Handball at the 2024 Summer Olympics – Women's qualification facts for kids

The women's qualification for the Olympic handball tournament was how teams earned their spot to play in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. This process happened between November 2022 and April 2024. Twelve teams got to go to the Games.

Here's how teams qualified:

• The host country (France) automatically got a spot.
• The world champion team earned a spot.
• Four teams won their continental championships (Africa, Europe, Asia and Oceania, and the Americas).
• Six more teams qualified through special tournaments called the IHF World Olympic Qualification Tournaments.

How Teams Qualified

This table shows a quick summary of how teams qualified for the Olympic handball tournament. It lists the events, dates, where they happened, how many spots were given, and which teams qualified.

Qualification Event	Dates	Host City	Spots	Qualified Team
Host nation	N/A	N/A	1	France
2022 European Championship	4–20 November 2022	Slovenia  Macedonia  Montenegro	1	Denmark
2023 Asian Qualification Tournament	17–23 August 2023	Hiroshima	1	South Korea
2023 African Qualification Tournament	11–14 October 2023	Luanda	1	Angola
2023 Pan American Games	24–29 October 2023	Viña del Mar	1	Brazil
2023 World Championship	29 November – 17 December 2023	Denmark  Norway  Sweden	1	Norway
2024 IHF Women's Olympic Qualification Tournaments	11–14 April 2024	Debrecen	2	Hungary  Sweden
		Torrevieja	2	Netherlands  Spain
		Neu-Ulm	2	Germany  Slovenia
Total			12

Color Meanings

This table helps you understand the colors used in the ranking tables below. They show which teams qualified for the Olympics or for the next stage of qualification.

Host Country Spot

• France automatically qualified for the Olympics because they are the host country.

World Championship Results

The winner of the 2023 World Women's Handball Championship earned a direct spot in the Olympics. Other top teams from this championship also got a chance to qualify through the Olympic Qualification Tournaments.

Rank	Team
	France
	Norway
	Denmark
4	Sweden
5	Netherlands
6	Germany
7	Montenegro
8	Czech Republic
9	Brazil
10	Hungary
11	Slovenia
12	Romania
13	Spain
14	Croatia
15	Angola
16	Poland
17	Japan
18	Senegal
19	Austria
20	Argentina
21	Serbia
22	South Korea
23	Ukraine
24	Cameroon
25	Iceland
26	Congo
27	Chile
28	China
29	Paraguay
30	Kazakhstan
31	Iran
32	Greenland

Continental Qualification Tournaments

Teams also qualified by winning their continental championships.

Europe

The 2022 European Women's Handball Championship decided one Olympic spot for Europe. The winner, Norway, had already qualified through the World Championship. So, the spot went to the next highest-ranked team, Denmark. Other top European teams got spots in the Olympic Qualification Tournaments.

Rank	Team
	Norway
	Denmark
	Montenegro
4	France
5	Sweden
6	Netherlands
7	Germany
8	Slovenia
9	Spain
10	Croatia
11	Hungary
12	Romania
13	Poland
14	Switzerland
15	Serbia
16	Macedonia

Americas

The 2023 Pan American Games handball tournament winner directly qualified for the Olympics. The team that came in second place got a spot in the Olympic Qualification Tournaments.

Rank	Team
	Brazil
	Argentina
	Paraguay
4	Chile
5	Puerto Rico
6	Cuba
7	Uruguay
8	Canada

Asia

The Asian Qualification Tournament decided one Olympic spot for Asia. Uzbekistan withdrew before the tournament began.

Quick facts for kids
Asian Women's Qualification for Olympic Games 2024

Logo of the tournament
Tournament details
Host country	Japan
Dates	17–23 August 2023
Teams	5 (from 1 confederation)
Venue(s)	1 (in 1 host city)
Final positions
Champions	South Korea
Runner-up	Japan
Third place	China
Fourth place	Kazakhstan
Tournament statistics
Matches	10
Goals scored	613 (61.3 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Bhawana (26 goals)
Best player	Kang Kyung-min

The Asian Women's Qualification for Olympic Games 2024 was an exciting handball tournament where Asian teams competed for a spot in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. It took place in Hiroshima, Japan, from August 17 to 23, 2023. Five teams from Asia played against each other to see who would get the chance to go to the Olympics.

South Korea won the tournament, earning their direct ticket to the Paris Olympics. Japan finished second, and China came in third place.

