2027 World Men's Handball Championship – European qualification
The European qualification for the 2027 World Men's Handball Championship will be contested in two rounds between October 2025 and May 2026.[1] They join the two already qualified teams: Germany and Denmark.
Format
In the first round of qualification, six teams will be drawn in to knock-out ties. The winners advance to the qualification phase 2.[2]
Qualification phase 1
The draw took place on 26 June 2025.[2][3] The winners of each tie advanced to phase 2.
Seeding
The seeding was announced on 24 June 2025.[2]
| Pot 1 | Pot 2 |
|---|---|
 Turkey Luxembourg Kosovo
|
 Latvia Cyprus Great Britain
|
Overview
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Latvia
|
62–53 | Luxembourg
|
28–20 | 34–33 |
| Cyprus
|
46–68 | Turkey
|
27–33 | 19–35 |
| Great Britain
|
56–67 | Kosovo
|
26–32 | 30–35 |
Matches
| 1 November 2025 20:00 |
Latvia
|
28–20 | Luxembourg
|
d'Coque, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg Attendance: 773 Referees: Bozhinovski, Nachevski (MKD) |
| J. Valkovskis 9 | (13–9) | D. Etute 7 | ||
1× 3×
|
Report | 3×
|
| 2 November 2025 18:30 |
Luxembourg
|
33–34 | Latvia
|
d'Coque, Luxembourg City Attendance: 813 Referees: Bozhinovski, Nachevski (MKD) |
| S. Etute 11 | (16–15) | Kušners 8 | ||
| 1× 4×
|
Report | 5×
|
Latvia won 62–53 on aggregate.
| 29 October 2025 19:00 |
Cyprus
|
27–33 | Turkey
|
Eleftheria Indoor Hall, Nicosia Attendance: 680 Referees: Horváth, Marton (HUN) |
| Argyrou 9 | (14–16) | Pehlivan 7 | ||
| 1× 4×
|
Report | 1× 6×
|
| 2 November 2025 14:00 |
Turkey
|
35–19 | Cyprus
|
Ahmet Aytar Spor Salonu, Elazığ Attendance: 2,200 Referees: Sirbu, Serdiuc (MDA) |
| Biçer 6 | (22–10) | Paraskeva 4 | ||
| 2×
|
Report | 3×
|
Turkey won 68–46 on aggregate.
| 29 October 2025 18:00 |
Great Britain
|
26–32 | Kosovo
|
Derby Arena, Derby Attendance: 1,508 Referees: Čerņavskis, Bogdanovs (LAT) |
| Pereira 5 | (11–15) | Gegaj 9 | ||
| 1× 3×
|
Report | 1× 3×
|
| 2 November 2025 17:15 |
Kosovo
|
35–30 | Great Britain
|
Palace of Youth and Sports, Pristina Attendance: 1,000 Referees: Leszczyński, Piechota (POL) |
| Tahirukaj 7 | (17–13) | Pereira 6 | ||
| 4×
|
Report | 3× 1×
|
Kosovo won 67–56 on aggregate.
Qualification phase 2
The three winners from phase 1 and 13 other countries will in March 2026 for qualification for phase 3. It is scheduled to take place in March 2026.[4] The draw took place on 6 November 2025.[5][6] The winners of each tie advances to phase 3.
