| Tourney Name: | 2023 World Women's Handball Championship |
| Size: | 325 |
| Country: | Denmark |
| Country2: | Norway |
| Country3: | Sweden |
| Num Teams: | 32 |
| Confederations: | 5 |
| Venues: | 6 |
| Cities: | 6 |
| Count: | 3 |
| Matches: | 112 |
| Goals: | 6013 |
| Top Scorer: | Markéta Jeřábková (63 goals) |
| Player: | Henny Reistad |
| Previous: | 2021 World Women's Handball Championship |
| Next: | 2025 World Women's Handball Championship |
The 2023 IHF World Women's Handball Championship was the 26th edition of the championship, organised by the International Handball Federation (IHF) from 29 November to 17 December 2023 and jointly hosted by Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It was the third time in handball history that the championship is jointly hosted, the first in Sweden, and also the first to be played in three countries.[1]
France won their third title after a finals win over Norway.[2] The bronze medal went to Denmark with a win over Sweden.[3]
After Russia's withdrawal, Denmark/Norway/Sweden and Hungary entered their bids for hosting the tournament, which was awarded to the three Nordic countries by IHF Council at its meeting held in Paris, France on 28 January 2017.[4]
The Nordic joint bid included the following six host cities and venues:
| Herning | Frederikshavn | Stavanger | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jyske Bank Boxen Capacity: 15,000 | Arena Nord Capacity: 2,800 | DNB Arena Capacity: 5,000 | |||||
| Trondheim | Helsingborg | Gothenburg | |||||
| Trondheim Spektrum Capacity: 8,800 | Helsingborg Arena Capacity: 5,500 | Scandinavium Capacity: 12,000 | |||||
The Hungarian bid included the same cities and venues as the bid that was presented for the 2021 championship.
| Competition | Dates | Host | Vacancies | Qualified | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Host countries | 28 January 2017 | 3 | |||
| 2022 European Championship | 4–20 November 2022 | 3[5] | |||
| European qualification | 2 November 2022 – 12 April 2023 | 10 | |||
| 2022 African Championship | 9–19 November 2022 | 4 | |||
| 2022 South and Central American Championship | 15–19 November 2022 | 2[6] | |||
| 2022 Asian Championship | 24 November – 4 December 2022 | 5 | |||
| 2023 Central American Championship | 28 February – 4 March 2023 | 2 | |||
| 2023 Nor.Ca. Women's Championship | 5–11 June 2023 | 1 | |||
| Wild card[7] | 3 July 2023 | 2 |
1. If a country from Oceania (Australia) participating in the Asian Championships finished within the top 5, it would have qualified for the World Championships. As it finished sixth or lower, the place was transferred to the wild card spot.
The official logo and slogan was unveiled on 30 August 2022. It features the colours blue, red and yellow, representing the flag colours of hosts Sweden, Norway and Denmark, with the circles symbolising a ball flying through the air at a rapid speed. The slogan: "Aim to Excite" was also unveiled the same day. The logo was designed by Danish brand agency Urgent.Agency.[8]
The official anthem of the competition is "Aiming For Number One", made and performed by Swedish DJ and producer Wahlstedt.[9] It is not the first anthem Wahlstedt has made for a handball competition ("All for us" for the 2020 European Men's Handball Championship).[10]
The draw took place on 6 July 2023 in Gothenburg, Sweden.[11] [12]
The seeding was announced on 3 July 2023.
23 referee pairs were selected on 27 October 2023.[13] On 1 December 2023, Novica Mitrović and Miljan Vešović from Montenegro were called up from the reserve list to referee.[14]
| Referees | ||
|---|---|---|
| Yousef Belkhiri Sid Ali Hamidi | ||
| María Paolantoni Mariana García | ||
| Denis Bolic Christoph Hurich | ||
| Amar Konjičanin Dino Konjičanin | ||
| Bruna Correa Renata Correa | ||
| Georgi Doychinov Yulian Goretsov | ||
| Cheng Yufeng Zhou Yunle | ||
| Mads Hansen Jesper Madsen | ||
| Yasmina El-Saied Heidy El-Saied | ||
| Yann Carmaux Julien Mursch | ||
| Maike Merz Tanja Kuttler | ||
| Kristóf Altmár Márton Horváth | ||
| Referees | ||
|---|---|---|
| Dalal Al-Naseem Maali Al-Enezi | ||
| Alexei Covalciuc Igor Covalciuc | ||
| Jelena Vujačić Anđelina Kažanegra | ||
| Novica Mitrović Miljan Vešović | ||
| Eskil Braseth Leif Sundet | ||
| Cristina Lovin Simona Stancu | ||
| Bojan Lah David Sok | ||
| Marko Sekulić Vladimir Jovandić | ||
| Andrej Budzák Michal Záhradník | ||
| Koo Bo-ok Lee Se-ok | ||
| Javier Álvarez Ion Bustamante | ||
| Mathias Sosa Cristian Lemes | ||
See main article: 2023 World Women's Handball Championship squads.