Tournament Overview

This competition was very important because only one team from Asia could qualify directly for the Olympic Games. The other teams would have to try their luck in other qualification tournaments later.

Five countries were supposed to play: China, India, Japan, Kazakhstan, and South Korea. However, Uzbekistan decided not to participate before the tournament began.

Final Standings

The teams played a round-robin style tournament. This means every team played against every other team once. Points were given for wins and draws. The team with the most points at the end won the tournament.

Here's how the teams finished:

• 1st Place:  South Korea (South Korea) - They won all their matches and qualified for the 2024 Summer Olympics!
• 2nd Place:  Japan (Japan) - They finished second and will go to a different qualification tournament.
• 3rd Place:  China (China) - They also get a chance to qualify in another tournament.
• 4th Place:  Kazakhstan (Kazakhstan)
• 5th Place:  India (India)

South Korea showed amazing skill by winning all four of their games. Japan also played very well, winning three out of four matches.

Key Matches and Results

The tournament featured ten matches in total, all played at the Higashi-ku Sports Center in Hiroshima. Each game was a chance for teams to earn points and climb the standings.

Some of the exciting matches included:

• On August 17, South Korea had a big win against India, scoring 53 goals to India's 14.
• Japan also showed their strength on August 18, beating India 54–17.
• A very important match was on August 23 between Japan and South Korea. This game was like a final, as both teams were strong contenders. South Korea won this close match 25–24, which secured their first-place finish and Olympic spot.

The top scorer of the tournament was Bhawana from India, who scored 26 goals! The Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the tournament was Kang Kyung-min from South Korea.

All-Star Team

After the tournament, a special "All-Star Team" was chosen. This team is made up of the best players in each position from all the teams that played. It's a way to celebrate their great performances.

Position	Player
Goalkeeper	Lu Chang
Right wing	Saki Hattori
Right back	Kaho Nakayama
Centre back	Natsuki Aizawa
Left back	Lee Mi-gyeong
Left wing	Shin Eun-joo
Pivot	Mika Nagata
Most valuable player	Kang Kyung-min

Africa

The African Qualification Tournament was held in Luanda, Angola. One team from Africa qualified for the Olympics.

African Women's Qualification for Olympic Games 2024

Tournament details
Host country	Angola
Dates	11–14 October 2023
Teams	4 (from 1 confederation)
Venue(s)	1 (in 1 host city)
Final positions
Champions	Angola
Runner-up	Cameroon
Third place	Senegal
Fourth place	Congo
Tournament statistics
Matches	6
Goals scored	259 (43.17 per match)

The African Women's Qualification for Olympic Games 2024 was a special handball tournament. It was held in Luanda, Angola from October 11 to 14, 2023.

This event was super important because the winning team would get a spot in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France!

After some exciting matches, the team from Angola won the tournament. This meant they earned their place to compete in the Olympics. Other teams that did well got a chance to play in other qualification tournaments later.

Tournament Standings

This section shows how each team finished in the tournament. Teams earned points for winning games. The team with the most points at the end won the tournament.

Final Standings

Rank	Team	Played	Wins	Draws	Losses	Goals For	Goals Against	Points
1	Angola (Angola)	3	3	0	0	79	57	6
2	Cameroon (Cameroon)	3	1	1	1	59	63	3
3	Senegal (Senegal)	3	1	0	2	63	61	2
4	Congo (Congo)	3	0	1	2	58	78	1

• Q means the team qualified directly for the 2024 Summer Olympics.
• A means the team advanced to other qualification tournaments to try and earn an Olympic spot.

Match Results

All the games were played at the Pavilhão Multiusos in Luanda, Angola. The times listed are local times for Angola (UTC+1).

October 11, 2023

• 16:00: Cameroon  21–21  Congo

  (Half-time: 9–12)

• 18:00: Angola  22–21  Senegal

  (Half-time: 11–11)

October 12, 2023

• 16:00: Cameroon  17–15  Senegal

  (Half-time: 7–6)

• 18:00: Congo  15–30  Angola

  (Half-time: 9–17)

October 14, 2023

• 16:00: Senegal  27–22  Congo

  (Half-time: 16–13)

• 18:00: Angola  27–21  Cameroon

  (Half-time: 16–9)

Olympic Qualification Tournaments

These were the final tournaments where teams could earn a spot in the Olympics. Six teams qualified from these events.

Teams That Qualified

Tournament #1

Tournament #2

Tournament #3

See also

• Handball at the 2024 Summer Olympics – Men's qualification