Germany to Host 2027 International Handball Federation’s Men’s World Championship

Six venues across Germany will host the 2027 International Handball Federation’s Men’s World Championship, with the final scheduled on January 31, 2027 in Cologne.

The 2027 IHF Men’s World Championship will begin in the SAP Garden in Munich, which opened just a few weeks ago, as well as the Porsche Arena Stuttgart, the Wunderino Arena in Kiel and the GETEC Arena in Magdeburg.

In those arenas, the eight preliminary round groups will take place, with two for each venue. The top three sides in each group will progress to the main round, which will be played in the Lanxess Arena in Cologne and the ZAG Arena in Hannover. The quarterfinals and semifinals, as well as the placement and medal matches, will take place in Cologne.

“We are touching the whole of Germany with this tournament,” said Andreas Michelmann, president of the German Handball Federation. “These venues unite many of the things that make us special: they are centers of the Bundesliga, they stand for tradition, but — like Munich with the new SAP Garden — also for modernity. With this great infrastructure, we are ready for another highlight in the decade of handball.”

Lanxess Arena hosted the final of this year’s men’s European handball championship between France and Denmark.  Lanxess Arena is the only Euro 2024 venue that will be used during the worlds in 2027.

“The venues for the 2027 IHF Men’s World Championship reflect the high quality and versatility of Germany’s exceptional arena landscape, each telling its own story,” said Mark Schober, chief executive officer of the German Handball Federation. “We look forward to welcoming 31 guest nations from around the world, for whom we aim to provide the best possible conditions.”

Germany will host the men’s world championship for the eighth time, following events in 1938, 1958, 1961, 1974, 1982, 2007, and 2019, co-hosting the competition with Denmark in the latter event.

In 2025, Germany will co-host the women’s world championship with the Netherlands while Hungary will host the 2027 women’s edition. Spain will host the women’s competition in 2029, while the 2031 edition will be co-hosted by Czech Republic and Poland.In 2029,

The 2025 men’s tournament had already been assigned to Croatia, Denmark and Norway. Germany will partner with France for the 2029 men’s world championship while Denmark, Norway and Iceland will co-host the 2031 edition.