2015 World Men's Handball Championship

The 2015 World Men's Handball Championship was the 24th staging of the World Men's Handball Championship, organised by the International Handball Federation (IHF). The final tournament was held for the first time in Qatar, from 15 January to 1 February 2015. The Qatari bid was selected over those of Norway, Poland and France after a vote by the IHF Council on 27 January 2011, in Malmö, Sweden.[2] This is the third time that the World Championship was hosted in the Middle East And North Africa, after Egypt in 1999 and Tunisia in 2005.

2015 World Men's Handball Championship
Tournament details
Host country Qatar
Dates15 January – 1 February
Teams24 (from 4 confederations)
Venue(s)3 (in 2 host cities)
Final positions
Champions France (5th title)
Runner-up Qatar
Third place Poland
Fourth place Spain
Tournament statistics
Matches88
Goals scored4805 (54.6 per match)
Attendance306,100 (3,478 per match)
Top scorer(s) Dragan Gajić (SVN) (71 goals)
Best player Thierry Omeyer (FRA)[1]
Next →

France won the final against Qatar 25–22 to win their fifth title,[3] a first in handball history while Qatar won their first ever medal.[4] Poland captured the bronze medal by defeating Spain 29–28 after extra time.[5] Denmark secured the fifth place by winning against Croatia which finished sixth and thus had the worst result in the past 13 years of international handball competing.

The competition was marred by numerous controversies throughout.

Venues

The games of the tournament were played in Doha and in the newly created town of Lusail.

Three new venues were constructed for the tournament:

  • Lusail Sports Arena[6] in the town of Lusail: with a capacity of 15,300 seats, Lusail hall became the main venue of the tournament. The hall opened in November 2014.
  • Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena in al-Sadd district of Doha with a capacity of 7,700 seats. The hall is part of the al-Sadd Club sports complex.
  • Duhail Handball Sports Hall in Duhail district of Doha with a capacity of 5,500 seats. The hall is part of the Qatar Handball Association (QHA) complex.
Lusail Doha
Lusail Sports Arena Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena Duhail Handball Sports Hall
Capacity: 15,300 Capacity: 7,700 Capacity: 5,500

Qualification

Twenty-four teams participated in the final tournament. Qatar, as hosts and Spain, as world champions, were automatically qualified, which left 22 places available for the best teams of each continental qualification tournament and the winners of an additional European qualification competition.

In a decision taken by the International Handball Federation on 8 July 2014 the spot allocated for a nation from Oceania was revoked on the grounds that Oceania has no continental confederation. The national team, qualified for this spot through the 2014 Oceania Handball Championship, was Australia. The spot was instead handed out as a wild card to the nation with the highest ranking at the previous world championships not qualified for the Qatar tournament. This nation was Germany.[7] Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates withdrew on 7 November 2014.[8][9] Iceland and Saudi Arabia were chosen as the replacements.[10]

Competition Dates Vacancies Qualified
Host nation 27 January 2011 1  Qatar
2013 World Champions 11–27 January 2013 1  Spain
2014 African Men's Handball Championship 16–25 January 2014 3  Algeria
 Egypt
 Tunisia
2014 European Men's Handball Championship 12–26 January 2014 3  Croatia
 Denmark
 France
2014 Asian Men's Handball Championship 24 January – 4 February 2014 3  Bahrain[8]
 Iran
 United Arab Emirates[9]
2014 Oceania Handball Championship 25–26 April 2014 1  Australia[7]
European qualification 7–15 June 2014 9  Austria
 Belarus
 Bosnia and Herzegovina
 Czech Republic
 Macedonia
 Poland
 Russia
 Slovenia
 Sweden
2014 Pan American Men's Handball Championship 23–29 June 2014 3  Argentina
 Brazil
 Chile
Wildcard 8 July 2014 1  Germany[7]
Wildcards 21 November 2014 2  Iceland[10]
 Saudi Arabia[10]

