2021 World Men's Handball Championship – European qualification

The European qualification for the 2021 World Men's Handball Championship, in Egypt, would have been contested by the teams that did not qualify for the 2020 European Men's Handball Championship and the 20 teams that played the tournament but were not pre-qualified or failed to reach a qualifying ranking place. In total, 34 teams were competing for 10 places at the final tournament.

The qualification tournament was cancelled on 24 April 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with the EHF announcing the automatic qualification of the ten best-ranked teams in the EHF EURO 2020 that had not secured qualification.[1]

Format

The whole qualification process was different from previous campaigns. Denmark as defending World Champions were already qualified and three best-ranked teams of the 2020 European Men's Handball Championship also booked their direct ticket. Other teams participated in this qualification campaign, which was split into several stages.

Qualification Phase 1 comprised the 15 teams which haven't qualified for the EHF EURO 2020. They were playing a group phase format in the October 2019 and January 2020, with three groups of four nations and one of three. The four group winners advanced to the next phase.[2][3]

Qualification Phase 2 would have been consisted of two parts. Part 1 would have involved the four group winners from the Phase 1 alongside the four lowest-ranked EHF EURO 2020 teams, which do not take part in the 2020 IHF Men's Olympic Qualification Tournaments. Those eight teams would have played four matches in a two-legged play-off from 15 to 16 and 18 to 19 April 2020. The Part 2, played in June 2020, would have involved four Part 1 winners and the 16 remaining EHF EURO 2020 teams, which haven't qualified already for the final tournament.[4]

Qualification Phase 1

The draw took place at the EHF Office on 23 July 2019.[5]

Group 1

The group was played in a tournament format.[6]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Lithuania	3	3	0	93	71	+22	6	Qualification Phase 2 – Part 1
2	Slovakia	3	2	1	73	67	+6	4
3	Faroe Islands	3	1	2	75	85	−10	2
4	Luxembourg (H)	3	0	3	60	78	−18	0

Source: Eurohandball
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.
(H) Host.

10 January 2020 17:00	Lithuania	36–25	Faroe Islands	d'Coque, Luxembourg City Attendance: 100 Referees: Vešović, Mitrović (MNE)
	Drabavičius, Malašinskas 5	(18–12)	Selvig 6
	1× 4×	Report	3× 5×

10 January 2020 19:30	Slovakia	22–16	Luxembourg	d'Coque, Luxembourg City Attendance: 651 Referees: Nabokau, Kulik (BLR)
	Potisk 5	(11–9)	Bock 4
	1× 3×	Report	3× 5×

11 January 2020 15:00	Faroe Islands	26–27	Slovakia	d'Coque, Luxembourg City Attendance: 65 Referees: Nabokau, Kulik (BLR)
	Johansen 9	(13–14)	Straňovský 9
	4× 2× 1×	Report	2× 5×

11 January 2020 17:30	Luxembourg	22–32	Lithuania	d'Coque, Luxembourg City Attendance: 700 Referees: Vešović, Mitrović (MNE)
	Wirtz 10	(10–15)	Malašinskas 8
	2× 4× 1×	Report	1× 3×

12 January 2020 15:00	Lithuania	25–24	Slovakia	d'Coque, Luxembourg City Attendance: 130 Referees: Vešović, Mitrović (MNE)
	Malašinskas, Truchanovičius 8	(11–12)	Duriš 7
	1× 3×	Report	3× 4×

12 January 2020 17:30	Faroe Islands	24–22	Luxembourg	d'Coque, Luxembourg City Attendance: 1,100 Referees: Nabokau, Kulik (BLR)
	Johansen, Thomsen 4	(11–10)	Guden 6
	2× 6×	Report	1× 3×

Group 2

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Israel	6	4	1	1	169	150	+19	9	Qualification Phase 2 – Part 1
2	Greece	6	4	0	2	173	137	+36	8
3	Finland	6	3	1	2	165	157	+8	7
4	Cyprus	6	0	0	6	112	175	−63	0

Source: Eurohandball
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.