The schedule was announced on 1 March 2023.[15]
All times are local (UTC+1).[16]
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All points and goals obtained in the preliminary round against teams that advance as well, are carried over.
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Places 1 to 8 and 25 to 32 will be decided by play-off or knock-out. Teams finishing third in the main round will be ranked 9th to 12th, teams finishing fourth in the main round 13th to 16th, teams finishing fifth in the main round 17th to 20th and teams ranked sixth 21st to 24th. In case of a tie in points gained, the goal difference of the main round will be taken into account, then number of goals scored. If teams will still be equal, number of points gained in the preliminary round will be considered followed by the goal difference and then number of goals scored in the preliminary round.
| Rank | Team[17] | |
|---|---|---|
| 4 | ||
| 5 | ||
| 6 | ||
| 7 | ||
| 8 | ||
| 9 | ||
| 10 | ||
| 11 | ||
| 12 | ||
| 13 | ||
| 14 | ||
| 15 | ||
| 16 | ||
| 17 | ||
| 18 | ||
| 19 | ||
| 20 | ||
| 21 | ||
| 22 | ||
| 23 | ||
| 24 | ||
| 25 | ||
| 26 | ||
| 27 | ||
| 28 | ||
| 29 | ||
| 30 | ||
| 31 | ||
| 32 |
| Qualified for the 2024 Summer Olympics and the 2025 World Women's Handball Championship | ||
| Qualified for the 2024 Summer Olympics | ||
| Qualified for the 2024 Summer Olympics through other tournaments | ||
| Qualified for the Olympic Qualification Tournament | ||
| Qualified for the Olympic Qualification Tournament through other tournaments | ||
| Ineligible to qualify for the Olympics: Greenland do not have a National Olympic Committee recognized by the IOC |
The All-star Team was announced on 17 December 2023.[18]
| Position | Player | |
|---|---|---|
| Goalkeeper | Laura Glauser | |
| Left wing | Chloé Valentini | |
| Left back | Estelle Nze Minko | |
| Centre back | Stine Bredal Oftedal | |
| Right back | Louise Burgaard | |
| Right wing | Nathalie Hagman | |
| Pivot | Linn Blohm | |
| Best young player | Viola Leuchter | |
| Henny Reistad | ||
| Top scorer | Markéta Jeřábková |
| Rank | Name[19] | Goals | Shots | % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Markéta Jeřábková | 63 | 110 | 57 |
| 2 | Henny Reistad | 52 | 70 | 74 |
| 3 | Kristina Jørgensen | 47 | 74 | 64 |
| Angela Malestein | 66 | 71 | ||
| Eliza Buceschi | 63 | 75 | ||
| 6 | Veronika Malá | 46 | 64 | 72 |
| 7 | Nathalie Hagman | 43 | 57 | 75 |
| Dijana Mugoša | 62 | 69 | ||
| 9 | Camilla Herrem | 42 | 54 | 78 |
| 10 | Charlotte Cholevová | 41 | 70 | 59 |
| Fatemeh Merikh | 87 | 47 |
| Rank | Name[20] | % | Saves | Shots |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Irma Schjött | 58 | 18 | 31 |
| 2 | Olivia Lykke Nygaard | 56 | 10 | 18 |
| 3 | Marta Batinović | 51 | 40 | 78 |
| 4 | Anna Kristensen | 50 | 11 | 22 |
| 5 | Atsuko Baba | 49 | 26 | 53 |
| 6 | Silje Solberg-Østhassel | 40 | 65 | 161 |
| 7 | Lucija Bešen | 39 | 31 | 79 |
| Zsófi Szemerey | 12 | 31 | ||
| 9 | Rinka Duijndam | 38 | 28 | 73 |
| Tess Lieder | 18 | 47 | ||
| Yara ten Holte | 79 | 209 |