2009 World Men's Handball Championship

2009 World Men's Handball Championship
Svjetsko prvenstvo u rukometu 2009 (Croatian)

Tournament details
Host country	Croatia
Dates	16 January–1 February
Teams	24 (from 5 confederations)
Venue(s)	7 (in 7 host cities)
Final positions
Champions	France
Runner-up	Croatia
Third place	Poland
Fourth place	Denmark
Tournament statistics
Matches	110
Goals scored	6090 (55.36 per match)
Attendance	392,550 (3,569 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Kiril Lazarov (MKD) (92 goals)
Best player	Igor Vori (CRO)
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The 2009 World Men's Handball Championship (21st tournament) took place in Croatia from 16 January–1 February, in the cities of Split, Zadar, Osijek, Varaždin, Poreč, Zagreb and Pula. Croatia was selected from a group of four potential hosts which included the Czech Republic, Greece and Romania.

The opening game and ceremony were held in Split, and the final game was played in Zagreb. France won the tournament after defeating Croatia in the final. Poland took the third place after winning over Denmark. Tickets for the tournament went on sale from 15 to 20 November.^[1] For the finals, ticket prices started at 700 kuna (c. €95). To promote the tournament, the Croatian National Tourist Board launched a series of presentations in the capitals of 13 participating countries.^[2]

During the championship internal criticism arose against Hassan Moustafa, President of the IHF. The secretary general of the IHF, Peter Mühlematter, criticized Moustafa and asked for his demission. Moustafa asked to exclude Mühlematter after his criticism.^[3]^[4]^[5]^[6]^[7]

Venues

Seven Croatian cities were selected as hosts for the 2009 Championship: Split, Zadar, Osijek, Varaždin, Poreč, Zagreb and Pula.

The sites included the new Spaladium Arena in Split and Arena Zagreb, where the final took place.

Zagreb	Varaždin	Osijek
Arena Zagreb Capacity: 15,024	Varaždin Arena Capacity: 5,200	Gradski vrt Hall Capacity: 3,538

Poreč	Zagreb Split Osijek Varaždin Zadar Poreč Pula
Žatika Sport Centre Capacity: 3,500

Pula
Mate Parlov Sport Centre Capacity: 2,132

	Zadar	Split
	Krešimir Ćosić Hall Capacity: 8,600	Spaladium Arena Capacity: 10,941

Qualification

Qualified nations

Qualification occurred through the previous years' continental championships or qualifying tournaments:

Host (1 vacancy)
World Champion (1 vacancy)
2008 African Men's Handball Championship (3 vacancies)
2008 American Handball Championship (3 vacancies)
2008 Asian Handball Championship (3 vacancies)
2008 European Men's Handball Championship (3 vacancies)
2008 European qualifiers play-off (9 vacancies)
2008 Oceania qualifying tournament (1 vacancy)

European qualifiers play-off

Team 1	Result		1st leg	2nd leg
Slovenia	62–63	Slovakia	33–33	29–30
Spain	63–56	Greece	32–24	31–32
Norway	61–52	Ukraine	29–22	32–30
Belarus	56–60	Russia	26–26	30–34
Montenegro	55–56	Romania	31–27	24–29
Czech Republic	62–62	Serbia	38–33	24–29
Poland	54–48	Switzerland	32–24	22–24
Hungary	54–49	Bosnia-Herzegovina	27–25	27–24^[8]
Macedonia	58–56	Iceland	34–26	24–30

Seeding

The draw for the groups of the preliminary round was held on 21 June 2008, in Zagreb. The draw took place at Zagreb's central Ban Jelačić Square and was hosted by Filip Brkić and Kristina Krepela.^[9]

Pot 1	Pot 2	Pot 3	Pot 4	Pot 5	Pot 6
Croatia (host) Germany (The defending World Champions) Denmark (champions of Europe) France (3rd from Europe)^[10]	Sweden (5th from Europe)^[10] Norway (Euro playoff) Poland (Euro playoff) Hungary (Euro playoff)^[8]	Spain (Euro playoff) Slovakia (Euro playoff) Macedonia (euro playoff) Egypt (champion of Africa)	Romania (Euro playoff) Russia (Euro playoff) South Korea (champions of Asia) Brazil (champions of America)	Serbia (Euro playoff) Tunisia (2nd from Africa) Kuwait (2nd from Asia) Argentina (2nd from America)	Australia (Oceania qualifiers) Algeria (3rd from Africa) Saudi Arabia (3rd from Asia) Cuba (3rd from America)