23 October 2019 17:30	Cyprus	18–31	Greece	Eleftheria Stadium, Nicosia Attendance: 300 Referees: Harabagiu, Stănescu (ROU)
	C.Argyrou, J.Argyrou 4	(8–18)	Tziras 8
	1× 4×	Report	3× 2×

23 October 2019 18:00	Israel	33–32	Finland	Drive in Arena, Tel Aviv Attendance: 1,000 Referees: Bíró, Kiss (HUN)
	Lumbroso 7	(21–16)	M.Granlund 8
	1× 4×	Report	3×

27 October 2019 15:00	Finland	30–20	Cyprus	Cocks Areena, Riihimäki Attendance: 600 Referees: Novikov, Rozhkov (UKR)
	Rönnberg 7	(13–15)	Paraskeva 7
	2× 3×	Report	3× 4×

27 October 2019 16:00	Greece	26–25	Israel	Lefkovrisi Sports Center, Kozani Attendance: 800 Referees: Jović, Arnautović (BIH)
	Tziras 6	(12–11)	Shkalim 6
	2× 3×	Report	3× 4×

2 January 2020 17:00	Greece	36–22	Finland	Lefkovrisi Sports Center, Kozani Attendance: 800 Referees: Pandžić, Mošorinski (SRB)
	Mallios 7	(17–13)	Helander 6
	2× 3×	Report	3× 5×

2 January 2020 19:00	Cyprus	23–33	Israel	Eleftheria Stadium, Nicosia Attendance: 300 Referees: Metalari, Nikolovski (MKD)
	J.Argyrou 11	(15–13)	Katz 8
	1× 6×	Report	1× 3×

4 January 2020 19:30	Israel	28–21	Cyprus	Drive in Arena, Tel Aviv Attendance: 1,200 Referees: Yovchev, Yovchev (BUL)
	five players 4	(12–10)	J.Argyrou 7
	3× 3×	Report	2× 5×

5 January 2020 16:00	Finland	32–28	Greece	Cocks Areena, Riihimäki Attendance: 600 Referees: Nygaard, Pedersen (DEN)
	Rönnberg 11	(16–14)	Mylonas 7
	3× 5×	Report	1× 4×

8 January 2020 17:00	Greece	30–16	Cyprus	Lefkovrisi Sports Center, Kozani Attendance: 500 Referees: Rauchs, Linster (LUX)
	Mallios 5	(15–8)	J.Argyrou, Demosthenous 6
	3× 2×	Report	1× 3×

8 January 2020 18:30	Finland	26–26	Israel	Cocks Areena, Riihimäki Attendance: 600 Referees: Baumgart, Wild (GER)
	Rönnberg 10	(12–7)	Levy, Sidi 5
	4× 7×	Report	3× 6×

11 January 2020 19:30	Israel	24–22	Greece	Drive in Arena, Tel Aviv Attendance: 1,800 Referees: Kaludjerović, Vujacić (MNE)
	Sidi 7	(11–9)	Arampatzis 6
	2× 7× 1×	Report	2× 3×

12 January 2020 17:00	Cyprus	14–23	Finland	Eleftheria Stadium, Nicosia Attendance: 200 Referees: Chrzan, Janas (POL)
	J.Argyrou 8	(6–9)	M.Granlund 6
	2×	Report	2× 2×

Group 3

The group was played in a tournament format.[6]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Romania	3	3	0	0	90	69	+21	6	Qualification Phase 2 – Part 1
2	Kosovo	3	1	1	1	77	79	−2	3
3	Georgia	3	1	0	2	73	84	−11	2
4	Italy (H)	3	0	1	2	75	83	−8	1

Source: Eurohandball
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.
(H) Host.

10 January 2020 18:00	Romania	29–24	Georgia	Pala Tedeschi, Benevento Attendance: 300 Referees: Argyridis, Mouttas (CYP)
	Grigoras 9	(16–13)	Chikovani 6
	3× 3×	Report	3× 6× 1×

10 January 2020 20:00	Italy	26–26	Kosovo	Pala Tedeschi, Benevento Attendance: 600 Referees: Geraets, Geraets (NED)
	Arcieri 6	(11–11)	Dedaj 8
	2×	Report	1× 3×

11 January 2020 18:00	Kosovo	21–32	Romania	Pala Tedeschi, Benevento Attendance: 300 Referees: Geraets, Geraets (NED)
	Gjuka 7	(7–15)	Botea 7
	1× 5×	Report	1× 3×

