2007 World Men's Handball Championship

Host country

Venue(s)12 (in 12 host cities)

Dates19 January–4 February

Teams24 (from 5 confederations)

2007 World Men's Handball Championship
Handball-Weltmeisterschaft der Männer 2007 (in German)

Tournament details
Host country	Germany
Venue(s)	12 (in 12 host cities)
Dates	19 January–4 February
Teams	24 (from 5 confederations)
Final positions
Champions	Germany (3rd title)
Runners-up	Poland
Third place	Denmark
Fourth place	France
Tournament statistics
Matches played	92
Goals scored	5,325 (57.88 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Guðjón Valur Sigurðsson (ISL) (66 goals)
Awards
Best player	Ivano Balić (CRO)
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The 2007 World Men's Handball Championship was the 20th edition of the tournament that took place from 19 January to 4 February 2007 in Germany. 24 national teams played in 12 German cities. It was the 20th edition of the World Championship in team handball and was won by the hosts.

12 German cities were hosts for the 2007 Championship. The most modern stadiums – spread all over the country – had been selected. The final match took place in the Kölnarena in Cologne (Köln).

Town	Stadium	max. spectators
Köln	Kölnarena	19.000
Mannheim	SAP-Arena	14.300
Hamburg	Color Line Arena	12.500
Dortmund	Westfalenhalle	12.000
Halle	Gerry-Weber-Stadion	11.000
Kiel	Ostseehalle	10.200
Berlin	Max-Schmeling-Halle	10.000
Bremen	AWD-Dome	9.200
Magdeburg	Bördelandhalle	7.850
Stuttgart	Porsche Arena	6.100
Lemgo	Lipperlandhalle	5.000
Wetzlar	Mittelhessen-Arena	5.000

Venues



Kölnarena (Kölnarena) Location: Cologne Capacity: 19,500 Club: VfL Gummersbach	SAP Arena (SAP-Arena) Location: Mannheim Capacity: 14,300 Club: Rhein-Neckar Löwen	Color Line Arena (Color Line Arena) Location: Hamburg Capacity: 13,800 Clubs: HSV Handball

Westfalenhalle (Westfalenhalle) Location: Dortmund Capacity: 12,000 Club:	Gerry Weber Stadion (Gerry Weber Stadion) Location: Halle Capacity: 11,000 Club:	Ostseehalle (Ostseehalle) Location: Kiel Capacity: 10,200 Club: THW Kiel

Max-Schmeling-Halle (Max-Schmeling-Halle) Location: Berlin Capacity: 10,000 Club: Füchse Berlin	AWD-Dome (AWD-Dome) Location: Bremen Capacity: 9,200 Club:	Bördelandhalle (Bördelandhalle) Location: Magdeburg Capacity: 7,850 Club: SC Magdeburg

Porsche Arena (Porsche Arena) Location: Stuttgart Capacity: 6,100 Club:	Lipperlandhalle (Lipperlandhalle) Location: Lemgo Capacity: 5,000 Club: TBV Lemgo	Rittal Arena Wetzlar (Rittal Arena Wetzlar) Location: Wetzlar Capacity: 5,000 Club: HSG Wetzlar

Qualification

Competition	Dates	Host	Vacancies	Qualified
Host nation			1	Germany
2005 World Championship	23 January – 6 February 2005	Tunisia	1	Spain
2006 African Championship	10–20 January 2006	Tunisia	4	Tunisia Egypt Morocco Angola
2006 European Championship	26 January – 5 February 2006	Switzerland	3	France Denmark Croatia
2006 Asian Championship	12–21 February 2006	Bangkok	3	Kuwait South Korea Qatar
2006 Oceania Championship	22–24 May 2006	Sydney	1	Australia
2006 Pan American Championship	6–10 June 2006	Aracaju	3	Brazil Argentina Greenland
European qualification^[1]	4 January – 18 June 2006	Various	8	Czech Republic Hungary Iceland Norway Poland Russia Slovenia Ukraine

Tournament structure

Preliminary round

The 24 competing teams will be drawn into six preliminary groups of four teams each, and the matches in the preliminary round are scheduled to be held from 20 to 22 January. The two top teams from each group then proceed to the main round, while the third and fourth-placed teams play in the Presidents-Cup.^[2]

On 14 July 2006, the groups of the tournament were determined:^[3]

Group A (Wetzlar):

Group B (Magdeburg):

Group C (Berlin, Halle):

Group D (Bremen):

Group E (Kiel):

Group F (Stuttgart):