Ruksi, the caterpillar, 2009 World Men's Handball Championship mascot.^[11]

Preliminary round

In the following tables:

Pld = total games played
W = total games won
D = total games drawn (tied)
L = total games lost
GF = total goals scored (goals for)
GA = total goals conceded (goals against)
GD = goal difference (GF−GA)
Pts = total points accumulated

The teams placed first, second and third (shaded in green) qualified to the main round.

Group A

Venue: Gradski vrt Hall, Osijek

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GDIF	Points
France	5	5	0	0	168	106	+62	10
Slovakia	5	3	1	1	152	119	+33	7
Hungary	5	3	1	1	148	115	+33	7
Romania	5	2	0	3	141	135	+6	4
Argentina	5	1	0	4	133	137	–4	2
Australia	5	0	0	5	76	206	–130	0

All times are Central European Time (UTC+1)

17 January 16:30	Slovakia	27 – 25	Argentina	Attendance: 3,000 Referees: Olesen, Pedersen (DEN)
	Straňovský 7	(12–13)	Gull 5
	7× 3×	Report	6× 3×

17 January 18:30	Hungary	41 – 17	Australia	Attendance: 3,000 Referees: Karbaschi, Kolahdouzan (IRI)
	Iváncsik, Zubai 7	(20–8)	Fletcher 8
	3× 3×	Report	1× 3×

17 January 20:30	France	31 – 21	Romania	Attendance: 3,000 Referees: Stanojević, Višekruna (SRB)
	Karabatić, Guigou 7	(12–9)	Toma 5
	3× 3×	Report	2× 3×

18 January 15:00	Australia	12 – 47	Slovakia	Attendance: 1,500 Referees: Stanojević, Višekruna (SRB)
	Fletcher 6	(6–20)	Antl 8
	4× 3×	Report	2× 3×

18 January 17:00	Romania	27 – 30	Hungary	Attendance: 3,000 Referees: Olesen, Pedersen (DEN)
	Pîrîianu 6	(16–13)	Nagy 8
	1× 3×	Report	5× 3×

18 January 19:00	Argentina	26 – 33	France	Attendance: 2,500 Referees: Gubica, Milošević (CRO)
	Kogovsek, Migueles 5	(15–19)	Guigou 7
	2× 3×	Report	1× 3×

19 January 15:30	Romania	30 – 26	Argentina	Attendance: 1,500 Referees: Karbaschi, Kolahdouzan (IRI)
	Ghionea 9	(15–13)	Kogovsek 7
	4× 3×	Report	5× 3× 1×

19 January 17:30	Hungary	24 – 24	Slovakia	Attendance: 2,500 Referees: Gubica, Milošević (CRO)
	Nagy, Iváncsik, Ilyés 5	(12–6)	Šulc 9
	3× 3×	Report	3× 4×

19 January 19:30	France	42 – 11	Australia	Attendance: 1,500 Referees: Olesen, Pedersen (DEN)
	Abalo 10	(20–3)	Fletcher 4
	2×	Report	4× 3×

21 January 15:00	Australia	20 – 40	Romania	Attendance: 1,000 Referees: Gubica, Milošević (CRO)
	Blondell 8	(9–21)	Cozma 10
	2× 3×	Report	3× 2×

21 January 17:00	Hungary	31 – 20	Argentina	Attendance: 3,000 Referees: Stanojević, Višekruna (SRB)
	Mocsai 6	(17–8)	Kogovsek, Gull 4
	3× 3×	Report	2× 3×

21 January 19:00	Slovakia	26 – 35	France	Attendance: 2,500 Referees: Karbaschi, Kolahdouzan (IRI)
	Antl 7	(9–15)	Karabatić 9
	7× 4×	Report	2× 3×

22 January 15:00	Argentina	36 – 16	Australia	Attendance: 1,000 Referees: Gubica, Milošević (CRO)
	Torres 7	(15–8)	Fletcher 4
	3× 2×	Report	1× 3×

