Wild cards announced for the 29th IHF Men’s World Handball Championship

With the final line-up for the 2025 IHF Men’s World Championship set, the 32 teams will now find out their opponents in the preliminary round after the draw Wednesday, 29 May, at 19:30 CEST in Zagreb, Croatia.

The International Handball Federation (IHF) Council has awarded the two wild cards available to United States of America and Switzerland, now completing the 32-team line-up at Croatia/Denmark/Norway 2025.

The United States of America will now feature for the eighth time at the IHF Men’s World Championship, two years after securing their maiden two wins and finishing on the 20th place at Poland/Sweden 2023.

With the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games only four years away, the United States of America men’s national team will use this chance to develop even further, strengthening their core, as shown over the last months during friendly and international competitions against strong teams.

Switzerland will be present at the start of the IHF Men’s World Championship for the 12th time in their history, and for the second time in the last 30 years, after finishing on the 16th place at Egypt 2021.

Switzerland were granted the wild card by the IHF due to a mix of factors, including the sporting merit, which saw them eliminated in the Qualification Europe Part 2 – Phase 2 against Slovenia on penalties, after the regular 120 minutes ended in a stalemate, as well as commercial reasons, as they had the biggest reach after a thorough analysis.

With the final picture complete for the 29th edition of the IHF Men’s World Championship, 18 European teams, 5 African teams, 4 teams from Asia, 3 from the South and Central American Confederation and 2 from the North America and Caribbean Confederation will be at the start of the world handball flagship competition.

2025 IHF Men’s World Championship line-up