11 January 2020 20:00	Georgia	28–25	Italy	Pala Tedeschi, Benevento Attendance: 700 Referees: Argyridis, Mouttas (CYP)
	Tskhovrebadze 8	(13–11)	Skatar 7
	2× 4×	Report	2× 2×

12 January 2020 16:00	Kosovo	30–21	Georgia	Pala Tedeschi, Benevento Attendance: 500 Referees: Geraets, Geraets (NED)
	Jupa 8	(18–13)	Tskhovrebadze 5
	1× 7×	Report	2× 5×

12 January 2020 18:00	Italy	24–29	Romania	Pala Tedeschi, Benevento Attendance: 1,200 Referees: Argyridis, Mouttas (CYP)
	Parisini 5	(12–13)	Botea 8
	1× 1×	Report	2× 3×

Group 4

The group was played in a tournament format.[6]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Turkey (H)	2	2	0	66	53	+13	4	Qualification Phase 2 – Part 1
2	Belgium	2	1	1	49	53	−4	2
3	Estonia	2	0	2	49	58	−9	0

Source: Eurohandball
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.
(H) Host.

25 October 2019 17:00	Estonia	29–33	Turkey	Porsuk Spor Salonu, Eskişehir Attendance: 1,500 Referees: Mandák, Rudinský (SVK)
	three players 7	(14–18)	Pehlivan 11
	2× 8× 1×	Report	3× 9×

26 October 2019 17:00	Belgium	25–20	Estonia	Porsuk Spor Salonu, Eskişehir Attendance: 900 Referees: Mandák, Rudinský (SVK)
	Robyns 5	(11–9)	Patrail 10
	3× 6×	Report	2× 3×

27 October 2019 17:00	Turkey	33–24	Belgium	Porsuk Spor Salonu, Eskişehir Attendance: 2,400 Referees: Mandák, Rudinský (SVK)
	three players 6	(17–11)	Meulders 7
	3× 6×	Report	3× 3×

Qualification Phase 2

Part 1

The four group winners from the first qualification phase joined the four lowest-ranked teams from the EHF EURO 2020 (not taking part in the 2020 Olympics qualification tournaments) in the first part of the second qualification phase, which would be played over two legs on 15 and 16 April and 18 and 19 April 2020. The draw took place on 30 January 2020 at the EHF headquarters in Vienna, with the EHF EURO 2020 participants (Pot 1) hosting the teams from the first qualification phase (Pot 2) in the second leg.[4][7]

The matches were cancelled on 24 April 2020.[1]

Seeding pots

Pot 1	Pot 2
Latvia Bosnia and Herzegovina Russia Poland	Israel Lithuania Romania Turkey

Overview

On 25 March, the EHF announced that no matches will be played before June due to the coronavirus pandemic.[8]

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Turkey	M1	Russia	Cancelled	Cancelled
Romania	M2	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Cancelled	Cancelled
Poland	M3	Lithuania	Cancelled	Cancelled
Israel	M4	Latvia	Cancelled	Cancelled

Turkey	Cancelled	Russia	Porsuk Spor Salonu, Eskişehir
	Report

Russia	Cancelled	Turkey	Universal Sport Hall Igrovoy, Moscow
	Report

Romania	Cancelled	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Sala Polivalenta Lascăr Pană, Baia Mare
	Report

Bosnia and Herzegovina	Cancelled	Romania	KSC Bugojno, Bugojno
	Report

Poland	Cancelled	Lithuania	Orlen Arena, Płock
	Report

Lithuania	Cancelled	Poland	Siemens Arena, Vilnius
	Report

Israel	Cancelled	Latvia	Drive in Arena, Tel Aviv
	Report

Latvia	Cancelled	Israel	Vidzemes Olympic Centre, Valmiera
	Report

Part 2

In the second part of the second qualifying phase, the 16 teams from the EHF EURO 2020 not yet qualified for the final tournament (positions 4 to 20, excluding Denmark) would have joined the four aggregate winners of the first part of the second qualifying phase, which would have been played in home-and-away matches on 5 to 7 June and 9 to 11 June 2020. The ten aggregate winners would have advanced to the 2021 World Men's Handball Championship.[4] The draw was held on 9 March 2020.[9][10]

