026Matchday 6 25 January 2026Ranking games All games 27 January 2026Knockout stageSemi-finals 27 January 2026Final 29 January 2026
Preliminary round All times are local (UTC+3).
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 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; 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 AHF through drawing of lots.
Group A
Group B
Group C
Group D
Martyr Fahad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah Cup Group III
Group IV
13th place game
Eleventh place game
Ninth place game
Main round Group I
Group II
Final round Bracket
Semifinals
Seventh place game
Fifth place game
Third place game
Final
Final ranking
Statistics and awards
Top goalscorers Rank Name Goals Shots % 1 Saif Al-Adwani 54 87 62 2 Ahmad Madadi 44 58 763 Khaled Abu Hasan43 65 66 Jasim Khamis 57 755 Kim Jin-young40 59 68 Mojtaba Al-Salem 75 637 Baderaldeen Hammoodi39 49 80 Mohamed Habib Naser 66 59 9 Ghassen Al-Moulidi 38 77 4910 Timothy Anderson36 66 55 Lee Siu Chung 59 61
Top goalkeepers Rank Name % Saves Shots 1 Omidreza Robat 56 35 63 2 Mohammad Buyabes 50 12 24 3 Mohammad Siavoshi 43 41 95 4 Saeid Barkhordari 41 32 79 5 Hesham Isa 37 32 86 6 Hasan Safar 36 71 1967 Zhao Kai 34 38 112 Mohammad Al-Taher 43 127 Ali Al-Saffar 27 80 Hassan Al-Turaik 37 110
All-star team Position Player Most valuable player Hasan Safar Goalkeeper Ahmed Abdelrahem Right wing Salman Al-Showaikh Right back Jin Watanabe Centre back Mohamed Habib Naser Left back Saif Al-Adwani Left wing Ahmad Madadi Pivot Soya Ichihara
Notes
References
External links AHF website IHF website