Qualified teams
CountryQualified asQualified onPrevious appearances1, 2
 Qatar00Hosts27 January 20114 (2003, 2005, 2007, 2013)
 Spain01World champions27 January 201317 (1958, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013)
 DenmarkFinalist of 2014 European Championship22 January 201420 (1938, 1954, 1958, 1961, 1964, 1967, 1970, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1993, 1995, 1999, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013)
 FranceFinalist of 2014 European Championship22 January 201419 (1954, 1958,1961, 1964,1967,1970, 1978, 1990, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013)
 CroatiaFourth of 2014 European Championship22 January 201410 (1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013)
 AlgeriaFinalist of 2014 African Championship24 January 201413 (1974, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2009, 2011, 2013)
 TunisiaFinalist of 2014 African Championship24 January 201411 (1967, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013)
 EgyptThird place of 2014 African Championship25 January 201412 (1964, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013)
 Bahrain[8]Finalist of 2014 Asian Championship1 February 20141 (2011)
 IranSemifinalist of 2014 Asian Championship2 February 20140 (debut)
 United Arab Emirates[9]Semifinalist of 2014 Asian Championship3 February 20140 (debut)
 Australia[7]Winner of 2014 Oceania Championship26 April 20147 (1999, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013)
 PolandEuropean playoffs14 June 201413 (1958, 1967, 1970, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990, 2003, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013)
 RussiaEuropean playoffs14 June 201410 (1993, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2013)
 Czech RepublicEuropean playoffs14 June 20145 (1995, 1997, 2001, 2005, 2007)
 AustriaEuropean playoffs14 June 20144 (1938, 1958, 1993, 2011)
 SwedenEuropean playoffs15 June 201421 (1938, 1954, 1958, 1961, 1964, 1967, 1970, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2009, 2011)
 SloveniaEuropean playoffs15 June 20146 (1995, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2013)
 MacedoniaEuropean playoffs15 June 20143 (1999, 2009, 2013)
 BelarusEuropean playoffs15 June 20142 (1995, 2013)
 Bosnia and HerzegovinaEuropean playoffs15 June 20140 (debut)
 BrazilFinalist of 2014 Pan American Championship28 June 201411 (1958, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013)
 ArgentinaFinalist of 2014 Pan American Championship28 June 20149 (1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013)
 ChileThird at 2014 Pan American Championship29 June 20142 (2011, 2013)
 Germany[7]Wildcard8 July 201422 (1938, 1954, 1958, 1961, 1964, 1967, 1970, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1986, 19903, 1993, 1995, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013)
 Iceland[10]Wildcard21 November 201417 (1958, 1961, 1964, 1970, 1974, 1978, 1986, 1990, 1993, 1995, 1997, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2011, 2013)
 Saudi Arabia[10]Wildcard21 November 20146 (1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2009, 2013)
1 Bold indicates champion for that year
2 Italics indicates host country for that year
3 From both German teams only East Germany was qualified in 1990

Draw

The draw was held on 20 July 2014 at 21:30 local time in Doha, Qatar.[11][12]

Seedings

The seedings were published on 11 July 2014.[13]

Pot 1 Pot 2 Pot 3 Pot 4 Pot 5 Pot 6

Squads
Main article: 2015 World Men's Handball Championship squads

Each team selects 16 players for the tournament.

Referees

18 referee pairs are selected:[14]

Preliminary round

The schedule was published on 21 August 2014.[15][16] A new schedule was released on 12 December 2014.[17][18] The top four teams from each group advanced to the knockout stage.

Tie-breaking criteria

For the group stage of this tournament, where two or more teams in a group tied on an equal number of points, the finishing positions will be determined by the following tie-breaking criteria in the following order:[19]

  1. number of points obtained in the matches among the teams in question
  2. goal difference in the matches among the teams in question
  3. number of goals scored in the matches among the teams in question (if more than two teams finish equal on points)
  4. goal difference in all the group matches
  5. number of goals scored in all the group matches
  6. drawing of lots
Team advanced to the knockout stage

All times are local (UTC+3).

Group A
Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Spain 5 5 0 0 162 127 +35 10
 Qatar 5 4 0 1 137 122 +15 8
 Slovenia 5 3 0 2 160 145 +15 6
 Brazil 5 2 0 3 146 143 +3 4
 Belarus 5 1 0 4 147 155 −8 2
 Chile 5 0 0 5 104 164 −60 0
Source:
15 January 2015
20:30		 Qatar  28–23  Brazil Lusail Sports Arena, Lusail
Attendance: 11,500
Referees: Milošević, Gubica (CRO)
Hassab Alla, Marković 6 (15–12) Chiuffa 6
3× 4× Report 3× 5× 1×
16 January 2015
17:00		 Spain  38–33  Belarus Duhail Handball Sports Hall, Doha
Attendance: 1,200
Referees: Novotný, Horáček (CZE)
Aguinagalde, Maqueda 6 (21–17) Tsitou 5
3× 2× Report 3× 3× 2×
16 January 2015
17:00		 Slovenia  36–23  Chile Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena, Doha
Attendance: 1,500
Referees: Rashed, El-Sayed (EGY)
Gajić 9 (16–14) R. Salinas 10
3× 8× Report 1× 6×
17 January 2015
17:00		 Brazil  27–29  Spain Duhail Handball Sports Hall, Doha
Attendance: 800
Referees: Nachevski, Nikolov (MKD)
Ribeiro, Toledo 5 (14–15) Cañellas 9
4× 5× Report 3× 2×
17 January 2015
17:00		 Belarus  29–34  Slovenia Lusail Sports Arena, Lusail
Attendance: 4,000
Referees: Krichen, Makhlouf (TUN)
D. Rutenka 6 (8–17) Gajić 15
3× 5× Report 4× 8× 1×
17 January 2015
19:00		 Chile  20–27  Qatar Lusail Sports Arena, Lusail
Attendance: 4,500
Referees: Reveret, Pichon (FRA)
Oneto 5 (9–15) Marković 11
3× 5× Report 3× 2×
19 January 2015
17:00		 Spain  37–16  Chile Duhail Handball Sports Hall, Doha
Attendance: 500
Referees: Lee, Koo (KOR)
Rivera Folch 7 (14–7) Araya, Frelijj 3
3× 3× Report 4× 1×
19 January 2015
17:00		 Belarus  29–34  Brazil Lusail Sports Arena, Lusail
Attendance: 3,000
Referees: Rashed, El-Sayed (EGY)
three players 6 (12–16) Ribeiro 9
3× 5× Report 4× 5×
19 January 2015
19:00		 Slovenia  29–31  Qatar Lusail Sports Arena, Lusail
Attendance: 9,500
Referees: Gjeding, Hansen (DEN)
Dolenec 8 (15–18) Capote 12
3× 7× Report 4× 5×
21 January 2015
17:00		 Slovenia  35–32  Brazil Duhail Handball Sports Hall, Doha
Attendance: 500
Referees: Reveret, Pichon (FRA)
Gajić 12 (19–18) Ribeiro 7
2× 5× Report 3× 5×
21 January 2015
17:00		 Chile  23–34  Belarus Lusail Sports Arena, Lusail
Attendance: 800
Referees: Hizaki, Ikebuchi (JPN)
R. Salinas 6 (11–14) Pukhouski, S. Rutenka 8
2× 7× 1× Report 3× 5×
21 January 2015
19:00		 Qatar  25–28  Spain Lusail Sports Arena, Lusail
Attendance: 12,400
Referees: Nikolić, Stojković (SRB)
Marković 10 (10–8) Rivera Folch 7
2× 1× Report 3× 5×
23 January 2015
17:00		 Brazil  30–22  Chile Lusail Sports Arena, Lusail
Attendance: 2,500
Referees: Krichen, Makhlouf (TUN)
Pacheco Filho 7 (12–13) five players 3
1× 5× Report 4× 7× 1×
23 January 2015
17:00		 Spain  30–26  Slovenia Duhail Handball Sports Hall, Doha
Attendance: 1,000
Referees: Geipel, Helbig (GER)
Rivera Folch 6 (14–10) four players 4
3× 2× 1× Report 3× 5×
23 January 2015
19:00		 Qatar  26–22  Belarus Lusail Sports Arena, Lusail
Attendance: 10,000
Referees: Novotný, Horáček (CZE)
Marković 9 (7–12) D. Rutenka 7
2× 3× Report 4× 6×