The matches were cancelled on 24 April 2020.[1]

Seeding pots

Pot 1	Pot 2
Slovenia Germany Portugal Sweden Austria Hungary Belarus Iceland Czech Republic France	North Macedonia Switzerland Netherlands Montenegro Ukraine Serbia M1 M2 M3 M4

Overview

The matches were rescheduled due to the coronavirus pandemic.[8]

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Switzerland	–	Iceland	Cancelled	Cancelled
M4	–	Portugal	Cancelled	Cancelled
Czech Republic	–	Montenegro	Cancelled	Cancelled
Sweden	–	M1	Cancelled	Cancelled
Slovenia	–	Serbia	Cancelled	Cancelled
M2	–	Hungary	Cancelled	Cancelled
North Macedonia	–	France	Cancelled	Cancelled
Ukraine	–	Germany	Cancelled	Cancelled
M3	–	Belarus	Cancelled	Cancelled
Austria	–	Netherlands	Cancelled	Cancelled

Switzerland	Cancelled	Iceland
	Report

Iceland	Cancelled	Switzerland
	Report

M4	Cancelled	Portugal
	Report

Portugal	Cancelled	M4
	Report

Czech Republic	Cancelled	Montenegro
	Report

Montenegro	Cancelled	Czech Republic
	Report

Sweden	Cancelled	M1
	Report

M1	Cancelled	Sweden
	Report

Slovenia	Cancelled	Serbia
	Report

Serbia	Cancelled	Slovenia
	Report

M2	Cancelled	Hungary
	Report

Hungary	Cancelled	M2
	Report

North Macedonia	Cancelled	France
	Report

France	Cancelled	North Macedonia
	Report

Ukraine	Cancelled	Germany
	Report

Germany	Cancelled	Ukraine
	Report

M3	Cancelled	Belarus
	Report

Belarus	Cancelled	M3
	Report

Austria	Cancelled	Netherlands
	Report

Netherlands	Cancelled	Austria
	Report

References

"Information on the future of the European handball season 2019/20". eurohandball.com. 24 April 2020.
"Fifteen European teams set for first 2021 Men's World Championship qualification phase". ihf.info. 22 October 2020.
"Double draw on the cards for World Championship and EHF EURO Qualification". eurohandball.com. 22 July 2019.
"World championship qualification procedure confirmed". eurohandball.com. 24 January 2020.
"15 nations discover EHF EURO and World championship qualification fate". eurohandball.com. 23 July 2019.
"Lithuania, Italy and Turkey secure World Championship hosting rights". eurohandball.com. 29 August 2019. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
"Eight teams to duel for place in next play-off phase on road to Egypt". eurohandball.com. 30 January 2020.
"EHF presents feasibility study for potential re-start of European handball". eurohandball.com. 25 March 2020.
"Men's World Championship 2021 qualification play-off draw set for 9 March in Vienna". eurohandball.com. 27 February 2020.
"EURO semi-finalists Slovenia in regional derby on path to Egypt". eurohandball.com. 9 March 2020.

External links

Eurohandball.com

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[Cancelled-1] "Information on the future of the European handball season 2019/20". eurohandball.com. 24 April 2020.

[2] "Fifteen European teams set for first 2021 Men's World Championship qualification phase". ihf.info. 22 October 2020.

[3] "Double draw on the cards for World Championship and EHF EURO Qualification". eurohandball.com. 22 July 2019.

[Qualification_procedure-4] "World championship qualification procedure confirmed". eurohandball.com. 24 January 2020.

[5] "15 nations discover EHF EURO and World championship qualification fate". eurohandball.com. 23 July 2019.

[tournament-6] "Lithuania, Italy and Turkey secure World Championship hosting rights". eurohandball.com. 29 August 2019. Retrieved 29 August 2017.

[7] "Eight teams to duel for place in next play-off phase on road to Egypt". eurohandball.com. 30 January 2020.

[Postponed-8] "EHF presents feasibility study for potential re-start of European handball". eurohandball.com. 25 March 2020.

[9] "Men's World Championship 2021 qualification play-off draw set for 9 March in Vienna". eurohandball.com. 27 February 2020.

[10] "EURO semi-finalists Slovenia in regional derby on path to Egypt". eurohandball.com. 9 March 2020.