+ What: Women's Handball World Championship.
+ Where: Dortmund, Stuttgart, Trier (all Germany), Rotterdam, 's-Hertogenbosch (both Netherlands).
+ When: November 26–December 14.
+ TV: Viaplay sport and Viaplay. The matches can also be broadcast on TV6 and TV10.
+ This is how it went last time
France won their third World Cup gold medal of all time after defeating Norway in the final. Sweden lost the bronze medal match to Denmark (27–28).
+ The gold favorite
Norway enters the World Cup as a big favorite. The national team has won three consecutive European Championship gold medals and is the reigning Olympic champion.
+ The Challengers
Behind Norway, there are mainly two contenders: France and Denmark.
Together, the three countries maintain a high level that few other teams come close to. Of the last 15 championship gold medals, 13 have gone to one of the three countries.
+ How the World Cup is played
32 teams have been divided into eight groups. From each group, three out of four teams advance to the intermediate round, which is played in four groups of six teams (groups A and B form one group, plus C+D, E+F and G+H).
The teams will carry over their results from the first group stage. From the intermediate round, the two best teams in each group will advance to the quarter-finals.
+ The groups
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.
+ Sweden's squad
Johanna Bundsen, Filippa Idéhn, Clara Lerby, Elin Hansson, Linn Blohm, Anna Lagerquist, Olivia Löfqvist, Mathilda Lundström, Nathalie Hagman, Jamina Roberts, Tyra Axnér, Kristin Thorleifsdóttir, Emma Lindqvist, Jenny Carlson, Nina Koppang and Thea Kylberg.
+ Sweden's matches in the first group stage
November 27: Czech Republic, 8:30 p.m.
November 29: Cuba, 8:30 p.m.
December 1: Brazil, 8:30 p.m.
Sweden's match dates in the intermediate round are December 3, 5 and 7. After that, there could also be quarterfinals (December 9–10), semifinals (December 12) and bronze medal match/final (December 14).
+ Experienced squad
Sweden's squad is the most experienced squad ever to compete in a women's championship. On average, the players have played 111 international matches. Jamina Roberts, Nathalie Hagman, Linn Blohm and Johanna Bundsen are playing their 19th, 16th, 15th and 13th championships respectively.
+ Is this the championship Sweden will medal in?
Sweden is closer to a medal than it has been in a long time, according to national team captain Tomas Axnér, and the draw is in the national team's favor.
Once in a semi-final, as is well known, anything can happen. Sweden is a bit up from the three big favorites, but has finished in the top five in the last six championships – three times the national team has lost a bronze medal match.
+ Risk of uneven matches
This is the third World Cup tournament with 32 teams instead of 24. Whether this is good for the sport is a matter of debate. What we do know, however, is that there will be very large goal differences in a number of group stage matches. For example, Norway will face Kazakhstan, who lost all three of their group stage matches in the 2023 World Cup by an average of 20 goals. The same was true for Iran, Chile and Greenland.
