18 European teams chase glory at Women's World Championship

In Germany, which previously hosted the 2017 edition, the playing arenas are located in Dortmund, Stuttgart, and Trier. The venues in the Netherlands are 's-Hertogenbosch and Rotterdam, which will host the final weekend, with the gold medal match scheduled for Sunday 14 December. (See the full match schedule.)

Who completes the road to glory this time? The last three World Championships produced three different winners: the Netherlands (2019), Norway (2021), and France (2023). The last non-European winners were crowned 12 years ago, when Brazil triumphed in Serbia.

• France start the defence of their title in a group with Poland, China, and Tunisia
• the last time the worlds were held in Germany — in 2017 — France ended up lifting the trophy, but their 2025 campaign starts in one of the two Dutch venues: 's-Hertogenbosch
• while Norway have an impeccable EHF EURO track record with 10 titles including five from the last six editions, they have won 'only' one of the last four World Championships, and four in total
• in the preliminary round, the Norwegian team are up against Angola, Kazakhstan, and South Korea — one of only two non-European nations to win a world title, back in 1995

• Denmark, runners-up to Norway at the last two EHF EUROs in 2022 and 2024, headline a group with Romania, Japan, and Croatia, who entered the tournament on a wild card, just like China
• co-hosts Germany face two European opponents — Serbia and Iceland — as well as Uruguay as they hope to please their home crowd in Stuttgart
• fellow co-hosts the Netherlands receive opponents from thee different continents in Rotterdam: Austria, Argentina, and tournament debutants Egypt
• apart from Egypt, two other nations take part in a World Championship for the first time, and they are both from Europe: the Faroe Islands and Switzerland
• the preliminary round runs through 2 December, followed by the main round until 8 December; the knockout stage starts with the quarter-finals on 9/10 December

Last hurrah for stars Lunde, Abbingh and Polman

A major event is usually the stage where big stars near the end of their international careers announce their retirement from national team duties, and the 2025 IHF Women's World Championship makes no difference.

This time, one of the leading characters in women's handball for the past two decades will be waving goodbye: Katrine Lunde is playing her last tournament for Norway. Lunde, who turned 45 this year, has a jaw-dropping collection of trophies to her name, including seven EHF EURO, three Olympic, and two world titles. But the impact of the goalkeeper, who is also a record seven-time EHF Champions League winner, goes way beyond the titles she has won. As a Respect Your Talent ambassador, Lunde is actively involved in passing on her knowledge and experience to the next generation.

Also, two players who have been shaping the face of the Dutch national team will wear the orange jersey for the last time: Lois Abbingh and Estavana Polman. They have been the figureheads of a strong generation that helped the Netherlands reach six straight semi-finals at major events between 2015 and 2019, culminating in the nation's unprecedented world title in Japan, where tournament top scorer Abbingh netted a last-second penalty for the winning goal in the final against Spain and teammate Polman was named the MVP.

photos © Anze Malovrh / kolektiff (main, first in-text); FotoReza (last in-text)