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The 2025 Women’s Handball World Championship is co-hosted by two countries, Germany and the Netherlands. Defending champions France won the 2023 final, defeating home side Norway 31-28. Here’s everything you need to know about this year’s tournament!
Women’s Handball World Championship 2025 schedule
- Date: The tournament runs from November 26 to December 14.
- Final date: The final is scheduled for December 14 at 17:30.
- Venue: The Netherlands and Germany (the placement matches will be played in Rotterdam).
- Group stage: November 26 – December 2, 2025
- Round of 16: December 2–8, 2025
- Quarter-final: December 9–10, 2025
- Semi-final: December 12, 2025
- 3rd place match: December 14, 2025
- Final: December 14, 2025
Format
The 32 qualified teams were divided into eight groups of four. The top three finishers in each group advance to the main round (the bottom-placed teams compete in the President’s Cup for 25th place).
In the main round, the 24 advancing teams are placed into four groups of six, carrying over their head-to-head results from the preliminary group stage. The top two finishers from each of these six-team groups advance, forming the field for the round of 16. From that point on, the competition continues as a straight knockout format, concluding with the final and the bronze medal match (no matches are played for fifth or seventh place).
Women’s Handball World Championship 2025 Groups
The group draw is as follows:
- Group A (Rotterdam): Denmark, Romania, Japan, Croatia
- Group B (‘s-Hertogenbosch): HUNGARY, Switzerland, Senegal, Iran
- Group C (Stuttgart): Germany, Serbia, Iceland, Uruguay
- Group D (Trier): Montenegro, Spain, Faroe Islands, Paraguay
- Group E (Rotterdam): Netherlands, Austria, Argentina, Egypt
- Group F (‘s-Hertogenbosch): France, Poland, Tunisia, China
- Group G (Stuttgart): Sweden, Brazil, Czech Republic, Cuba
- Group H (Trier): Norway, Angola, South Korea, Kazakhstan
The top three teams from groups A and B advance to Main Round Group I, C and D to Group II, E and F to Group III, and G and H to Group IV, forming pools of six. In the round of 16, II1 faces IV2, IV1 faces II2, I1 faces III2, and III1 faces I2. One semifinal is contested by the winners of the first two round of 16 matches, while the other is played by the winners of the third and fourth round of 16 matches.
Women’s handball World Championship Hungarian matches – when does the Hungarian women’s handball team play?
The Hungarian national team begins their group stage campaign on November 27 against Senegal, then takes the field two days later against Iran. The Hungary-Switzerland match, which could be considered a group stage final, takes place on December 1.
- November 27, 2025, 20:30: Hungary-Senegal (M4 Sport)
- November 29, 2025, 20:30: Iran-Hungary (M4 Sport)
- December 1, 2025, 20:30: Hungary-Switzerland (M4 Sport)
The Hungarian women’s handball national team squad
Head coach Vladimir Golovin named the Hungarian women’s handball national team’s preliminary squad of 18 players for the 2025 Women’s Handball World Championship in early November.
In addition to players on maternity leave (Böde-Bíró, Győri-Lukács), Faluvégi, Juhász, Tóth, Pásztor, Kácsor, Petrus, and Szöllősi-Schatzl were also left out, while Fodor, Kovács, and Grosch made the squad.
HUNGARY WOMEN’S HANDBALL NATIONAL TEAM – 18-PLAYER WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Szemerey Zsófi (Győri ETO), Janurik Kinga (FTC), Bukovszky Anna (Esztergom)
Right wings: Kovács Anett (Esztergom), Grosch Vivien (DVSC)
Right backs: Klujber Katrin (FTC), Papp Nikoletta (CS Minaur Baia Mare), Albek Anna (Metz Handball)
Playmakers: Vámos Petra (Metz Handball), Simon Petra (FTC)
Centres: Tóvizi Petra (DVSC), Bordás Réka (FTC), Szmolek Apollónia (Esztergom)
Left backs: Kuczora Csenge (Thüringer HC), Faragó Lea (Esztergom), Csíkos Luca (Váci NKSE)
Left wings: Márton Gréta (FTC), Fodor Csenge (Győri ETO)
Head coach: Golovin Vlagyimir
Where can I watch the 2025 Women’s Handball World Championship?
In Hungary, the Women’s Handball World Championship will be broadcast on M4 Sport, and any matches not aired on television will almost certainly be available to follow on m4sport.hu.
Women’s Handball World Championship 2025 tickets
Tickets are still available for the 2025 Women’s Handball World Championship, and the safest place to purchase them is through the tournament’s official website (https://wkhandbal.tmtickets.nl/).
The Hungarian national team opens the tournament on November 27th against Senegal at 20:30, with the Switzerland vs. Iran match preceding it from 18:00 in ‘s-Hertogenbosch. Group stage tickets are sold in pairs (covering both the first and second group matches of the day), and seats are still available for the opening day.
Ticket prices for the Hungarian team’s opening day are as follows:
Children under 4 enter free of charge, but must sit on an adult’s lap.
Children’s tickets (ages 4–12): €13.25 – €20.25 (approx. 5,100 – 7,800 HUF).
Adult tickets: between 25 – 39.00 € (between 9600 – 15000 HUF).
2025 Women’s Handball World Championship odds/chances
According to the bookmakers, Norway are the favourites to win the 2025 Women’s Handball World Championship, followed by Denmark and France. Next comes one of the host nations, the Netherlands, then Hungary and Sweden, followed by Spain and Montenegro, while the other host nation, Germany, sits only ninth in the rankings.
- Norway @1.75
- Denmark @5.00
- France @6.60
- Netherlands @11.00
- Hungary @12.00
- Sweden @12.00
- Spain @21.00
- Montenegro @26.00
- Germany @30.00
Women’s Handball World Championship Results
The results of the 2025 Women’s Handball World Championship can be followed on the IHF official website. However, several apps are also suitable for tracking results, with eredmények.com being an absolutely solid choice.
Women’s Handball World Championship Analysis and Tips
If you want to add some extra excitement and place bets on the Hungarian national team’s matches, it’s worth choosing a good bookmaker. We recommend BetLabel not only for pre-match betting but also for live bets.
On BetLabel you’ll find extra features such as bet insurance, early cash out, and accumulator bet bonuses. On top of that, as a new registrant you can earn a sports betting bonus of up to 40,000 HUF.
