Handball at the 2024 Summer Olympics – Men's qualification facts for kids
The men's qualification for the Olympic handball tournament occurred between January 2023 and March 2024, assigning quota places to the twelve squads for the Games: the hosts, the world champion, four continental events winners (Africa, Europe, Asia and Oceania, and the Americas), and six teams from the IHF World Olympic qualifying tournaments, respectively.
Contents
Summary
| Qualification | Date | Host | Berths | Qualified team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Host nation | N/A | N/A | 1 |  FRA |
| 2023 World Championship | 11–29 January 2023 |  Poland Sweden |
1 |  DEN |
| 2023 Asian Qualification Tournament | 18–28 October 2023 |  Doha |
1 |  JPN |
| 2023 Pan American Games | 30 October – 4 November 2023 |  Viña del Mar |
1 |  ARG |
| 2024 European Championship | 10–28 January 2024 |  Germany |
1 | SWE |
| 2024 African Championship | 17–27 January 2024 |  Cairo |
1 |  EGY |
| 2024 IHF Men's Olympic Qualification Tournaments | 14–17 March 2024 |  Granollers |
2 |  ESP SLO |
 Hanover |
2 |  CRO GER |
||
 Tatabánya |
2 |  NOR HUN |
||
| Total | 12 | |||
Legend
| Qualified | ||
|---|---|---|
| Key | From | To |
| Olympic host | 2024 Summer Olympics | |
| 2023 IHF World Championship | ||
| 2022–2024 Continental Qualification Tournament | ||
| 2023 IHF World Championship | 2024 IHF World Olympic Qualification Tournament | |
| 2022–2024 Continental Qualification Tournament | ||
Host country
France
World Championship
The world champion directly qualified for Olympics. Since host nation France took the silver medal, the next six best placed teams (teams ranked 3–8) were eligible to play at the Olympic Qualification Tournaments. If any team subsequently qualified directly for Olympics through their continental event, the list would be shifted to the ninth place (or thereafter).
| Rank | Team |
|---|---|
 |
DEN |
 |
FRA |
 |
ESP |
| 4 | SWE |
| 5 | GER |
| 6 | NOR |
| 7 | EGY |
| 8 | HUN |
| 9 | CRO |
| 10 | SLO |
| 11 |  SRB |
| 12 |  ISL |
| 13 |  POR |
| 14 |  NED |
| 15 | POL |
| 16 |  BHR |
| 17 |  BRA |
| 18 |  MNE |
| 19 | ARG |
| 20 |  USA |
| 21 |  BEL |
| 22 |  QAT |
| 23 |  CPV |
| 24 |  IRI |
| 25 |  TUN |
| 26 |  CHI |
| 27 |  MKD |
| 28 |  KOR |
| 29 |  KSA |
| 30 |  MAR |
| 31 |  ALG |
| 32 |  URU |
Continental qualification
Europe
Due to the fact that the European Championship final was contested between France and Denmark, two teams who had already qualified for the Olympic tournament (France as hosts, and Denmark as World Champions), the winner of the third-place match between Sweden and Germany secured the European Olympic berth. In addition, Portugal and Austria, the two best-placed teams not already qualified for Olympics or the Olympic Qualification Tournaments (via the 2023 World Championship), were eligible to play at the Olympic Qualification Tournaments.
| Rank | Team |
|---|---|
| |
FRA |
| |
DEN |
| |
SWE |
| 4 | GER |
| 5 | HUN |
| 6 | SLO |
| 7 | POR |
| 8 |  AUT |
| 9 | NOR |
| 10 | ISL |
| 11 | CRO |
| 12 | NED |
| 13 | ESP |
| 14 | MNE |
| 15 |  CZE |
| 16 | POL |
| 17 | MKD |
| 18 |  GEO |
| 19 | SRB |
| 20 |  FRO |
| 21 |  SUI |
| 22 |  ROU |
| 23 |  GRE |
| 24 |  BIH |
| Ineligible to qualify for the Olympics: Faroe Islands do not have a National Olympic Committee recognized by the IOC |
Americas
The winner of the Pan American Games handball tournament directly qualified for the Olympics. The Olympic Qualification Tournaments berth was given to the Pan American Games handball tournament runner-up.
| Rank | Team |
|---|---|
| |
ARG |
| |
BRA |
| |
CHI |
| 4 | USA |
| 5 | URU |
| 6 |  CUB |
| 7 |  MEX |
| 8 |  DOM |
Asia
Eleven teams competed in the Asian qualification tournament, held at the Duhail Handball Sports Hall in Doha, Qatar, from 18 to 28 October 2023.
Final standings
| Rank | Team |
|---|---|
| |
JPN |
| |
BHR |
| |
KOR |
| 4 | QAT |
| 5 | IRI |
| 6 | KSA |
| 7 |  KUW |
| 8 |  UAE |
| 9 |  CHN |
| 10 |  KAZ |
| 11 |  IND |
Africa
African champions directly qualified for Olympics. The Olympic Qualification Tournaments berth was given to the runners-up and third place.
| Rank | Team |
|---|---|
| |
EGY |
| |
ALG |
| |
TUN |
| 4 | CPV |
| 5 |  GUI |
| 6 |  COD |
| 7 | MAR |
| 8 |  ANG |
| 9 |  NGA |
| 10 |  CMR |
| 11 |  GAB |
| 12 |  LBY |
| 13 |  CGO |
| 14 |  RWA |
| 15 |  KEN |
| 16 |  ZAM |
Olympic Qualification Tournaments
Qualified teams
There were three qualifying tournaments. Only twelve eligible teams through the five events mentioned above qualified for these tournaments:
- The top six teams from the World championship that did not already qualify through their continental championships were eligible to participate in the tournament.
- The highest-ranked teams of each continent in the World championship represented the continent in order to determine the continental ranking. The first-ranked continent (Europe) received two more places for the tournament. The second (Africa), third (Asia), and fourth (Americas)-ranked continents received one place each. The last place belongs to a team from Oceania, if one was ranked between 8 and 12th at the World Championship. As no team from Oceania met this condition, the second-ranked continent received an extra place instead. The teams that already earned their places through their World championship ranking were not considered for receiving places through the continental criterion. In such cases, the access list was rebalanced accordingly.
- The twelve teams were allocated in three pools of four teams according to the table below. The top two teams from each pool qualified for the 2024 Olympic Games.
| 2024 Olympic Qualification Tournament #1 | 2024 Olympic Qualification Tournament #2 | 2024 Olympic Qualification Tournament #3 |
|---|---|---|
The host countries were announced on 2 February 2024.
2024 Olympic Qualification Tournament #1
It was held from 14 to 17 March 2024 in Granollers, Spain.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Head-to-head goals scored; 5) Goal difference; 6) Goals scored; 7) Draw.
2024 Olympic Qualification Tournament #2
It was held from 14 to 17 March 2024 in Hanover, Germany.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Head-to-head goals scored; 5) Goal difference; 6) Goals scored; 7) Draw.
2024 Olympic Qualification Tournament #3
It was held from 14 to 17 March 2024 in Tatabánya, Hungary.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Head-to-head goals scored; 5) Goal difference; 6) Goals scored; 7) Draw.
See also