22 January 17:00	Slovakia	28 – 23	Romania	Attendance: 3,500 Referees: Olesen, Pedersen (DEN)
	Kukučka 8	(12–13)	Ghionea, Pîrîianu 5
	4× 3×	Report	4× 3×

22 January 19:00	France	27 – 22	Hungary	Attendance: 3,500 Referees: Stanojević, Višekruna (SRB)
	Fernandez, Karabatić, Narcisse 5	(13–8)	Gál 5
	3×	Report	1× 3×

Group B

Venue: Spaladium Arena, Split

Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GDIF	Points
Croatia	5	5	0	170	115	+55	10
Sweden	5	4	1	162	118	+44	8
South Korea	5	3	2	140	126	+14	6
Spain	5	2	3	167	127	+40	4
Cuba	5	1	4	106	181	–75	2
Kuwait	5	0	5	99	177	–78	0

All times are Central European Time (UTC+1)

16 January 20:30	Croatia	27 – 26	South Korea	Attendance: 12,000 Referees: Lemme, Ullrich (GER)
	Čupić 8	(14–13)	Sim, Park J. 5
	2× 3×	Report	4× 3×

17 January 16:30	Spain	47 – 17	Kuwait	Attendance: 8,000 Referees: Nilson Aires, Aparecido (BRA)
	Rocas, García 7	(18–9)	H. Al-Shamari 5
	3× 3×	Report	4× 3×

17 January 18:30	Sweden	41 – 14	Cuba	Attendance: 3,500 Referees: El-Moamli, Shaaban (EGY)
	Källman, Lennartsson 6	(19–7)	Diaz 5
	6× 3×	Report	4× 3×

18 January 16:30	Cuba	20 – 45	Spain	Attendance: 1,000 Referees: Nilson Aires, Aparecdio (BRA)
	Echavarria 5	(10–24)	García 9
	8× 2× 1×	Report	4× 3×

18 January 18:30	South Korea	25 – 31	Sweden	Attendance: 3,000 Referees: Din, Dinu (ROU)
	Park J., Lee J. 6	(12–16)	Källman 10
	4× 4×	Report	10× 4× 1×

18 January 20:30	Kuwait	21 – 40	Croatia	Attendance: 10,000 Referees: El-Moamli, Shaaban (EGY)
	Al-Qallaf, Al-Gharaballi 5	(13–22)	Šprem 8
	9× 2× 1×	Report	5× 2×

19 January 16:30	South Korea	34 – 19	Kuwait	Attendance: 1,000 Referees: Din, Dinu (ROU)
	Yoon 7	(15–9)	H. Al-Shamari, Al-Theyab, Al-Anezi, Al-Otaibi, Abdul-Redha 3
	3× 3×	Report	4× 3×

19 January 18:30	Sweden	34 – 30	Spain	Attendance: 5,000 Referees: Lemme, Ullrich (GER)
	Doder 11	(19–13)	Romero 11
	7× 4×	Report	3× 3×

19 January 20:30	Croatia	41 – 20	Cuba	Attendance: 11,800 Referees: Nilson Aires, Aparecdio (BRA)
	Čupić 11	(20–9)	Echavarria, Carol 5
	2× 2×	Report	7× 2×

21 January 16:30	Cuba	26 – 31	South Korea	Attendance: 500 Referees: Lemme, Ullrich (GER)
	Turino, Diaz, Cuni, Echavarria, Amador 4	(13–17)	Lee J. 10
	10× 2×	Report	4× 3×

21 January 18:30	Sweden	30 – 19	Kuwait	Attendance: 6,000 Referees: El-Moamli, Shaaban (EGY)
	Larholm 6	(17–9)	Al-Hajeri 5
	4× 3×	Report	2× 2×

21 January 20:30	Spain	22 – 32	Croatia	Attendance: 12,000 Referees: Din, Dinu (ROU)
	Romero 5	(11–18)	Duvnjak 7
	2× 4×	Report	8× 4×

22 January 16:30	Kuwait	23 – 26	Cuba	Attendance: 500 Referees: Nilson Aires, Aparecdio (BRA)
	H. Al-Shamari, F. Al-Shamari 5	(9–12)	Carol 8
	5× 4×	Report	6× 3×