Presidents-Cup

The teams placed third and fourth in the preliminary round groups are divided into four groups of three teams, as such:

Group I:

3rd-placed group A
3rd-placed group B
3rd-placed group C

Group II:

3rd-placed group D
3rd-placed group E
3rd-placed group F

Group III:

4th-placed group A
4th-placed group B
4th-placed group C

Group IV:

4th-placed group D
4th-placed group E
4th-placed group F

The matches are scheduled for 24 to 26 January. On 28 January, the winners of group I and II then play each other for the 13th place, the runners-up play each other for the 15th place, and the third-placed play off for 17th place. The Group III and IV teams play off for 19th, 21st and 23rd place in the same fashion.

Main round

The main round is scheduled for 24 to 28 January, and the teams will be divided into two groups of six teams. The teams carry forward match results from matches against the other team from their group to qualify for the main round. Four teams from each main round group qualify for the quarter-finals.

No placement matches for the places 9 to 12 are scheduled.

Knockout stage

The knockout stage is scheduled to make up the last week of the tournament, starting on Tuesday 30 January and continuing until Sunday 4 February. The quarter-finals are set up so that the winner of one group will face the fourth-placed team in the other. Semi-finals and consolation matches are held on 1 February; two days later, the 5th and 7th place play-offs take place on 3 February, with the 3rd place play-off and final is scheduled for the following day.

Seedings

The seedings for the preliminary round have been partially determined; the full seedings will be revealed when all qualifying matches have been played.^[4] Currently, the following seedings (in IHF terminology, performance row) have been confirmed:

Pot 1: Spain, France, Denmark, Tunisia, Croatia, Germany
Pot 2: Europe 4, Europe 5, Europe 6, Europe 7, Europe 8, Europe 9
Pot 3: Egypt, Kuwait, Morocco, Europe 10, Europe 11, Brazil
Pot 4: Angola, South Korea, Qatar, Argentina, Greenland, Australia

Preliminary round

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Slovenia	3	3	0	102	71	+31	6	Main round
2	Tunisia	3	2	1	97	77	+20	4
3	Kuwait	3	1	2	85	94	−9	2
4	Greenland	3	0	3	68	110	−42	0

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Iceland	3	2	1	106	76	+30	4^[a]	Main round
2	France	3	2	1	103	63	+40	4^[a]
3	Ukraine	3	2	1	90	79	+11	4^[a]
4	Australia	3	0	3	48	129	−81	0

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Poland	3	3	0	87	63	+24	6	Main round
2	Germany (H)	3	2	1	84	69	+15	4
3	Argentina	3	1	2	57	81	−24	2
4	Brazil	3	0	3	65	80	−15	0

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Spain	3	3	0	109	76	+33	6	Main round
2	Czech Republic	3	2	1	97	88	+9	4
3	Egypt	3	1	2	94	88	+6	2
4	Qatar	3	0	3	65	113	−48	0

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Hungary	3	3	0	89	82	+7	6	Main round
2	Denmark	3	2	1	95	75	+20	4
3	Norway	3	1	2	88	65	+23	2
4	Angola	3	0	3	64	114	−50	0

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Croatia	3	3	0	0	108	72	+36	6	Main round
2	Russia	3	1	1	1	94	83	+11	3
3	South Korea	3	1	1	1	87	92	−5	3
4	Morocco	3	0	0	3	60	102	−42	0

President's Cup

Group I

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Ukraine	2	2	0	56	45	+11	4	13th place game
2	Argentina	2	1	1	50	48	+2	2	15th place game
3	Kuwait	2	0	2	48	61	−13	0	17th place game

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) goal difference.

24 January 2007 20:00	Kuwait	23–33	Ukraine	Lipperlandhalle, Lemgo Attendance: 1,611
		(10–19)
		Report

25 January 2007 18:00	Kuwait	25–28	Argentina	Lipperlandhalle, Lemgo Attendance: 1,700
		(10–16)
		Report

27 January 2007 20:00	Ukraine	23–22	Argentina	Lipperlandhalle, Lemgo Attendance: 2,179
		(13–8)
		Report

Group II

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Norway	2	2	0	61	50	+11	4	13th place game
2	South Korea	2	1	1	68	64	+4	2	15th place game
3	Egypt	2	0	2	48	63	−15	0	17th place game

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) goal difference.

