The Spanish handball team will face those of Croatia, current runner-up in the world, Chile and Türkiye in the first phase of the 2027 World Cup in Germany, according to the draw held this Wednesday in Munich.
The Spanish team, which entered the draw from pot 2, will play the first round matches at the SAP Garden in Munich, home of group C. The championship will be held entirely in Germany between January 13 and 31, 2027. Kiel, Hannover, Magdeburg, Cologne, Stuttgart and Munich will be the host cities of this World Cup edition.
In the event of achieving one of the first three places in the group, Jordi Ribera’s men will compete in the second phase, which will be held in Cologne, with the first three classified in group D, which make up Argentina, France, Brazil and Kuwait.
It is a World Cup that gives you qualification for the Pre-Olympics and there is a place for the Olympic Games
The teams that occupy the first two places in the group will access the quarterfinals that They will be played, like the semi-finals and the final, at the LANXESS Arena in Cologne.
Jordi Ribera valued the draw and highlighted that The ‘Hispanics’ managed to beat the Croats at the Paris Olympic Gamesbut it also evoked “the memory of the first match of the European Championship 2024”, a tough defeat (29-39) that ended up causing Spain to be eliminated from the preliminary phase.
Furthermore, Ribera pointed out that Chile “has always been a team that has caused us quite a few problems,” although he stressed that Spain “always starts as a favorite,” a consideration that he also extended to Turkey.
Thinking about a possible classification for the next round, the coach explained that “we have Brazil, who beat us in the last World Cup; to France, where we have had several different results, and an Argentina that comes from the top seed, always a fighting team.”
Ribera stressed the importance of the championship, since “it is a World Cup that gives you qualification for the Pre-Olympic Games and there is a place for the Olympic Games,” so he considers that The team is now facing “the final stretch of this cycle.”
Group A (Munich)
Germany, Serbia, Tunisia and Uruguay
Group B (Stuttgart)
Egypt, Italy, Cape Verde and Saudi Arabia
Group C (Munich)
Croatia, Spain, Chile and Türkiye
Group D (Stuttgart)
Argentina, France, Brazil and Kuwait
Group E (Kiel)
Sweden, Norway, Greece and Qatar
Group F (Magdeburg)
Portugal, Faroe Islands, Poland and Algeria
Group G (Kiel)
Denmark, Slovenia, the United States and Angola
Group H (Magdeburg)
Iceland, North Macedonia, Bahrain and Japan