Group B
Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Croatia 5 5 0 0 158 124 +34 10
 Macedonia 5 4 0 1 153 138 +15 8
 Austria 5 2 1 2 147 140 +7 5
 Tunisia 5 2 1 2 132 133 −1 5
 Bosnia and Herzegovina 5 1 0 4 118 128 −10 2
 Iran 5 0 0 5 127 172 −45 0
Source:
16 January 2015
15:00		 Bosnia and Herzegovina  30–25  Iran Lusail Sports Arena, Lusail
Attendance: 4,000
Referees: Koo, Lee (KOR)
Čelica 6 (12–16) A. Esteki 7
3× 8× Report 4× 8×
16 January 2015
17:00		 Macedonia  33–25  Tunisia Lusail Sports Arena, Lusail
Attendance: 5,000
Referees: Geipel, Helbig (GER)
K. Lazarov 10 (18–14) Tej 6
3× 7× Report 3× 6×
16 January 2015
19:00		 Croatia  32–30  Austria Duhail Handball Sports Hall, Doha
Attendance: 750
Referees: Gatelis, Mažeika (LTU)
Čupić 11 (16–13) Szilágyi, Weber 7
3× 6× Report 4× 7× 1×
17 January 2015
19:00		 Tunisia  25–28  Croatia Duhail Handball Sports Hall, Doha
Attendance: 4,000
Referees: López, Ramírez (ESP)
Bannour 9 (13–14) Čupić 8
3× 6× Report 3× 5×
17 January 2015
19:00		 Iran  31–33  Macedonia Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena, Doha
Attendance: 1,000
Referees: Al-Suwaidi, Bamutref (QAT)
A. Esteki 9 (17–19) K. Lazarov 9
4× 7× 1× Report 2× 7×
17 January 2015
21:00		 Austria  23–21  Bosnia and Herzegovina Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena, Doha
Attendance: 1,000
Referees: Menezes, Pinto (BRA)
Szilágyi, Weber 4 (11–12) Malinović 6
3× 8× Report 4× 6× 1×
19 January 2015
19:00		 Bosnia and Herzegovina  22–25  Macedonia Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena, Doha
Attendance: 2,000
Referees: Gatelis, Mažeika (LTU)
Burić, Malinović 4 (11–13) Manaskov 6
2× 5× Report 3× 6× 1×
19 January 2015
19:00		 Croatia  41–22  Iran Duhail Handball Sports Hall, Doha
Attendance: 500
Referees: Geipel, Helbig (GER)
Horvat 12 (19–13) S. Esteki 6
2× 3× Report 1× 3×
19 January 2015
21:00		 Austria  25–25  Tunisia Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena, Doha
Attendance: 4,500
Referees: Nikolić, Stojković (SRB)
Weber 9 (14–15) Sanaï, Tej 5
3× 4× Report 3× 5×
21 January 2015
17:00		 Iran  26–38  Austria Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena, Doha
Attendance: 500
Referees: Rashed, El-Sayed (EGY)
S. Esteki 7 (13–18) Santos 8
1× 5× Report 3× 5×
21 January 2015
19:00		 Bosnia and Herzegovina  24–27  Tunisia Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena, Doha
Attendance: 5,500
Referees: Santos, Fonseca (POR)
Malinović 5 (14–15) Boughanmi 7
4× 6× Report 3× 5×
21 January 2015
19:00		 Macedonia  26–29  Croatia Duhail Handball Sports Hall, Doha
Attendance: 2,000
Referees: Novotný, Horáček (CZE)
K. Lazarov 7 (14–15) Čupić 9
4× 6× Report 4× 6×
23 January 2015
17:00		 Tunisia  30–23  Iran Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena, Doha
Attendance: 4,500
Referees: Kliko, Johansson (SWE)
Touati 7 (12–12) Karamian 4
4× 3× Report 1× 5×
23 January 2015
19:00		 Macedonia  36–31  Austria Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena, Doha
Attendance: 1,000
Referees: Gjeding, Hansen (DEN)
K. Lazarov 9 (16–16) Weber 8
2× 5× Report 2× 7× 1×
23 January 2015
19:00		 Croatia  28–21  Bosnia and Herzegovina Duhail Handball Sports Hall, Doha
Attendance: 800
Referees: Reveret, Pichon (FRA)
Karačić 6 (17–8) Toromanović 7
3× 4× Report 2× 6× 1×