22 January 18:30	Spain	23 – 24	South Korea	Attendance: 8,000 Referees: Din, Dinu (ROU)
	Rocas, Romero 5	(15–14)	Oh Y. 6
	1× 3×	Report	4× 4×

22 January 20:30	Croatia	30 – 26	Sweden	Attendance: 12,000 Referees: Lemme, Ullrich (GER)
	Čupić 8	(14–13)	Doder, Larholm 7
	4× 4×	Report	5× 4×

Group C

Venue: Varaždin Arena, Varaždin

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GDIF	Points
Germany	5	4	1	0	147	116	+31	9
Macedonia	5	3	0	2	145	136	+9	6
Poland	5	3	0	2	146	131	+15	6
Russia	5	2	1	2	143	145	–2	5
Tunisia	5	2	0	3	143	142	+1	4
Algeria	5	0	0	5	114	168	–54	0

All times are Central European Time (UTC+1)

17 January 15:30	Poland	39 – 22	Algeria	Attendance: 3,500 Referees: Opava, Valek (CZE)
	Jurasik, Tłuczyński 6	(17–8)	Chehbour 6
	3× 3×	Report	7× 3×

17 January 17:30	Germany	26 – 26	Russia	Attendance: 4,600 Referees: Gjeding, Hansen (DEN)
	Hens 9	(15–14)	Rastvortsev, Igropulo 5
	5× 3×	Report	9× 3×

17 January 19:30	Macedonia	24 – 25	Tunisia	Attendance: 3,500 Referees: Cacador, Nicolau (POR)
	K. Lazarov 9	(14–13)	Tej 6
	1× 3×	Report	4× 4× 1×

18 January 15:30	Algeria	19 – 32	Macedonia	Attendance: 2,000 Referees: Gjeding, Hansen (DEN)
	Chehbour 6	(8–16)	K. Lazarov 9
	4× 3×	Report	4× 3×

18 January 17:30	Tunisia	24 – 26	Germany	Attendance: 3,500 Referees: Opava, Valek (CZE)
	Hammed 9	(12–12)	Hens 6
	7× 2× 1×	Report	6× 3×

18 January 19:30	Russia	22 – 24	Poland	Attendance: 3,000 Referees: Krstić, Ljubić (SLO)
	Igropulo 6	(14–11)	K. Lijewski, Bielecki, Jurasik 4
	10× 3× 2×	Report	7× 4×

19 January 15:30	Poland	29 – 30	Macedonia	Attendance: 1,500 Referees: Cacador, Nicolau (POR)
	M. Lijewski, Bielecki 7	(15–16)	K. Lazarov 13
	4× 3×	Report	4× 4×

19 January 17:30	Germany	32 – 20	Algeria	Attendance: 1,500 Referees: Krstić, Ljubić (SLO)
	Jansen 6	(16–10)	Berriah 8
	6× 4×	Report	4× 4×

19 January 19:30	Russia	36 – 31	Tunisia	Attendance: 1,000 Referees: Gjeding, Hansen (DEN)
	Kovalev, Filippov 7	(16–11)	Touati 9
	7× 2× 1×	Report	4× 3×

21 January 15:30	Algeria	28 – 29	Russia	Attendance: 2,000 Referees: Cacador, Nicolau (POR)
	Boudrali 6	(14–17)	Filippov 9
	3× 3×	Report	3× 3×

21 January 17:30	Macedonia	23 – 33	Germany	Attendance: 3,800 Referees: Opava, Valek (CZE)
	K. Lazarov 9	(14–13)	Glandorf 9
	6× 3× 1×	Report	7× 3× 1×

21 January 19:30	Poland	31 – 27	Tunisia	Attendance: 800 Referees: Krstić, Ljubić (SLO)
	Tłuczyński 11	(16–11)	Hedoui 6
	3× 3×	Report	9× 4× 1×

22 January 15:30	Macedonia	36 – 30	Russia	Attendance: 4,000 Referees: Gjeding, Hansen (DEN)
	K. Lazarov 13	(15–14)	Igropulo 13
	10× 3× 1×	Report	7× 3×

22 January 17:30	Germany	30 – 23	Poland	Attendance: 4,000 Referees: Cacador, Nicolau (POR)
	Kraus 7	(14–11)	Tłuczyński 6
	9× 3× 1×	Report	5× 4×

