World championship qualification procedure confirmed

The EHF Executive Committee has confirmed the European qualification path for the Men’s World Championship 2021 in Egypt, which for the first time will feature 32 teams.

Europe has a total of 13 spots for this tournament, not including the already qualified Danish team, the defending world champions. The top three teams at the EHF EURO 2020 will also qualify directly.

A further 10 spots will be decided in two rounds of play-off matches. After qualification phase 1 Lithuania, Romania, Turkey and Israel secured their places in the first, intermediate play-off phase, where they will face the four lowest-ranked teams of EHF EURO 2020: Latvia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Russia and Poland.

The draw for these play-offs will take place on 30 January at the EHF headquarters in Vienna, with the four EHF EURO participants in pot 1 and the four teams from the qualification phase in pot 2. These intermediate play-offs will be staged in home and away matches on 15/16 and 18/19 April 2020.

The remaining 16 teams from the EHF EURO 2020 (positions four to 20, excluding Denmark) will qualify for the second round of play-offs, which will be played in home and away matches between 5-7 June and 9-11 June 2020. The four aggregate winners of the April play-offs will join them.

The 10 winners of the second play-off phase will book their tickets for the World Championship 2021 in Egypt. The date of the draw event for the second round of playoffs will be confirmed by the EHF in due course.