Group C
Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 France 5 4 1 0 143 128 +15 9
 Sweden 5 3 1 1 137 109 +28 7
 Iceland 5 2 1 2 127 135 −8 5
 Egypt 5 2 1 2 135 125 +10 5
 Czech Republic 5 2 0 3 145 138 +7 4
 Algeria 5 0 0 5 109 161 −52 0
Source:
16 January 2015
19:00		 Algeria  20−34  Egypt Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena, Doha
Attendance: 5,500
Referees: López, Ramírez (ESP)
Kaabeche 6 (9−17) Issa 5
3× 6× Report 3× 7×
16 January 2015
21:00		 France  30−27  Czech Republic Duhail Handball Sports Hall, Doha
Attendance: 1,800
Referees: Gjeding, Hansen (DEN)
Guigou, Karabatić 7 (16−9) Horák 8
2× 6× Report 3× 10× 1×
16 January 2015
21:00		 Sweden  24−16  Iceland Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena, Doha
Attendance: 1,000
Referees: Menezes, Pinto (BRA)
Ekberg 7 (12−7) Atlason 5
3× 7× Report 3× 6×
18 January 2015
19:00		 Iceland  32–24  Algeria Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena, Doha
Attendance: 2,000
Referees: Milošević, Gubica (CRO)
Sigurðsson 8 (12–13) Berkous 5
3× 6× 1× Report 4× 3×
18 January 2015
21:00		 Czech Republic  22–36  Sweden Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena, Doha
Attendance: 1,000
Referees: Geipel, Helbig (GER)
Babák, Sobol 5 (10–19) Andersson 10
3× 6× 1× Report 3× 5×
18 January 2015
21:00		 Egypt  24–28  France Duhail Handball Sports Hall, Doha
Attendance: 4,500
Referees: Krstić, Ljubič (SLO)
Amer 5 (11–14) Karabatić 6
3× 10× Report 3× 7×
20 January 2015
19:00		 Czech Republic  24–27  Egypt Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena, Doha
Attendance: 6,500
Referees: Al-Suwaidi, Bamutref (QAT)
Hrstka 5 (10–13) El-Ahmar 5
3× 4× Report 3× 9×
20 January 2015
21:00		 France  26–26  Iceland Duhail Handball Sports Hall, Doha
Attendance: 2,500
Referees: Santos, Fonseca (POR)
Karabatić 6 (12–14) Hallgrímsson, Pálmarsson 5
3× 5× 1× Report 4× 7×
20 January 2015
21:00		 Sweden  27–19  Algeria Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena, Doha
Attendance: 1,000
Referees: Nachevski, Nikolov (MKD)
Källman 6 (15–6) Daoud 6
3× 6× 1× Report 3× 4×
22 January 2015
19:00		 Sweden  25–25  Egypt Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena, Doha
Attendance: 7,000
Referees: Milošević, Gubica (CRO)
Ekberg 10 (10–10) El-Ahmar 9
3× 6× Report 3× 7× 1×
22 January 2015
21:00		 Iceland  25–36  Czech Republic Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena, Doha
Attendance: 500
Referees: Lee, Koo (KOR)
Guðjónsson 5 (11–21) Jícha 11
2× 7× Report 3× 6×
22 January 2015
21:00		 Algeria  26–32  France Duhail Handball Sports Hall, Doha
Attendance: 2,000
Referees: Nikolić, Stojković (SRB)
Berkous 11 (12–19) Guigou 7
3× 9× Report 3× 5×
24 January 2015
19:00		 Egypt  25–28  Iceland Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena, Doha
Attendance: 5,500
Referees: Nikolić, Stojković (SRB)
Issa, Radwan 5 (10–15) Sigurðsson 13
3× 4× Report 2× 7×
24 January 2015
21:00		 Algeria  20–36  Czech Republic Duhail Handball Sports Hall, Doha
Attendance: 500
Referees: Hizaki, Ikebuchi (JPN)
Daoud, Hamoud 5 (10–21) Jícha 7
3× 1× Report 3× 3×
24 January 2015
21:00		 France  27–25  Sweden Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena, Doha
Attendance: 3,000
Referees: López, Ramírez (ESP)
Joli 9 (11–12) Källman 8
4× 2× 1× Report 3× 4×