22 January 19:30	Tunisia	36 – 25	Algeria	Attendance: 300 Referees: Opava, Valek (CZE)
	Touati 12	(18–11)	Bouakaz 5
	3× 3×	Report	9× 2× 1×

Group D

Venue: Žatika Sport Centre, Poreč

Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GDIF	Points
Denmark	5	5	0	167	121	+46	10
Serbia	5	3	2	161	146	+15	6
Norway	5	3	2	162	123	+39	6
Egypt	5	2	3	110	126	–16	4
Brazil	5	2	3	128	158	–30	4
Saudi Arabia	5	0	5	107	161	–54	0

All times are Central European Time (UTC+1)

17 January 16:15	Norway	39 – 23	Saudi Arabia	Attendance: 2,000 Referees: Gatelis, Mazeika (LTU)
	Mamelund 8	(19–10)	B. Al-Harbi 6
	3× 3×	Report	7× 3×

17 January 18:15	Egypt	22 – 30	Serbia	Attendance: 2,500 Referees: Baum, Góralczyk (POL)
	El Ahmar 8	(12–12)	Stojanović 6
	6× 5×	Report	5× 3×

17 January 20:15	Denmark	40 – 27	Brazil	Attendance: 2,200 Referees: Gousko, Repkin (BLR)
	Christiansen 8	(19–12)	E. Silva 6
	2× 3×	Report	5× 3×

18 January 16:15	Brazil	21 – 39	Norway	Attendance: 1,500 Referees: Baum, Góralczyk (POL)
	E. Silva, Hubner 4	(8–17)	Bjørnsen 7
	4× 3×	Report	3× 3×

18 January 18:15	Saudi Arabia	18 – 26	Egypt	Attendance: 1,500 Referees: Lazaar, Reveret (FRA)
	B. Al-Harbi 9	(8–12)	Hussein 7
	6× 3×	Report	3× 4×

18 January 20:15	Serbia	36 – 37	Denmark	Attendance: 3,500 Referees: Gousko, Repkin (BLR)
	Ilić 10	(22–16)	Lindberg 8
	8× 3×	Report	4× 2×

19 January 17:00	Brazil	32 – 30	Serbia	Attendance: 1,000 Referees: Lazaar, Reveret (FRA)
	Ribeiro 10	(14–14)	Ilić 7
	2× 3×	Report	2× 3×

19 January 19:10	Norway	30 – 20	Egypt	Attendance: 1,650 Referees: Gatelis, Mazeika (LTU)
	Kjelling 9	(14–10)	Hussein 9
	2× 3×	Report	6× 3×

19 January 21:15	Denmark	32 – 13	Saudi Arabia	Attendance: 800 Referees: Baum, Góralczyk (POL)
	Jacobsen 10	(17–4)	Al-Habib 6
	1× 3×	Report	2× 3×

21 January 17:00	Saudi Arabia	24 – 26	Brazil	Attendance: 1,000 Referees: Gatelis, Mazeika (LTU)
	B. Al-Harbi 9	(10–14)	Ribeiro 9
	2× 3×	Report	6× 3× 1×

21 January 19:10	Norway	26 – 27	Serbia	Attendance: 3,500 Referees: Baum, Góralczyk (POL)
	Løke 6	(10–12)	Vujin 6
	2× 4×	Report	5× 3×

21 January 21:15	Egypt	17 – 26	Denmark	Attendance: 1,200 Referees: Lazaar, Reveret (FRA)
	Hussein 4	(7–12)	Christiansen 7
	4× 3×	Report	3× 3×

22 January 16:15	Serbia	38 – 29	Saudi Arabia	Attendance: 800 Referees: Gatelis, Mazeika (LTU)
	Bojinovic, Markovic 6	(21–13)	Al-Habib 6
	3×	Report	6× 3×

22 January 18:15	Egypt	25 – 22	Brazil	Attendance: 2,000 Referees: Lazaar, Reveret (FRA)
	Hussein 6	(13–6)	Ribeiro 5
	5× 3×	Report	5× 3×

22 January 20:15	Denmark	32 – 28	Norway	Attendance: 3,200 Referees: Gousko, Repkin (BLR)
	Hansen 10	(16–14)	Kjelling 9
	2× 3×	Report	4× 2×

