Nineteen of the 32 participants for the 2027 IHF Men’s World Championship in Germany have now been confirmed – with ten more European representatives to be decided in mid-May. The first round of the European play-offs took place between Wednesday and Sunday in home-and-away matches, with eight teams now advancing to the second play-off round, where the remaining World Championship tickets will be contested.
Serbia recorded the most dominant performance across both legs. The team, which had defeated Germany at the EHF EURO 2026 but finished bottom of its group, secured an aggregate victory over Lithuania by 26 goals. A significantly tougher challenge now awaits in the second round against Hungary. Poland also claimed two clear wins over Latvia and will face Austria next, while EHF EURO participants Georgia have been eliminated. Despite playing both matches against Israel at home and 20 goals from former Gummersbach player Giorgi Tskhovrebadze, Georgia’s 30:28 win in the second leg was not enough after a 32:29 defeat in the first leg. Israel now take on two-time European champions Spain.
The most dramatic play-off tie saw Turkey overturn a 32:37 home defeat against Romania. Koray Ayar became the hero, scoring with the final buzzer in Buzau to seal a 37:31 victory—just enough to send Turkey through to face Norway in the next round. Ukraine have also been eliminated: after a 24:27 defeat in their “home” match in Bensheim, a 32:31 away win in Slovakia was not sufficient to progress. Slovakia will now meet North Macedonia. Elsewhere, Bosnia and Herzegovina prevailed in the Balkan clash against Kosovo and will face the Faroe Islands next. Montenegro secured two wins against Finland and now take on Slovenia.
The final ten European participants for the World Championship will be determined in home-and-away matches between 13 and 17 May. In addition, France will face the Czech Republic, while Switzerland meet Italy— with the winners of these two ties already assigned to Stuttgart as their venue for the 2027 World Championship.
All ten play-off winners will join the other 22 qualified teams in the draw on 10 June at Munich’s Hofbräuhaus, where the eight preliminary round groups will be determined. Aside from the remaining European teams, one place is still to be decided via the North American qualification, as well as the two nations that will receive IHF wild cards for the tournament in Germany (13 to 31 January 2027). From Europe, hosts Germany and defending champions Denmark qualified directly, while Croatia, Iceland, Portugal and Sweden secured their places at the EHF EURO 2026.
Tickets and all tournament information are available on the official website handball2027.com. Tickets can also be purchased via Eventim.de and all official ticket outlets. Tickets for Germany’s preliminary round matches in Munich and potential main round matches in Cologne are currently sold out.
Second round of the European play-offs for the 2027 World Championship:
Slovakia vs North Macedonia
Bosnia and Herzegovina vs Faroe Islands
Czech Republic vs France
Switzerland vs Italy
Montenegro vs Slovenia
Serbia vs Hungary
Spain vs Israel
Greece vs Netherlands
Norway vs Turkey
Austria vs Poland
(Matches will be played between 13 and 17 May in a home-and-away format.)