Group D
Russia vs Denmark at the Lusail Sports Arena
Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Germany 5 4 1 0 150 124 +26 9
 Denmark 5 3 2 0 154 127 +27 8
 Poland 5 3 0 2 135 121 +14 6
 Argentina 5 2 1 2 132 123 +9 5
 Russia 5 1 0 4 133 131 +2 2
 Saudi Arabia 5 0 0 5 87 165 −78 0
Source:
16 January 2015
15:00		 Russia  27–17  Saudi Arabia Duhail Handball Sports Hall, Doha
Attendance: 500
Referees: Hizaki, Ikebuchi (JPN)
Dereven, Zhitnikov 4 (17–9) Al-Abbas, Al-Hannabi 4
2× 6× 1× Report 4× 9×
16 January 2015
19:00		 Poland  26−29  Germany Lusail Sports Arena, Lusail
Attendance: 3,500
Referees: Nachevski, Nikolov (MKD)
Lijewski 7 (13−17) Weinhold 9
4× 5× Report 3× 6×
16 January 2015
21:00		 Denmark  24−24  Argentina Lusail Sports Arena, Lusail
Attendance: 1,000
Referees: Krstić, Ljubič (SLO)
Eggert 5 (13−8) Pizarro 8
3× 7× Report 3× 7× 1×
18 January 2015
19:00		 Argentina  23–24  Poland Duhail Handball Sports Hall, Doha
Attendance: 3,000
Referees: Novotný, Horáček (CZE)
three players 5 (12–11) three players 5
3× 6× 1× Report 4× 7×
18 January 2015
19:00		 Germany  27–26  Russia Lusail Sports Arena, Lusail
Attendance: 600
Referees: Kliko, Johansson (SWE)
Gensheimer 9 (9–13) Igropulo 6
3× 7× Report 4× 8×
18 January 2015
21:00		 Saudi Arabia  18–38  Denmark Lusail Sports Arena, Lusail
Attendance: 600
Referees: Rashed, El-Sayed (EGY)
Al-Janabi, Moj. Al-Salem 4 (6–20) H. Toft Hansen 8
2× 4× Report 3× 3×
20 January 2015
19:00		 Poland  26–25  Russia Lusail Sports Arena, Lusail
Attendance: 1,000
Referees: Krstić, Ljubič (SLO)
Rojewski 6 (12–13) Shishkarev 7
3× 5× Report 2× 5×
20 January 2015
19:00		 Argentina  32–20  Saudi Arabia Duhail Handball Sports Hall, Doha
Attendance: 1,000
Referees: Krichen, Makhlouf (TUN)
Pizarro 7 (13–11) Al-Janabi 5
4× 6× Report 3× 12× 2×
20 January 2015
21:00		 Denmark  30–30  Germany Lusail Sports Arena, Lusail
Attendance: 2,000
Referees: López, Ramírez (ESP)
Christiansen, Hansen 6 (16–16) Weinhold 8
3× 3× Report 4× 5×
22 January 2015
19:00		 Poland  32–13  Saudi Arabia Duhail Handball Sports Hall, Doha
Attendance: 800
Referees: Kliko, Johansson (SWE)
Syprzak 10 (17–6) Al-Abdulali 4
3× 3× Report 3× 4× 1×
22 January 2015
19:00		 Germany  28–23  Argentina Lusail Sports Arena, Lusail
Attendance: 5,500
Referees: Gatelis, Mažeika (LTU)
Groetzki 7 (13–14) Fernández 6
3× 6× Report 4× 6×
22 January 2015
21:00		 Russia  28–31  Denmark Lusail Sports Arena, Lusail
Attendance: 10,500
Referees: Nachevski, Nikolov (MKD)
Shishkarev 8 (8–16) Lauge 9
3× 1× Report 3× 2×
24 January 2015
19:00		 Saudi Arabia  19–36  Germany Lusail Sports Arena, Lusail
Attendance: 3,500
Referees: Santos, Fonseca (POR)
three players 3 (8–18) Musche, Sellin 11
3× 6× Report 3× 5×
24 January 2015
19:00		 Russia  27–30  Argentina Duhail Handball Sports Hall, Doha
Attendance: 500
Referees: Al-Suwaidi, Bamutref (QAT)
Shishkarev 7 (16–17) Pizarro 9
3× 8× 1× Report 4× 4× 1×
24 January 2015
21:00		 Denmark  31–27  Poland Lusail Sports Arena, Lusail
Attendance: 6,000
Referees: Milošević, Gubica (CRO)
Lindberg 6 (16–12) Rojewski 5
3× 5× Report 4× 3×

Knockout stage
The final match, Qatar vs France

Championship
Round of 16   Quarterfinals   Semifinals   Final
B1  Croatia 26  
A4  Brazil 25     B1  Croatia 22  
D3  Poland 24     D3  Poland 24  
C2  Sweden 20       D3  Poland 29  
B3  Austria 27       A2  Qatar 31  
A2  Qatar 29     A2  Qatar 26
D1  Germany 23     D1  Germany 24  
C4  Egypt 16       A2  Qatar 22
C3  Iceland 25       C1  France 25
D2  Denmark 30     D2  Denmark 24  
A1  Spain 28     A1  Spain 25  
B4  Tunisia 20       A1  Spain 22
A3  Slovenia 30       C1  France 26  
B2  Macedonia 28     A3  Slovenia 23 Third place
C1  France 33     C1  France 32   D3  Poland 29
D4  Argentina 20   A1  Spain 28