Main Round

	Team advanced to the Semifinals

Group I

Venue: Arena Zagreb, Zagreb

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GDIF	Points
Croatia	5	5	0	0	137	118	+19	10
France	5	4	0	1	139	112	+27	8
Hungary	5	2	1	2	127	135	–8	5
Sweden	5	2	0	3	135	140	–5	4
Slovakia	5	1	1	3	124	137	–13	3
South Korea	5	0	0	5	119	139	–20	0

All times are Central European Time (UTC+1)

24 January 16:30	Slovakia	23 – 20	South Korea	Attendance: 3,000 Referees: Gjeding, Hansen (DEN)
	Šulc 6	(15–12)	Lee J. 8
	5× 3×	Report	2× 2×

24 January 18:30	France	28 – 21	Sweden	Attendance: 13,000 Referees: Baum, Góralczyk (POL)
	Karabatić, Guigou 7	(16–10)	Andersson 5
	3× 2×	Report	1× 3× 1×

24 January 20:30	Hungary	22 – 27	Croatia	Attendance: 15,000 Referees: Olesen, Pedersen (DEN)
	Nagy 6	(12–14)	Čupić 6
	3× 3×	Report	3× 4×

25 January 16:30	Sweden	30 – 31	Hungary	Attendance: 4,000 Referees: Lemme, Ullrich (GER)
	Källman 8	(18–16)	Ilyés 8
	4× 2× 1×	Report	6× 3×

25 January 18:30	South Korea	21 – 30	France	Attendance: 10,000 Referees: Olesen, Pedersen (DEN)
	Kim T., Oh Y. 5	(15–15)	Abalo, Guigou 5
	3× 3×	Report	4× 3×

25 January 20:30	Croatia	31 – 25	Slovakia	Attendance: 15,000 Referees: Gousko, Repkin (BLR)
	Hrvatin 6	(18–13)	Šulc 7
	2× 3×	Report	4× 3×

27 January 16:30	Hungary	28 – 27	South Korea	Attendance: 800 Referees: Gousko, Repkin (BLR)
	Császár 8	(11–14)	Lee J. 7
	4× 1×	Report	2× 1×

27 January 18:30	Slovakia	26 – 27	Sweden	Attendance: 10,000 Referees: Gjeding, Hansen (DEN)
	Kukucka 9	(11–16)	Doder 11
	5× 3×	Report	4× 3× 1×

27 January 20:30	France	19 – 22	Croatia	Attendance: 15,000 Referees: Baum, Góralczyk (POL)
	Junillon 5	(7–11)	Vori 8
	2× 3×	Report	3× 3×

Group II

Venue: Krešimir Ćosić Hall, Zadar

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GDIF	Points
Denmark	5	4	0	1	156	145	+11	8
Poland	5	3	0	2	150	141	+9	6
Germany	5	2	1	2	147	133	+14	5
Serbia	5	2	1	2	153	161	–8	5
Norway	5	2	0	3	138	141	–3	4
Macedonia	5	1	0	4	132	155	–23	2

All times are Central European Time (UTC+1)

24 January 15:30	Macedonia	27 – 29	Norway	Attendance: 4,500 Referees: Cacador, Nicolau (POR)
	K. Lazarov 9	(13–16)	Tvedten 10
	2× 4×	Report	5× 4× 1×

24 January 17:30	Germany	35 – 35	Serbia	Attendance: 4,500 Referees: Lazaar, Reveret (FRA)
	Jansen 10	(16–19)	Bojinović 8
	4× 3×	Report	4× 3× 1×

24 January 20:15	Poland	32 – 28	Denmark	Attendance: 1,500 Referees: Din, Dinu (ROU)
	Kuchczyński 9	(20–12)	Boesen 6
	5× 3×	Report	4× 4×

25 January 15:30	Serbia	23 – 35	Poland	Attendance: 2,000 Referees: Cacador, Nicolau (POR)
	Ilić 6	(7–21)	Tłuczyński 11
	2× 3×	Report	2× 3×

25 January 17:30	Norway	25 – 24	Germany	Attendance: 2,500 Referees: Krstić, Ljubić (SLO)
	Tvedten, Kjelling 7	(12–12)	Glandorf 6
	5× 4×	Report	5× 4× 1×

