2011 Women's World Championship, Qualification Europe

A little more than one year before the final tournament takes place between 3 and 18 December 2011 in Brazil, the Qualification Europe is taking place between 30 November and 5 December 2010.

A total of 24 teams will compete in Brazil. Besides Russia as defending champions and Brazil as host nation, Asia with 4 teams and Africa as well as Pan America with 3 teams each will match up with 11 European teams (excluding Russia).

From these 11 places, three are reserved for the best three teams at the EHF EURO 2010 (7 - 19 December) in Denmark and Norway, excluding Russia. The remaining European places at the final tournament – altogether 8 – will be decided via Qualification Europe.

Qualification Europe Procedure

Qualification Europe is played in two phases: four tournaments in November/December 2010 and Play-Off matches in June 2011.

While the twelve teams participating at the EHF EURO 2010 (all sixteen teams minus top three minus Russia) are directly qualified for the European play-off matches, the following 17 federations are participating in the qualification tournaments:

• Austria
• Azerbaijan
• Belarus
• Bulgaria
• Cyprus
• Czech Republic
• Finland
• Great Britain
• Greece
• Italy
• Lithuania
• FYR Macedonia
• Poland
• Portugal
• Switzerland
• Slovakia
• Turkey

The first phase tournaments will be played in one group of 5 teams and in three groups of 4 teams, in form of tournaments within one week at one venue between 30 November and 5 December 2010.

Match Schedule

Group 1
Matches take place in Lublin, Poland.

Wednesday 1 December 2010, 17:00 hrs (local time)
Austria VS Great Britain

Wednesday 1 December 2010, 19:15 hrs (local time)
Poland VS Cyprus

Thursday 2 December 2010, 17:00 hrs (local time)
Great Britain VS Slovakia

Thursday 2 December 2010, 19:15 hrs (local time)
Cyprus VS Austria

Friday 3 December 2010, 16:00 hrs (local time)
Slovakia VS Poland

Friday 3 December 2010, 18:15 hrs (local time)
Great Britain VS Cyprus

Saturday 4 December 2010, 15:45 hrs (local time)
Slovakia VS Cyprus

Saturday 4 December 2010, 18:00 hrs (local time)
Poland VS Austria

Sunday 5 December 2010, 15:15 hrs (local time)
Austria VS Slovakia

Sunday 5 December 2010, 17:30 hrs (local time)
Poland VS Great Britain

Group 2
Matches take place in Drama, Greece.

Friday 3 December 2010, 18:30 hrs (local time)
Switzerland VS Azerbaijan

Friday 3 December 2010, 20:30 hrs (local time)
FYR Macedonia VS Greece

Saturday 4 December 2010, 19:00 hrs (local time)
Azerbaijan VS FYR Macedonia

Saturday 4 December 2010, 21:00 hrs (local time)
Greece VS Switzerland

Sunday 5 December 2010, 16:00 hrs (local time)
FYR Macedonia VS Switzerland

Sunday 5 December 2010, 18:00 hrs (local time)
Greece VS Azerbaijan

Group 3
Matches take place in Funchal, Portugal.

Friday 3 December 2010, 17:00 hrs (local time)
Turkey VS Finland

Friday 3 December 2010, 19:00 hrs (local time)
Belarus VS Portugal

Saturday 4 December 2010, 15:00 hrs (local time)
Portugal VS Turkey

Saturday 4 December 2010, 17:00 hrs (local time)
Finland VS Belarus

Sunday 5 December 2010, 17:00 hrs (local time)
Portugal VS Finland

Sunday 5 December 2010, 19:00 hrs (local time)
Belarus VS Turkey

Group 4
Matches take place in Oderzo, Italy.

Friday 3 December 2010, 17:00 hrs (local time)
Czech Republic VS Italy

Friday 3 December 2010, 19:00 hrs (local time)
Lithuania VS Bulgaria

Saturday 4 December 2010, 17:00 hrs (local time)
Italy VS Lithuania

Saturday 4 December 2010, 19:00 hrs (local time)
Bulgaria VS Czech Republic

Sunday 5 December 2010, 14:00 hrs (local time)
Czech Republic VS Lithuania

Sunday 5 December 2010, 16:00 hrs (local time)
Italy VS Bulgaria

The four group winners will qualify for the play-off matches. The first leg matches of the play-off will be carried out on 4/5 June 2011 and the second leg matches on 11/12 June 2011.

The draw for the play-off will take place on 19 December 2010 in Herning, Denmark, at the occasion of the final weekend of the EHF EURO 2010.

Find a summary of all match details here.