Round of 16
25 January 2015
18:30		 Austria  27–29  Qatar Lusail Sports Arena, Lusail
Attendance: 12,200
Referees: Milošević, Gubica (CRO)
Weber 8 (14–13) Marković 8
4× 7× Report 2× 4×
25 January 2015
18:30		 Slovenia  30–28  Macedonia Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena, Doha
Attendance: 800
Referees: Gatelis, Mažeika (LTU)
Gajić 9 (16–15) Georgievski, K. Lazarov 7
4× 9× Report 3× 4× 1×
25 January 2015
21:00		 Spain  28–20  Tunisia Lusail Sports Arena, Lusail
Attendance: 5,500
Referees: Nachevski, Nikolov (MKD)
Ugalde 6 (18–9) Boughanmi 5
3× 5× Report 3× 3×
25 January 2015
21:00		 Croatia  26–25  Brazil Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena, Doha
Attendance: 800
Referees: Al-Suwaidi, Bamutref (QAT)
Kopljar 5 (13–15) Silva 5
2× 1× Report 3× 5×
26 January 2015
18:30		 Germany  23–16  Egypt Lusail Sports Arena, Lusail
Attendance: 12,500
Referees: Novotný, Horáček (CZE)
Gensheimer 6 (12–8) El-Ahmar, Issa 4
3× 7× Report 3× 5× 1×
26 January 2015
18:30		 Poland  24–20  Sweden Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena, Doha
Attendance: 1,500
Referees: Krstić, Ljubič (SLO)
B. Jurecki, M. Jurecki 5 (10–11) Petersen 5
2× 3× Report 3× 6×
26 January 2015
21:00		 Iceland  25–30  Denmark Lusail Sports Arena, Lusail
Attendance: 3,000
Referees: Reveret, Pichon (FRA)
Petersson 7 (10–16) Lauge Schmidt 6
4× 2× Report 3× 5×
26 January 2015
21:00		 France  33–20  Argentina Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena, Doha
Attendance: 1,500
Referees: Gjeding, Hansen (DEN)
Porte 6 (16–6) Carou 4
2× 4× Report 2× 1×

Quarterfinals
28 January 2015
18:30		 Croatia  22–24  Poland Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena, Doha
Attendance: 1,500
Referees: Gjeding, Hansen (DEN)
Duvnjak, Kopljar 5 (10–12) Jurkiewicz 6
3× 3× Report 4× 3×
28 January 2015
18:30		 Qatar  26–24  Germany Lusail Sports Arena, Lusail
Attendance: 15,000
Referees: Nachevski, Nikolov (MKD)
Capote 8 (18–14) Gensheimer 5
3× 2× Report 4× 3×
28 January 2015
21:00		 Slovenia  23–32  France Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena, Doha
Attendance: 2,500
Referees: Novotný, Horáček (CZE)
L. Žvižej 6 (10–18) Narcisse 6
4× 5× Report 2× 2×
28 January 2015
21:00		 Denmark  24–25  Spain Lusail Sports Arena, Lusail
Attendance: 9,000
Referees: Geipel, Helbig (GER)
Eggert, Hansen 6 (11–11) Rivera Folch 10
4× 3× Report 3× 3×

Semifinals
30 January 2015
18:30		 Poland  29–31  Qatar Lusail Sports Arena, Lusail
Attendance: 15,000
Referees: Nikolić, Stojković (SRB)
Jurecki 9 (13–16) Capote, Mallash 6
3× 5× Report 3× 2×
30 January 2015
21:00		 Spain  22–26  France Lusail Sports Arena, Lusail
Attendance: 9,000
Referees: Krstić, Ljubič (SLO)
Cañellas, Ugalde 5 (14–18) Guigou 5
3× 3× Report 3× 3×

Bronze medal game
1 February 2015
16:30		 Poland  29–28 (ET)  Spain Lusail Sports Arena, Lusail
Attendance: 9,400
Referees: Gjeding, Hansen (DEN)
Szyba 8 (13–13) Tomás 7
3× 4× Report 2× 1×

FT: 24–24 ET: 5–4

Final
1 February 2015
19:15		 Qatar  22–25  France Lusail Sports Arena, Lusail
Attendance: 15,000
Referees: Novotný, Horáček (CZE)
Marković 7 (11–14) Karabatić 5
3× 4× Report 4× 2×

5–8th place playoffs
 
SemifinalsFifth place
 
      
 
30 January
 
 
 Croatia28
 
31 January
 
 Germany23
 
 Croatia24
 
30 January
 
 Denmark28
 
 Denmark36
 
 
 Slovenia33
 
Seventh place
 
 
31 January
 
 
 Germany30
 
 
 Slovenia27

5–8th place semifinals
30 January 2015
16:00		 Croatia  28–23  Germany Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena, Doha
Attendance: 800
Referees: López, Ramírez (ESP)
Štrlek 8 (13–11) Gensheimer, Schöngarth 6
3× 2× Report 4× 2×
30 January 2015
18:30		 Denmark  36–33  Slovenia Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena, Doha
Attendance: 500
Referees: Al-Suwaidi, Bamutref (QAT)
Hansen 13 (19–15) Gajić 12
3× 4× Report 2× 5× 2×