25 January 20:15	Denmark	32 – 24	Macedonia	Attendance: 5,500 Referees: Lazaar, Navaret (FRA)
	Christiansen 8	(13–12)	K. Lazarov 8
	4× 3×	Report	6× 3×

27 January 15:30	Macedonia	28 – 32	Serbia	Attendance: 3,500 Referees: Krstić, Ljubić (SLO)
	K. Lazarov 7	(16–15)	Ilić 8
	3× 3×	Report	5× 3× 1×

27 January 17:30	Germany	25 – 27	Denmark	Attendance: 3,000 Referees: Din, Dinu (ROU)
	Preiß 7	(14–14)	Lindberg 6
	6× 4×	Report	4× 3×

27 January 20:15	Poland	31 – 30	Norway	Attendance: 4,200 Referees: Lazaar, Reveret (FRA)
	Bielecki 5	(14–14)	Kjelling 8
	3× 3×	Report	4× 3×

Final Round (Split/Zagreb)

Finals

Final, France vs. Croatia, 22:19, 28:11 min, Arena Zagreb

Semifinal			Final

30 January - 17:30 (Split)
Denmark	22
France	27

			1 February - 17:30 (Zagreb)
			France	24
			Croatia	19


			Bronze Match
30 January - 20:30 (Zagreb)		1 February - 15:00 (Zagreb)
Croatia	29	Denmark	23
Poland	23		Poland	31

Semifinals

30 January 17:30	Denmark	22 – 27	France	Spaladium Arena, Split Attendance: 11,000 Referees: Gousko, Repkin (BLR)
	Jørgensen 5	(11–16)	Abalo 7
	3×	Report	2× 2× 1×

30 January 20:30	Croatia	29 – 23	Poland	Arena Zagreb, Zagreb Attendance: 15,000 Referees: Lemme, Ullrich (GER)
	Čupić 12	(14–13)	Jurasik 6
	3× 3×	Report	4× 3×

Bronze Match

1 February 15:00	Denmark	23 – 31	Poland	Arena Zagreb, Zagreb Attendance: 8,000 Referees: Lazaar, Reveret (FRA)
	Hansen 10	(11–14)	Bielecki 10
	5× 3×	Report	3× 3×

Final

1 February 17:30	France	24 – 19	Croatia	Arena Zagreb, Zagreb Attendance: 15,000 Referees: Olsen, Pedersen (DEN)
	Guigou 10	(11–12)	Čupić 6
	2× 4×	Report	3× 4× 1×

Placement Matches (5–12th Place)

11th–12th

29 January 12:30	South Korea	31 – 32	Macedonia	Arena Zagreb, Zagreb Attendance: 1,000 Referees: Nilson Aires, Aparecdio (BRA)
	Jeong 7	(14–14)	K. Lazarov 15
	3× 2×	Report	4× 4×

9th–10th

29 January 20:15	Slovakia	27 – 34	Norway	Arena Zagreb, Zagreb Attendance: 3,000 Referees: Gubica, Milošević (CRO)
	Kukučka 6	(14–18)	Kjelling 9
	6× 2×	Report	5× 3×

7th–8th

29 January 17:30	Sweden	37 – 29	Serbia	Arena Zagreb, Zagreb Attendance: 5,300 Referees: Karbaschi, Kolahdouzan (IRI)
	Gustafsson 7	(20–16)	Vujin, Vucković 5
	3× 4×	Report	3× 1×

5th–6th

29 January 15:00	Hungary	25 – 28	Germany	Arena Zagreb, Zagreb Attendance: 3,000 Referees: Baum, Góralczyk (POL)
	Nagy 5	(13–16)	Kaufmann 8
	3×	Report	2× 3×

President's Cup

Group I

Venue: Mate Parlov Sport Centre, Pula

Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GDIF	Points
Spain	5	5	0	205	98	+107	10
Romania	5	4	1	175	141	+34	8
Argentina	5	3	2	137	125	+12	6
Cuba	5	2	3	124	154	–30	4
Kuwait	5	1	4	119	157	–38	2
Australia	5	0	5	87	172	–85	0

All times are Central European Time (UTC+1)

