Last week, Kosovo, Türkiye and Latvia progressed from Qualification Europe Phase 1, after winning two-leg ties against Great Britain, Cyprus and Luxembourg, respectively. The three sides join 13 teams that wait in the next stage, and the draw will determine the pairings for the next set of two-leg home-and-away ties that will form phase 2.
Phase 2 will feature six teams decided through the Men’s EHF EURO 2026 preliminary round — the fourth-ranked sides in each of the six groups, with some conditions in case the already qualified World Championship host nations Germany and Denmark rank in this position in their groups.
Seven teams are directly qualified for phase 2 based on the current men’s national team ranking: Greece, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovakia, Lithuania, Belgium, Finland and Israel. While Greece and Bosnia and Herzegovina will be drawn from pot 1, Slovakia, Lithuania, Belgium, Finland and Israel will all come from pot 2.
The pots are therefore as follows:
- Pot 1: Greece, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 4th Group A, 4th Group B, 4th Group C, 4th Group D, 4th Group E, 4th Group F
- Pot 2: Slovakia, Lithuania, Belgium, Finland, Israel, Kosovo, Türkiye, Latvia
Qualification Europe Phase 2 is scheduled for March 2026. The eight winning sides will advance to the third phase of qualification, taking place in May 2026, which will finalise Europe’s line-up for the final tournament in Germany.
Europe has a total of 14 places at the 30th edition of the IHF Men’s World Championship, excluding the co-hosts Germany and Denmark. From the Men’s EHF EURO 2026, the four top-ranked sides (aside from Germany and Denmark) will qualify directly for the global event. The remaining 10 berths will be decided in Qualification Phase 3. The World Championship will take place from 13 to 31 January 2027.
Watch the draw live on the Home of Handball YouTube channel or directly below.