Seventh place game
31 January 2015
16:30		 Germany  30–27  Slovenia Lusail Sports Arena, Lusail
Attendance: 1,000
Referees: Novotný, Horáček (CZE)
Gensheimer 13 (16–14) Natek 9
3× 3× Report 3× 3× 1×

Fifth place game
31 January 2015
19:15		 Croatia  24–28  Denmark Lusail Sports Arena, Lusail
Attendance: 3,000
Referees: López, Ramírez (ESP)
three players 4 (11–15) Hansen 8
3× 3× Report 3× 3×

President’s Cup

Placement semifinals
26 January 2015
13:00		 Chile  31–32  Iran Duhail Handball Sports Hall, Doha
Attendance: 100
Referees: Hizaki, Ikebuchi (JPN)
R. Salinas 18 (15–17) three players 5
2× 2× Report 3× 4× 1×
26 January 2015
15:00		 Algeria  25–27  Saudi Arabia Duhail Handball Sports Hall, Doha
Attendance: 100
Referees: Kliko, Johansson (SWE)
Hamoud 9 (14–12) Moj. Al-Salem 5
2× 6× 1× Report 3× 7×
26 January 2015
17:00		 Belarus  37–29  Bosnia and Herzegovina Duhail Handball Sports Hall, Doha
Attendance: 300
Referees: Menezes, Pinto (BRA)
S. Rutenka 9 (20–16) Burić 6
3× 6× Report 3× 4×
26 January 2015
19:00		 Czech Republic  32–30  Russia Duhail Handball Sports Hall, Doha
Attendance: 300
Referees: Krichen, Makhlouf (TUN)
Zdráhala 8 (16–15) Dereven 8
4× 6× 1× Report 1× 6×

23rd place game
27 January 2015
13:00		 Chile  30–28  Algeria Duhail Handball Sports Hall, Doha
Attendance: 100
Referees: Santos, Fonseca (POR)
R. Salinas 11 (10–16) Hamoud 12
4× 4× Report 2× 7×

FT: 27–27 Pen: 3–1

21st place game
27 January 2015
15:00		 Iran  26–22  Saudi Arabia Duhail Handball Sports Hall, Doha
Attendance: 150
Referees: Menezes, Pinto (BRA)
A. Esteki 6 (15–10) Al-Abdulali 6
2× 5× 1× Report 3× 6×

19th place game
27 January 2015
17:00		 Bosnia and Herzegovina  28–42  Russia Duhail Handball Sports Hall, Doha
Attendance: 200
Referees: Hizaki, Ikebuchi (JPN)
Malinović 6 (16–20) Kovalev 6
3× 6× Report 2× 6×

17th place game
27 January 2015
19:00		 Belarus  31–32  Czech Republic Duhail Handball Sports Hall, Doha
Attendance: 300
Referees: Rased, El-Sayed (EGY)
S. Rutenka 12 (13–14) four players 6
3× 5× Report 3× 3×

FT: 28–28 Pen: 3–4

Statistics

Final ranking

The final rankings were used in the 2016 Summer Olympics qualification process. France, as World Champion, qualified for the Olympics. The next 6 teams earned a place in the Olympic Qualification Tournaments. Qatar and Germany, however, won their continental tournaments (qualifying them directly for the Olympics) and thus their spots in the Olympic Qualification Tournaments went to Slovenia and Macedonia.

Controversy

Withdrawal of teams

As mentioned under qualifications, Australia lost its spot in the tournament due to an IHF decision, being replaced by Germany, who did not qualify. Further, Bahrain and United Arab Emirates withdrew.[7][8][9]

Qatar player naturalisation

A large number of players in the Qatar team had been naturalised in the years leading up to the championship. According to IHF rules, to gain eligibility for a new national team, a player cannot have played for another nation for three years in an official match.[20][21] This allowed several foreign-born players, including Spanish-born Borja Vidal, Goran Stojanović and Jovo Damjanović from Montenegro, and Bertrand Roiné who previously played for France, to play for the Qatar team at the championship. According to the Frankfurter Allgemeine, only four of the 17 players in the squad were native to Qatar.[22]

Head of the Qatar Handball Federation, Ahmed Mohammed Abdulrab Al Shaabi, acknowledged the policy in a statement in June 2013, saying "We're a small nation with limited human resources, so we had to bring players from outside in the past." He also announced an end to the policy at the time, adding however that they "[might] make an exception only in the case of an experienced goalkeeper."[23] In January 2014, Danish sports agent Mads Winther said he had met with "contacts involved with Qatar" regarding the possibility of naturalising Danish players.[24]

The practice was criticised by Austrian goalkeeper after his team's loss to Qatar in the round of 16, saying "It [felt] like playing against a world selection team" and "I think it is not the sense of a world championship."[25] At a press conference during the championship, Qatar head coach Valero Rivera declined to comment on the matter.[25] Spanish player Joan Cañellas did not think it was an issue, saying "If they can do it, why not."[21]

After the controversial semi-final against Poland, and reaching the final as a result the practice was even more criticised, with players such as Danijel Šarić having now represented four different national teams.[26]

Qatar flew in about 60 Spanish fans to cheer for Qatar during the championship.[27]

Refereeing

During the first 12 matches of the tournament, 143 two-minute suspensions were awarded by the referees, a figure that came under strong criticism from teams, who had not been informed of the IHF Referee Committee's instructions to referees commanding them to keep a strict disciplinary line.[28]

