2026 IHF Men's Club World Championship
Club handball world championship
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The 2026 IHF Men's Club World Championship will be the 19th edition of the yearly club world championship in handball, held from 25 September to 1 October 2026 in New Administrative Capital, Egypt under the aegis of the International Handball Federation (IHF).[1]
Host
The Egyptian Handball Federation received a contract for three editions, starting in 2024. The tournament will be held in the New Capital Sports Hall in New Administrative Capital.[2]
Format
Six teams are seeded directly into the group stage, while the other four teams play a preliminary qualification, with the winners advancing and the losers play a placement game. In the group stage there are two groups of four teams, playing a round robin. After the group stage, the top team from each group play the final, the second-placed teams play for the third place and so on.[3]
Teams
Ten teams compete in the tournament: the continental representatives, the defending champion, the host team and two wild card teams.[4]
| Team | Qualified as |
|---|---|
 FC Barcelona[5] | Defending champion |
 Mountada Derb Sultan | Winner of African Handball Super Cup |
 Burgan SC[6] | Winner of Asian Club League Championship |
 Sydney University Handball Club[7] | Winner of Oceania Handball Champions Cup |
 Los Angeles THC[8] | Winner of North American and Caribbean Senior Club Championship |
 EC Pinheiros[9] | Winner of South and Central American Men's Club Handball Championship |
 Füchse Berlin | Runner-up of EHF Champions League |
 Al Ahly | Host |
 Veszprém | Wildcard |
| Zamalek SC | Wildcard |
Draw
The draw was held on 22 July 2026.[3][10]
Seeding
Preliminary qualification
Group stage
| Pot 1 | Pot 2 | Pot 3 | Pot 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
| FC Barcelona Füchse Berlin |
Al Ahly Mountada Derb Sultan |
Burgan SC EC Pinheiros |
PQ 1 winner PQ 2 winner |
Referees
The referee pairs were announced on 31 July 2026.[12]
| Referees | |
|---|---|
 Czech Republic | Václav Horáček Jiří Novotný |
 Denmark | Madas Hansen Jesper Madsen |
| Egypt | Mahmoud El-Beltagy Alaa Emam |
 France | Karim Gasmi RaoufGasmi |
| Referees | |
|---|---|
| Germany | Tanja Kuttler Maike Merz |
 Montenegro | Ivan Pavićević Miloš Ražnatović |
| Spain | Ignacio García Andreu Marín |
 Uruguay | Cristian Lemes Mathías Sosa |
Preliminary qualification
| 24 September 2026 17:30 |
Sydney University Handball Club |
v | Veszprém |
New Capital Sports Hall, New Administrative Capital |
| 24 September 2026 20:00 |
Los Angeles THC |
v | Zamalek SC |
New Capital Sports Hall, New Administrative Capital |
Group stage
Group A
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | FC Barcelona |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Final |
| 2 | Mountada Derb Sultan |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Third place game |
| 3 | EC Pinheiros |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Fifth place game |
| 4 | PQ 1 winner | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Seventh place game |
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.
| 25 September 2026 13:15 |
Mountada Derb Sultan |
v | PQ 1 winner | New Capital Sports Hall, New Administrative Capital |
| 25 September 2026 15:30 |
EC Pinheiros |
v | FC Barcelona |
New Capital Sports Hall, New Administrative Capital |
| 27 September 2026 13:15 |
Mountada Derb Sultan |
v | EC Pinheiros |
New Capital Sports Hall, New Administrative Capital |
| 27 September 2026 15:30 |
FC Barcelona |
v | PQ 1 winner | New Capital Sports Hall, New Administrative Capital |
| 29 September 2026 13:15 |
PQ 1 winner | v | EC Pinheiros |
New Capital Sports Hall, New Administrative Capital |
| 29 September 2026 15:30 |
FC Barcelona |
v | Mountada Derb Sultan |
New Capital Sports Hall, New Administrative Capital |
Group B
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Füchse Berlin |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Final |
| 2 | Al Ahly |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Third place game |
| 3 | Burgan SC |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Fifth place game |
| 4 | PQ 2 winner | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Seventh place game |
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.
| 25 September 2026 17:45 |
Burgan SC |
v | Füchse Berlin |
New Capital Sports Hall, New Administrative Capital |
| 25 September 2026 20:45 |
Al Ahly |
v | PQ 2 winner | New Capital Sports Hall, New Administrative Capital |
| 27 September 2026 17:45 |
Füchse Berlin |
v | PQ 2 winner | New Capital Sports Hall, New Administrative Capital |
| 27 September 2026 20:00 |
Al Ahly |
v | Burgan SC |
New Capital Sports Hall, New Administrative Capital |
| 29 September 2026 17:45 |
PQ 2 winner | v | Burgan SC |
New Capital Sports Hall, New Administrative Capital |
| 29 September 2026 20:00 |
Füchse Berlin |
v | Al Ahly |
New Capital Sports Hall, New Administrative Capital |
Placement games
Ninth place game
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LPQ1 | – | LPQ2 | 25 Sep | 27 Sep |
| 25 September 2026 11:00 |
LPQ1 | v | LPQ2 | New Capital Sports Hall, New Administrative Capital |
| 27 September 2026 11:00 |
LPQ2 | v | LPQ1 | New Capital Sports Hall, New Administrative Capital |
Seventh place game
| 1 October 2026 12:30 |
A4 | v | B4 | New Capital Sports Hall, New Administrative Capital |
Fifth place game
| 1 October 2026 15:00 |
A3 | v | B3 | New Capital Sports Hall, New Administrative Capital |
Third place game
| 1 October 2026 17:30 |
A2 | v | B2 | New Capital Sports Hall, New Administrative Capital |
Final
| 1 October 2026 20:00 |
A1 | v | B1 | New Capital Sports Hall, New Administrative Capital |