24 January 2007 18:00	Egypt	18–27	Norway	Lipperlandhalle, Lemgo Attendance: 1,611
		(9–12)
		Report

25 January 2007 20:00	Egypt	30–36	South Korea	Lipperlandhalle, Lemgo Attendance: 1,708
		(13–16)
		Report

27 January 2007 18:00	Norway	34–32	South Korea	Lipperlandhalle, Lemgo Attendance: 2,179
		(17–17)
		Report

Group III

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Brazil	2	2	0	63	53	+10	4	19th place game
2	Greenland	2	1	1	64	58	+6	2	21st place game
3	Australia	2	0	2	48	64	−16	0	23rd place game

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) goal difference.

24 January 2007 15:30	Greenland	34–25	Australia	Gerry Weber Stadion, Halle Attendance: 7,500
		(16–12)
		Report

25 January 2007 18:30	Greenland	30–33	Brazil	Westfalenhallen, Dortmund
		(13–18)
		Report

27 January 2007 14:00	Australia	23–30	Brazil	Westfalenhallen, Dortmund Attendance: 7,000
		(6–17)
		Report

Group IV

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Morocco	2	2	0	76	55	+21	4	19th place game
2	Angola	2	1	1	61	59	+2	2	21st place game
3	Qatar	2	0	2	54	77	−23	0	23rd place game

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) goal difference.

24 January 2007 19:30	Qatar	27–33	Angola	Gerry Weber Stadion, Halle Attendance: 11,000
		(14–15)
		Report

25 January 2007 14:00	Qatar	27–44	Morocco	Westfalenhallen, Dortmund
		(14–22)
		Report

27 January 2007 18:30	Angola	28–32	Morocco	Westfalenhallen, Dortmund Attendance: 2,700
		(14–16)
		Report

23rd place game

28 January 2007 13:00	Australia	22–36	Qatar	Westfalenhallen, Dortmund Attendance: 5,000
		(14–15)
		Report

21st place game

28 January 2007 17:30	Greenland	28–29	Angola	Westfalenhallen, Dortmund Attendance: 2,700
		(12–14)
		Report

19th place game

28 January 2007 20:00	Brazil	36–29	Morocco	Westfalenhallen, Dortmund Attendance: 700
		(17–12)
		Report

17th place game

28 January 2007 13:00	Kuwait	22–26	Egypt	Lipperlandhalle, Lemgo Attendance: 3,212
		(14–12)
		Report

15th place game

28 January 2007 15:30	Argentina	31–38	South Korea	Lipperlandhalle, Lemgo Attendance: 3,212
		(13–19)
		Report

13th place game

28 January 2007 18:00	Ukraine	22–32	Norway	Lipperlandhalle, Lemgo Attendance: 3,468
		(12–12)
		Report

Main round

Knockout stage

Bracket

Championship bracket

Quarterfinals		Semifinals		Final

30 January

Spain	25
		1 February
Germany	27
		Germany (ET)	32
30 January
		France	31
Croatia	18
				4 February
France	21
				Germany	29
30 January
				Poland	24
Poland	28
		1 February
Russia	27
		Poland (ET)	36
30 January
		Denmark	33	Third place
Iceland	41
				4 February
Denmark (ET)	42
				France	27

				Denmark	34

5th place bracket

5–8th place semifinals		Fifth place

1 February

Spain	27
		3 February
Croatia	35
		Croatia	34
1 February
		Russia	25
Russia	28

Iceland	25
		Seventh place

		3 February

		Spain	40

		Iceland	36

Quarterfinals

30 January 2007 17:30	Spain	25–27	Germany	Kölnarena, Köln Attendance: 19,000 Referees: Abrahamsen, Kristiansen (NOR)
	Uríos 8	(12–15)	Jansen 6
	2× 4×	Report	2× 4×

30 January 2007 17:30	Poland	28–27	Russia	Color Line Arena, Hamburg Attendance: 12,500 Referees: Lemme, Ullrich (GER)
	Bielecki 7	(16–14)	Koksharov 8
	3× 7× 1×	Report	3× 6×

30 January 2007 20:00	Croatia	18–21	France	Kölnarena, Köln Attendance: 19,000 Referees: Chernega, Poladenko (RUS)
	Balić 5	(9–10)	Abalo 8
	2× 4× 1×	Report	2× 1×

30 January 2007 20:00	Iceland	41–42 (ET)	Denmark	Color Line Arena, Hamburg Attendance: 12,500 Referees: Bord, Buy (FRA)
	Guðjónsson 15	(17–16)	three players 9
	2× 3×	Report	1× 3×
	FT: 34–34 ET: 7–8