The referees were widely accused of being one-sided in favour of the hosts. Especially at the matches against Austria,[29][30][31] Germany[29][32][33] and Poland.[34][35][36][37] After the final whistle, the Polish players showed their discontent by ironically applauding the three referees.[38][39]

gollark: Many computer users run a modified version of the GNU system every day, without realizing it. Through a peculiar turn of events, the version of GNU which is widely used today is often called Wordart, and many of its users are not aware that it is basically the GNU system, developed by the GNU Project.
gollark: I'd just like to interject for moment. What you're refering to as Wordart, is in fact, GNU/Wordart, or as I've recently taken to calling it, GNU plus Wordart. Wordart is not an operating system unto itself, but rather another free component of a fully functioning GNU system made useful by the GNU corelibs, shell utilities and vital system components comprising a full OS as defined by POSIX.
gollark: It's actually GNU/Wordart, not Wordart.
gollark: The bot seems rather judgemental though, I must say.
gollark: 1.00000000003 miles

See also

References
  1. "Qatar 2015 All Star Team announced". IHF. 1 February 2015. Archived from the original on 2 February 2015. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  2. "2015 World Championship hosts announced". EHF. 27 January 2011. Retrieved 30 October 2013.
  3. "France: World, Olympic and European Champions". IHF. 1 February 2015. Archived from the original on 1 February 2015. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  4. "France beat Qatar to win fifth world handball title". Gulf Times. 1 February 2015. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  5. "Bronze goes to Poland". IHF. 1 February 2015. Archived from the original on 1 February 2015. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  6. "Lusail Multipurpose Hall - 24th Men's Handball World Championship". www.qatarhandball2015.com.
  7. "IHF Council Meeting held in Zagreb". ihf.info. 8 July 2014.
  8. "Bahrain withdraws from the 2015 Men's World Championship". ihf.info. 7 November 2014.
  9. "The United Arab Emirates withdraw from the 2015 World Championship". ihf.info. 10 November 2014.
  10. "IHF Council decision on withdrawal of Bahrain and United Arab Emirates from 2015 Men's WCh". ihf.info. 21 November 2014.
  11. "Draw for Qatar 2015 on 20 July in Doha". ihf.info. 12 March 2014.
  12. "Groups of the 2015 Men's Handball World Championship drawn in Doha". ihf.info. 20 July 2014.
  13. "Pots and procedure for Qatar 2015 draw on 20 July". ihf.info. 11 July 2014.
  14. "Referee Nominations 2015 – Men's World Championship 2015 - Qatar". ihf.info. 2 January 2015.
  15. "Qatar 2015 match schedule available for download". ihf.info. 21 August 2014.
  16. Schedule
  17. "The IHF publishes newest throw-off schedule for Qatar 2015". ihf.info. 12 December 2014.
  18. "Match Schedule" (PDF). ihf.info.
  19. "International Handball Federation". ihf-online.info.
  20. "Player Eligibility Code" (PDF). ihf.info. International Handball Federation. p. 5. Retrieved 29 January 2015. They shall not have played in any national team of another country in the three years preceding their first appearance in the national team in an official match.
  21. "Qatar's foreign legion primed for handball date with Germany". dw.de. Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
  22. "Falsche Fans simulieren Stimmung" [Fake fans simulate excitement]. faz.net (in German). Frankfurter Allgemeine. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
  23. "Al Shaabi says no to further naturalisation". dohastadiumplusqatar.com. Archived from the original on 6 July 2013. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
  24. Wenande, Christian. "Qatar targeting Danish handball players ahead of hosting of 2015 worlds". cphpost.dk. The Copenhagen Post. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
  25. "Qatar handball team coach faces questions over foreign players". bbc.co.uk. BBC. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
  26. "Danijel Sarić - to on "zabrał" Polakom finał MŚ". onet.pl. 30 January 2015.
  27. "Qatar 'buys' noisy Spanish handball fans". thelocal.es. 16 January 2015.
  28. "Dansk dommer om de mange udvisninger: IHF vil have en hård linje". dr.dk.
  29. Team, Fans und Schiris gekauft? (German)
  30. Handball-WM in Katar: Österreich hält sich für verpfiffen (German)
  31. Österreich von Referees und Katar aus WM gekickt (German)
  32. Reaktionen auf deutsches WM-Aus: "Man muss aufpassen, was man sagt" (German)
  33. WM-Aus der deutschen Handballer: "Im Schiedsrichterwesen gibt es Grauzonen" (German)
  34. Sramotno: Pogledajte trenutak kad su srpski suci pretjerali s navlačenjem za Katar Archived 1 February 2015 at the Wayback Machine (Croatian)
  35. Polský smutek. Katar je ve finále MS v házené, pomohli mu rozhodčí (Czech)
  36. Polska - Katar - czemu Katar awansował? Kontrowersje wokół drużyny gospodarzy, nie byli faworytami (Polish)
  37. Michał Jurecki: Każdy wie, co tutaj się dzieje... (Polish)
  38. "Radość Katarczyków, Polacy z pretensjami do sędziów". przegladsportowy.pl. 30 January 2015.
  39. "Polish National Handball Team Sarcastically Applauds Officials After Controversial Loss to Qatar". thebiglead.com. 31 January 2015.
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