Seeding
The seeding was announced on 5 November 2025.[5]
| Pot 1 | Pot 2 |
|---|---|
 Greece Bosnia and Herzegovina Serbia Romania Ukraine Montenegro Georgia Poland
|
 Slovakia Lithuania.svg.png){kind=small} Belgium Finland Israel Kosovo Turkey Latvia
|
Overview
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bosnia and Herzegovina
|
1 | Kosovo
|
18–19 Mar | 21–22 Mar |
| Georgia
|
2 | Israel
|
18–19 Mar | 21–22 Mar |
| Ukraine
|
3 | Slovakia
|
18–19 Mar | 21–22 Mar |
| Serbia
|
4 | Lithuania
|
18–19 Mar | 21–22 Mar |
| Poland
|
5 | Latvia
|
18–19 Mar | 21–22 Mar |
| Turkey
|
6 | Romania
|
18–19 Mar | 21–22 Mar |
| Greece
|
7 | Belgium
|
18–19 Mar | 21–22 Mar |
| Finland
|
8 | Montenegro
|
18–19 Mar | 21–22 Mar |
Matches
| 18–19 March 2026 | Bosnia and Herzegovina
|
v | Kosovo
|
|
| Report | ||||
| 21–22 March 2026 | Kosovo
|
v | Bosnia and Herzegovina
|
|
| Report | ||||
| 18–19 March 2026 | Georgia
|
v | Israel
|
|
| Report | ||||
| 21–22 March 2026 | Israel
|
v | Georgia
|
|
| Report | ||||
| 18–19 March 2026 | Ukraine
|
v | Slovakia
|
|
| Report | ||||
| 21–22 March 2026 | Slovakia
|
v | Ukraine
|
|
| Report | ||||
| 18–19 March 2026 | Serbia
|
v | Lithuania
|
|
| Report | ||||
| 21–22 March 2026 | Lithuania
|
v | Serbia
|
|
| Report | ||||
| 18–19 March 2026 | Poland
|
v | Latvia
|
|
| Report | ||||
| 21–22 March 2026 | Latvia
|
v | Poland
|
|
| Report | ||||
| 18–19 March 2026 | Turkey
|
v | Romania
|
|
| Report | ||||
| 21–22 March 2026 | Romania
|
v | Turkey
|
|
| Report | ||||
| 18–19 March 2026 | Greece
|
v | Belgium
|
|
| Report | ||||
| 21–22 March 2026 | Belgium
|
v | Greece
|
|
| Report | ||||
| 18–19 March 2026 | Finland
|
v | Montenegro
|
|
| Report | ||||
| 21–22 March 2026 | Montenegro
|
v | Finland
|
|
| Report | ||||
Qualification phase 3
Phase 3 will take place from 13 to 17 May 2026.[4] The draw took place on 31 January 2026.[7][8] Eight winners from Phase 2 and the remaining 12 teams from the 2026 European Men's Handball Championship join.
Seeding
The seeding was announced on 30 January 2026.[9]
| Pot 1 | Pot 2 |
|---|---|
 France Slovenia Norway Hungary Spain.svg.png){kind=small} Switzerland Faroe Islands North Macedonia Netherlands Austria
|
 Czech Republic ItalyWinner of match 1 Winner of match 2 Winner of match 3 Winner of match 4 Winner of match 5 Winner of match 6 Winner of match 7 Winner of match 8 |
Overview
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner of match 3 | 1 | North Macedonia
|
13–14 May | 16–17 May |
| Winner of match 1 | 2 | Faroe Islands
|
13–14 May | 16–17 May |
| Czech Republic
|
3 | France
|
13–14 May | 16–17 May |
| Switzerland
|
4 | Italy
|
13–14 May | 16–17 May |
| Winner of match 8 | 5 | Slovenia
|
13–14 May | 16–17 May |
| Winner of match 4 | 6 | Hungary
|
13–14 May | 16–17 May |
| Spain
|
7 | Winner of match 2 | 13–14 May | 16–17 May |
| Winner of match 7 | 8 | Netherlands
|
13–14 May | 16–17 May |
| Norway
|
9 | Winner of match 6 | 13–14 May | 16–17 May |
| Austria
|
10 | Winner of match 5 | 13–14 May | 16–17 May |
References
- ^ "IHF Council awards events up to 2027". ihf.info. 28 February 2020.
- ^ a b c "How to follow Men's EHF EURO 2028 Qualifiers promotion round draw". eurohandball.com. 24 June 2025.
- ^ "Next step in Men's EHF EURO 2028 Qualifiers set". EHF. 26 June 2025.
- ^ a b "Kosovo, Latvia and Türkiye keep World Championship dreams alive". EHF. 2 November 2025.
- ^ a b "16 teams await Men's World Championship Qualification Phase 2 draw". EHF. 5 November 2025.
- ^ "Qualification Phase 2 draw sets up path to Men's World Championship". EHF. 6 November 2025.
- ^ "Path to 2027 IHF Men's World Championship becomes clearer". EHF. 22 January 2026.
- ^ "Ties for 2027 Men's World Championship qualification phase 3 set". EHF. 31 January 2026.
- ^ "Pots set for last 2027 Men's World Championship qualifiers draw". EHF. 30 January 2026.