2007 World Men's Handball Championship – Qualification

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Qualification matches for the 2007 World Men's Handball Championship took place January 3 to June 18, 2006. 2006, mostly as continental championships. According to the IHF rules, each continent had three places (except Oceania, which had one), and the host (Germany) and holders (Spain) were automatically qualified. The other nine places are allocated to the continents according to performance in the 2005 World Men's Handball Championship. Thus:

Africa[edit]

The 2006 African Men's Handball Championship in Tunisia resulted in four teams qualifying for the tournament.[1]

Americas[edit]

The Pan-American qualifying events was scheduled to be held in Brazil in April 2006.[2] However, due to players' commitments with clubs in Europe, it was agreed to postpone the qualifying until June, and the tournament was eventually held from 6 June to 10 June at Aracaju.[3]

Eight teams participated, and Brazil and Argentina went through the group stages unbeaten, as the only teams with positive goal difference. The two top teams in each group qualified for the semi-finals: Greenland joined Brazil from Group A after two 32–30 wins over Chile and Uruguay, while in Group B United States qualified after drawing with Mexico and beating Puerto Rico.

In the semi-finals, Brazil and Argentina both won by more than ten goals, securing their place in Germany, while the third-place play-off saw Greenland prevail by one goal against United States to secure the third spot.[4]

Asia[edit]

Asia's qualifying events, the 2006 Asian Handball Championship took place in Thailand between 12 February and 21 February 2006.[5] Kuwait and South Korea qualified after winning the semi-finals,[6] while Qatar beat Iran 21–20 in the third-place play-off to be the final team to qualify[7]

Europe[edit]

Eleven places were at stake (Germany and Spain were already qualified), and the top three finishers at the 2006 European Men's Handball Championship in Switzerland in January and February 2006 qualified. As Spain qualified for the semi-final at that tournament, the other three semi-finalists – Croatia, Denmark and France – qualified. The other 11 participants at the European Championship played off with five winners in preliminary qualifying groups, which are shown below.

First round[edit]

Final standings (as of 20 January 2006):[8]

Group 1[edit]

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Greece 6 4 0 2 164 148 +16 8 Playoffs
2  Bosnia and Herzegovina 6 4 0 2 182 169 +13 8
3  Netherlands 6 2 0 4 159 181 −22 4
4  Italy 6 2 0 4 157 181 −24 4
Source: [citation needed]

Group 2[edit]

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Austria 6 5 0 1 205 161 +44 10 Playoffs
2  Finland 6 3 0 3 173 170 +3 6
3  Israel 6 3 0 3 171 173 −2 6
4  Bulgaria 6 1 0 5 153 198 −45 2
Source: [citation needed]

Group 3[edit]

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Czech Republic 6 5 0 1 219 149 +70 10 Playoffs
2  Macedonia 6 4 1 1 200 176 +24 9
3  Estonia 6 2 1 3 169 182 −13 5
4  Cyprus 6 0 0 6 133 214 −81 0
Source: [citation needed]

Group 4[edit]

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Romania 6 5 1 0 186 143 +43 16 Playoffs
2  Lithuania 6 3 1 2 174 149 +25 10
3  Latvia 6 2 0 4 177 169 +8 6
4  Luxembourg 6 1 0 5 129 205 −76 3
Source: [citation needed]

Group 5[edit]

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Sweden 6 6 0 0 223 139 +84 12 Playoffs
2  Belarus 6 4 0 2 189 160 +29 8
3  Turkey 6 2 0 4 140 197 −57 4
4  Belgium 6 0 0 6 155 211 −56 0
Source: [citation needed]

Play-offs[edit]

The play-off draw was made in Zürich on 5 February. The matches[9] are two-legged affairs, and were played in the second and third weekend of June. Teams in bold below qualified for the World Championship.[10]

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Greece  47–51  Poland 27–22 20–29
Portugal  47–55  Ukraine 21–30 26–25
Romania  56–57  Norway 29–30 27–27
Serbia and Montenegro  58–73  Czech Republic 31–37 27–36
Slovenia  67–51  Austria 36–26 31–25
Slovakia  52–65  Hungary 24–33 28–32
Sweden  54–57  Iceland 28–32 26–25
Switzerland  54–85  Russia 26–41 28–44

Oceania[edit]

The Oceanian qualifying tournament, took place in Dural, Sydney from 22 May to 24 May 2006, immediately before the Pacific Cup

Australia Australia qualified for the world championships after defeating New Zealand 41–14 and the Cook Islands 63–5.[11]

References and notes[edit]

  1. ^ (in German) Angola qualifiziert sich für die WM in Deutschland Archived 2007-09-29 at the Wayback Machine from the tournament's official website, retrieved 19 January 2006
  2. ^ Qualifying for the 2007 World Championships[dead link] from the International Handball Federation, retrieved 19 January 2006
  3. ^ 2007 Men's World Championship: Pan-American qualification rescheduled[dead link], from the International Handball Federation, retrieved 5 April 2006
  4. ^ WC Qualifying in Pan-America: Brazil ahead of Argentina and Greenland[dead link], from IHF, retrieved 18 June 2006
  5. ^ Asian Handball Championship - Group Stage Fixtures - goalzz.com, retrieved 27 February 2006
  6. ^ Asian Handball Championship - Semifinals - goalzz.com, retrieved 27 February 2006
  7. ^ Asian Handball Championship - Third-place play-off - goalzz.com, retrieved 27 February 2006
  8. ^ (in German) Rumänien bereits sicher in den play-offs Archived 2007-09-29 at the Wayback Machine from the tournament's official website, retrieved 20 January 2006
  9. ^ 2007 Men's World Championship play-off matches Archived 2007-09-28 at the Wayback Machine from euro06.com, retrieved 5 February 2006
  10. ^ 2007 - Men's World Championship / Play-off, from the European Handball Federation
  11. ^ 2007 Men's World Championship: Australia will represent Oceania [dead link], from IHF, retrieved 24 May 2006
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