5–8th place semifinals

1 February 2007 15:00	Spain	27–35	Croatia	Kölnarena, Köln Attendance: 16,000 Referees: Lemme, Ullrich (GER)
	Tomás 6	(12–16)	Balić 9
	2×	Report	3× 3×

1 February 2007 17:30	Russia	28–25	Iceland	Color Line Arena, Hamburg Attendance: 10,000 Referees: Herczeg, Südi (HUN)
	Ivanov 6	(16–14)	Stefánsson 7
	2× 4×	Report	3× 4×

Semifinals

1 February 2007 17:25	Germany	32–31 (ET)	France	Kölnarena, Köln Attendance: 19,000 Referees: Håkansson, Nilsson (SWE)
	Baur, Glandorf 5	(11–12)	Narcisse 8
	2× 6×	Report	2× 5×
	FT: 21–21 ET: 6–6, 5–4

1 February 2007 20:00	Poland	36–33 (ET)	Denmark	Color Line Arena, Hamburg Attendance: 12,500 Referees: Bretó, Huelin (ESP)
	Bielecki 8	(15–14)	Boesen, Christiansen 7
	3× 5× 1×	Report	2× 6×
	FT: 26–26 ET: 4–4, 6–3

Eleventh place game

30 January 2007 15:00	Tunisia	25–21	Czech Republic	Kölnarena, Köln Attendance: 8,000 Referees: Karbaschi, Kolahdouzan (IRI)
	Hammed 7	(13–13)	Juříček 5
	3× 3×	Report	3× 5×

Ninth place game

30 January 2007 15:00	Slovenia	33–34	Hungary	Color Line Arena, Hamburg Attendance: 8,000 Referees: Līcis, Stoļarovs (LAT)
	Brumen 12	(16–16)	Császár 8
	3× 3×	Report	3× 4×

Seventh place game

3 February 2007 14:00	Spain	40–36	Iceland	Kölnarena, Köln Attendance: 18,500 Referees: Chernega, Poladenko (RUS)
	Uríos 9	(19–13)	G. Sigurðsson, Stefánsson 8
	3× 5× 1×	Report	3× 2×

Fifth place game

3 February 2007 16:30	Croatia	34–25	Russia	Kölnarena, Köln Attendance: 18,000 Referees: Lemme, Ullrich (GER)
	Zrnić 11	(18–12)	Igropulo 9
	3×	Report	3× 2×

Third place game

4 February 2007 14:00	France	27–34	Denmark	Kölnarena, Köln Referees: Krstić, Ljubič (SLO)
	Fernandez, Guigou 6	(15–21)	Christiansen 9
	3× 2×	Report	3× 4×

Final

4 February 2007 16:30	Germany	29–24	Poland	Kölnarena, Köln Attendance: 19,000 Referees: Bord, Buy (FRA)
	Jansen 8	(17–13)	Jurasik, Tkaczyk 5
	2× 1×	Report	3× 3×

