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IHF Women's Handball World Championship
Created in 1957, the IHF Womens Handball World Championship is an international tournament that now takes place every two years. The first-ever tournament was hosted by Yugoslavia and featured just nine countries. Czechoslovakia beat Hungary 7-1 in the final to claim the title.
The number of participants has grown over the years, increasing to 12 in 1973, 16 in 1986, 24 in 1997 and then in 2021, which again rose to 32 countries.
The 2019 final was the closest fought final since 2003, the Netherlands won by a single point (30-29) over the Spanish, and there have been three finals which have required extra time to decide the winner, those came in 1993, 1999 & 2003.
Norway have made it to the final thirteen times and on five occasions (1999, 2011, 2015, 2021 & 2025) went on to win the gold medal, making them the most successful country in this tournament.
This tournament has had a European winner in all bar two of the twenty-seven tournaments. South Korea were the first and only Asian winner in 1995, and Brazil was the first and only winner from the Americas in 2013, two years after they hosted the tournament.
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2027 IHF Women's Handball World Championship Preview
The 2027 tournament, which will be the 28th tournament, will be hosted by Hungary, who last hosted in 1995 when they co-hosted with Austria. They hosted the tournament solely in 1982, and both times they have hosted, they have lost in the final.
There will be eight groups of four teams, from which the top three teams will progress to the main event, the bottom team will be eliminated and will take part in the 'Presidents Cup' to determine their final position in the tournament.
Top Scorers
There have only ever been four hosts who have gone on to win the tournament: Romania (1962), Yugoslavia (1973), Norway (1999 - Co-Hosts) and Russia (2005), meaning Hungary look up against it in 2027.
The hosting country, Hungary, gets an automatic place in the finals along with the reigning champions, Norway.
Norway & Russia
IHF Women's Handball World Championship Format
The top three teams advance into the main tournament, whilst the eight who finish in fourth place go to the Presidents Cup, where the teams will play to decide their final positions of 25th to 32nd.
In the main tournament, four groups of six countries will be decided. The top two teams in each group, after the matches are played, then advance to the knockout stage, forming the quarter-finals, and then it is straight knockouts from there until the final, when the Champions will be crowned.
2027 IHF Women's Handball World Championship Venues
20,022 - MVM Dome (Budapest)
- 6,500 - Főnix Hall (Debrecen)
- 6,000 - Multifunctional Sporthall (Tatabánya)
- 5,500 - Audi Aréna (Győr)
IHF Women's Handball World Championship Past Winners
Norway picked up their fifth title in 2025, and now, since the 1999 tournament, nine of the fourteen tournaments have been won by either Norway or Russia.
Here are the last ten IHF World Women's Handball Championship winners:
| Season | Champions | Score | Runners-Up |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Norway | 23 - 20 | Germany |
| 2023 | France | 31 - 28 | Norway |
| 2021 | Norway | 29 - 22 | France |
| 2019 | Netherlands | 30 - 29 | Spain |
| 2017 | France | 23 - 21 | Norway |
| 2015 | Norway | 31 - 23 | Netherlands |
| 2013 | Brazil | 22 - 20 | Serbia |
| 2011 | Norway | 32 - 24 | France |
| 2009 | Russia | 25 - 22 | France |
| 2007 | Russia | 29 - 24 | Norway |
IHF Women's Handball World Championship Betting Tips
We will have handball tips throughout the tournament, but first of all, if you are new to handball and are planning on placing bets during the tournament, then be sure to read our best bookie for handball betting before you place your bets.
On the tips front, you have two options: you can either head over to our best handball tipsters page, which will only show tipsters who have made a profit on handball over the past year and have open tips.
Secondly, you can head over to our handball predictions page, where each match will be listed, and you can see which outcomes are being most tipped, and you can also read our tipster's analysis of the matches.
Last Five Tournament Favourite Statistics
The fate of the favourites has improved over the last three tournaments; the previous two saw win rates of 71% & 73% for favourites that improved to 87% in 2021 and then stayed in the 80s at 84% for 2023 and 87% in 2025.
Strong favourites tend to win; those priced up 1.10 or shorter have a 97% success rate (227-2134), whilst if you are looking to take on favourites, then those priced up 1.40 or bigger only have a 56% which is very low for those kinds of odds.
- 2017: 60-84 (71.43%)
- 2019: 70-96 (72.92%)
- 2021: 91-105 (86.67%)
- 2023: 94-112 (83.93%)
- 2025: 94-108 (87.04%)
- Overall: 409-505 (80.99%)
Last Five Tournament Goal Statistics
The women's game tends to produce fewer than the men's equivalent. For this tournament, the men's version averages 56.83 goals per game, whilst the women's average was 54.21, so whilst the men's average is more, there is not a great deal between them on averages.
To hit the 90% market, you have to set the line at 43 goals, which reduces to 87% at the 45-goal mark, and 50 reduces that to below 69% so whilst the average is 53, the majority of games will hit between 43-50 goals.
- Over 45: 440 Games (87.13%)
- Over 47.5: 412 Games (81.58%)
- Over 50: 349 Games (69.11%)
- Over 52.5: 291 Games (57.62%)
- Over 55: 212 Games (41.98%)
- Over 57.5: 161 Games (31.88%)
IHF Women's Handball World Championship Medal Table
Norway's success in 2025 moved them to the top of the pile with five wins, now one more than Russia, but they have now won thirteen medals in total compared to Russia's five, which includes five silver medals.
Both now-disbanded countries, the Soviet Union and East Germany, won three golds each and the only other country to win multiple golds is France, which added a third win in 2023, having also won in both 2003 & 2017.
| Rank | Club | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Norway | 5 | 5 | 3 | 13 |
| 2nd | Russia | 4 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| 3rd | France | 3 | 4 | 0 | 7 |
| 4th | Soviet Union | 3 | 2 | 1 | 6 |
| 5th | East Germany | 3 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
Author Information
Our handball content is meticulously crafted by Andy, who maintains the IHF Women's Handball World Championship content, keeping you up-to-date with the latest information.
Andy Powell
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