Belarus, Turkey, Austria, FYR Macedonia qualify for World Championship 2017 Play-offs

Four tickets to the Women's World Championship Play-offs were at stake when Groups 2 and 3 of the first qualification phase to the Women's World Championship 2017 in Germany were played over the weekend.

Eventually Belarus, Turkey, Austria and FYR Macedonia made the cut, but the way there was a hotly contested one - in particular in Group 3.

In that group, Iceland had won their first two matches against Austria (28:24) and Faroe Islands (24:16), and they could have afforded a loss against their Macedonian opponents on Sunday by six goals or less - however they lost 27:20, placed only third, while Austria and FYR Macedonia made the cut.

In Group 2, things were more straight forward. Belarus qualified for the play-offs with three wins from three games, while wins against Switzerland (29:24) and Kosovo (36:17) were enough for Turkey to also make it to the next stage. 

From the play-off phase nine teams will progress to the final tournament in Germany, along with three teams determined by ranking at the EHF EURO 2016.

Germany are already secure with their spot at the World Championship as hosts, while Norway are directly qualified as champions at the 2015 edition. 

The play-off phase will take place in June 2017.