20 January 2007 18:00	Slovenia	35–21	Greenland	Rittal Arena Wetzlar, Wetzlar Attendance: 4,200
		(17–9)
		Report

20 January 2007 20:00	Tunisia	34–23	Kuwait	Rittal Arena Wetzlar, Wetzlar Attendance: 4,000
		(14–11)
		Report

21 January 2007 16:00	Greenland	20–36	Tunisia	Rittal Arena Wetzlar, Wetzlar Attendance: 4,000
		(4–17)

20 January 2007 16:00	Iceland	45–20	Australia	Bördelandhalle, Magdeburg Attendance: 7,200
		(26–9)
		Report

20 January 2007 18:00	France	32–21	Ukraine	Bördelandhalle, Magdeburg Attendance: 7,300
		(17–8)
		Report

21 January 2007 18:00	Kuwait	23–33	Slovenia	Rittal Arena Wetzlar, Wetzlar Attendance: 4,000
		(11–17)
		Report

22 January 2007 18:00	Kuwait	39–27	Greenland	Rittal Arena Wetzlar, Wetzlar Attendance: 4,000
		(19–13)
		Report

22 January 2007 20:00	Tunisia	27–34	Slovenia	Rittal Arena Wetzlar, Wetzlar Attendance: 4,000
		(14–16)
		Report

21 January 2007 16:00	Australia	10–47	France	Bördelandhalle, Magdeburg Attendance: 7,200
		(5–25)
		Report

21 January 2007 18:00	Ukraine	32–29	Iceland	Bördelandhalle, Magdeburg Attendance: 7,400
		(12–13)
		Report

22 January 2007 18:00	Ukraine	37–18	Australia	Bördelandhalle, Magdeburg Attendance: 7,000
		(18–8)
		Report

22 January 2007 20:00	France	24–32	Iceland	Bördelandhalle, Magdeburg Attendance: 7,500
		(8–18)
		Report

19 January 2007 17:30	Germany	27–22	Brazil	Max-Schmeling-Halle, Berlin Attendance: 10,000
		(12–10)
		Report

20 January 2007 19:30	Poland	29–15	Argentina	Gerry Weber Stadion, Halle Attendance: 6,500
		(12–9)
		Report

21 January 2007 15:30	Brazil	23–31	Poland	Gerry Weber Stadion, Halle Attendance: 11,000
		(13–15)
		Report

21 January 2007 17:30	Argentina	20–32	Germany	Gerry Weber Stadion, Halle Attendance: 11,000
		(11–17)
		Report

22 January 2007 17:00	Germany	25–27	Poland	Gerry Weber Stadion, Halle Attendance: 11,000
		(12–14)
		Report

22 January 2007 19:30	Brazil	20–22	Argentina	Gerry Weber Stadion, Halle Attendance: 11,000
		(10–7)
		Report

20 January 2007 15:45	Czech Republic	37–23	Qatar	AWD-Dome, Bremen Attendance: 7,100
		(18–11)
		Report

20 January 2007 18:00	Spain	33–29	Egypt	AWD-Dome, Bremen Attendance: 7,500
		(16–16)
		Report

21 January 2007 15:45	Qatar	18–41	Spain	AWD-Dome, Bremen Attendance: 4,600
		(9–21)
		Report

21 January 2007 18:00	Egypt	30–31	Czech Republic	AWD-Dome, Bremen Attendance: 5,700
		(17–17)
		Report

22 January 2007 18:00	Egypt	35–24	Qatar	AWD-Dome, Bremen Attendance: 4,600
		(14–11)
		Report

22 January 2007 20:00	Spain	35–29	Czech Republic	AWD-Dome, Bremen Attendance: 6,400
		(19–15)
		Report

20 January 2007 18:15	Norway	41–13	Angola	Ostseehalle, Kiel Attendance: 10,000
		(21–8)
		Report

Preliminary round

Presidents-Cup

Main round

Knockout stage

Seedings

Group A

Group B

Group C

Group D

Group E

Group F

Group I

Group II

Group III

Group IV

23rd place game

21st place game

19th place game

17th place game

15th place game

13th place game

Group I

Group II

Bracket

Quarterfinals

5–8th place semifinals

Semifinals

Eleventh place game

Ninth place game

Seventh place game

Fifth place game

Third place game

Final

Final ranking

All Star Team

Other awards

Top goalscorers

Top goalkeepers

Related Articles

20 January 2007 20:15	Denmark	29–30	Hungary	Ostseehalle, Kiel Attendance: 10,000
		(11–13)
		Report

21 January 2007 18:15	Angola	20–39	Denmark	Ostseehalle, Kiel Attendance: 9,000
		(12–18)
		Report

21 January 2007 20:15	Hungary	25–22	Norway	Ostseehalle, Kiel Attendance: 9,000
		(15–12)
		Report

22 January 2007 18:15	Hungary	34–31	Angola	Ostseehalle, Kiel Attendance: 9,000
		(19–15)
		Report

22 January 2007 20:15	Denmark	27–25	Norway	Ostseehalle, Kiel Attendance: 9,000
		(15–13)
		Report

20 January 2007 16:00	Croatia	35–22	Morocco	Porsche-Arena, Stuttgart Attendance: 5,900
		(18–11)
		Report

20 January 2007 18:00	Russia	32–32	South Korea	Porsche-Arena, Stuttgart Attendance: 5,900 Referees: Krstić, Ljubič (SLO)
	Rastvortsev 7	(15–17)	Cho 8
	3× 5×	Report	3× 2×

21 January 2007 16:00	Morocco	19–35	Russia	Porsche-Arena, Stuttgart Attendance: 5,900 Referees: Krstić, Ljubič (SLO)
	El Morabet 5	(7–15)	Koksharov 11
	3× 6× 1×	Report	3× 2×

21 January 2007 18:00	South Korea	23–41	Croatia	Porsche-Arena, Stuttgart Attendance: 5,900
		(9–20)
		Report

22 January 2007 18:00	Morocco	19–32	South Korea	Porsche-Arena, Stuttgart Attendance: 5,900
		(9–14)
		Report