+ Reigning champion
Denmark won the first ever World Cup gold at home in 2019 and then managed to defend the gold in Egypt two years later. Then Sweden stood for the opposition in the final in Cairo.
+ The gold favorite
It has never happened that a country has won three consecutive World Cups, but perhaps the Danes can be the first with that feat. With a star-studded team all the way from goalkeeper Niklas Landin to offensive powerhouse Mikkel Hansen, Denmark will in any case find themselves carrying the favourites.
+ Sweden’s chances
World Cup silver, Olympic quarter-final, European Championship gold – that’s how the Blågult’s fine result reads since Glenn Solberg took over as national team captain after the fiasco in the home European Championship 2020. With the support of the crowd behind them, Sweden is undoubtedly one of the countries that should have the best chance for gold in the World Cup .
+ The outsider
Iceland took Olympic silver in 2008 and EC bronze in 2010, but since then there have been no more championship medals. Is it time again now? In any case, it is clear that the small country, sixth in the EC last year, is mentioned with unusually great respect ahead of this year’s WC. By the way, everything points to Iceland and Sweden meeting in the intermediate round in Gothenburg.
+ The snack ice cream
The International Handball Federation (IHF) has decided to covid-test all players both before and during the WC. Tji got everyone who believed and hoped that last year’s somewhat parodic corona chaos would mean an end point for championships affected by the capricious virus. The fact that several famous players have protested loudly against the IHF’s regulations has had no effect.
+ Sweden’s squad
Goalkeepers: Andreas Palicka, Mikael Appelgren, Tobias Thulin.
Left six: Hampus Wanne, Lucas Pellas.
Middle six: Max Darj, Fredric Pettersson, Oscar Bergendahl.
Right sex: Niclas Ekberg, Daniel Pettersson.
Left nine: Jonathan Carlsbogård, Eric Johansson, Olle Forsell Schefvert.
Middle nine: Felix Claar, Jim Gottfridsson.
Right nine: Albin Lagergren, Linus Persson, Lukas Sandell.
+ How the WC is played
For the second time, 32 teams are participating, instead of the previous 24, and they 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 a group, also C+D, E+F and G+H).
The teams take with them their results from the first group stage. From the intermediate round, the top two teams in each group advance to the quarterfinals.
+ The groups
Group A (Krakow): Spain, Montenegro, Chile, Iran.
Group B (Katowice): France, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Slovenia.
Group C (Gothenburg): Sweden, Brazil, Cape Verde, Uruguay.
Group D (Kristianstad): Iceland, Portugal, Hungary, South Korea.
Group E (Katowice): Germany, Qatar, Serbia, Algeria.
Group F (Krakow): Norway, North Macedonia, Argentina, Netherlands.
Group G (Jönköping): Egypt, Croatia, Morocco, USA.
Group H (Malmö): Denmark, Belgium, Bahrain, Tunisia.
+ The premiere
Already on Wednesday evening, the WC party gets underway – with a single match. The host nation Poland is pitted against the giant France with return at 21:00 in Katowice.
+ Sweden’s matches
January 12: Brazil (8:30 p.m. in Scandinavium).
14 January: Cape Verde (20.30 in Scandinavium).
16 January: Uruguay (20.30 in Scandinavium).
January 18, 20, 22: Probably matches in the intermediate round.
+ The final game
Gdansk and Stockholm (Tele2 arena) share the quarter-finals (January 25) and semifinals (January 27), the final (January 29) will then be decided in the Swedish capital. In EC 2020, the Tele2 arena was also converted into a handball arena, but without Sweden managing to get there. Then 17,769 spectators came to see the final between Spain and Croatia.
+ WC history
The first WC tournament was played with Sweden as one of four teams in 1938, but then it was 16 years before the next WC. Now the men’s world championship is being played for the 28th time and Sweden is second in the marathon table with four gold (1954, 1958, 1990 and 1999), four silver and four bronze.