24 January 15:00	Argentina	26 – 25	Kuwait	Attendance: 500 Referees: Opava, Valek (CZE)
	Migueles 5	(12–12)	Abdul-Redha 6
	4× 2×	Report	4× 2×

24 January 17:00	Australia	10 – 42	Spain	Attendance: 1,200 Referees: El-Moamli, Shaaban (EGY)
	Fletcher, Subotic 3	(6–18)	Ugalde 9
	4× 4×	Report	3× 3×

24 January 19:00	Romania	39 – 28	Cuba	Attendance: 1,000 Referees: Nilson Aires, Aparecido (BRA)
	Ghionea 12	(21–15)	Turino, Carol 6
	1× 3×	Report	5× 3×

25 January 15:00	Spain	31 – 19	Argentina	Attendance: 1,600 Referees: El-Moamli, Shaaban (EGY)
	García 6	(15–11)	Viscovich 5
	4× 3× 1×	Report	3× 3×

25 January 17:00	Kuwait	27 – 34	Romania	Attendance: 1,000 Referees: Nilson Aires, Aparecido (BRA)
	Al-Qallaf, Al-Gharaballi 5	(12–16)	Ghionea 8
	2× 3×	Report	3× 2×

25 January 19:00	Cuba	27 – 17	Australia	Attendance: 500 Referees: Gubica, Milošević (CRO)
	Diaz 5	(14–6)	Fletcher 6
	3× 3×	Report	3× 3×

26 January 15:00	Australia	24 – 27	Kuwait	Attendance: 200 Referees: Nilson Aires, Aparecido (BRA)
	Blondell 7	(10–14)	F. Al-Shamari 7
	4× 4×	Report	2× 3×

26 January 17:00	Argentina	30 – 23	Cuba	Attendance: 500 Referees: El-Moamli, Shaaban (EGY)
	Pizzaro 8	(16–15)	Carol 6
	6× 3×	Report	6× 3×

26 January 19:00	Romania	32 – 40	Spain	Attendance: 2,500 Referees: Stanojević, Višekruna (SRB)
	Ghionea 7	(16–19)	Ugalde 9
	3× 3×	Report	4× 3×

Group II

Venue: Žatika Sport Centre, Poreč

Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GDIF	Points
Egypt	5	4	1	135	125	+10	8
Russia	5	4	1	151	127	+24	8
Tunisia	5	3	2	159	146	+13	6
Algeria	5	3	2	140	142	–2	6
Brazil	5	1	4	131	137	–6	2
Saudi Arabia	5	0	5	105	144	–39	0

All times are Central European Time (UTC+1)

24 January 16:00	Tunisia	28 – 21	Saudi Arabia	Attendance: 300 Referees: Gatelis, Mazeika (LTU)
	Ayed 5	(12–8)	B. Al-Harbi 5
	3× 3×	Report	3× 3×

24 January 18:00	Algeria	28 – 22	Egypt	Attendance: 300 Referees: Stanojević, Višekruna (SRB)
	Berriah 7	(12–7)	Hussein 6
	3× 3×	Report	2× 2×

24 January 20:00	Russia	25 – 22	Brazil	Attendance: 300 Referees: Gubica, Milošević (CRO)
	Dibirov 7	(15–9)	Gaeta, Ribeiro 4
	5× 3× 1×	Report	4× 2×

25 January 16:00	Egypt	31 – 30	Tunisia	Attendance: 1,000 Referees: Stanojević, Višekruna (SRB)
	El Ahmar 11	(15–14)	Ayed 9
	6× 3× 1×	Report	6× 3×

25 January 18:00	Saudi Arabia	15 – 34	Russia	Attendance: 1,000 Referees: Opava, Valek (CZE)
	Al-Abdulali 4	(5–17)	Chernoivanov 8
	2× 3×	Report	2× 3×

25 January 20:00	Brazil	28 – 29	Algeria	Attendance: 500 Referees: Gatelis, Mazeika (LTU)
	Ribeiro, Ferreira 8	(15–10)	Boudrali 5
	6× 3×	Report	3× 3×

26 January 16:00	Algeria	30 – 27	Saudi Arabia	Attendance: 500 Referees: Gubica, Milošević (CRO)
	Soudani 8	(14–12)	B. Al-Harbi 13
	2× 3×	Report	4× 3×

26 January 18:00	Tunisia	34 – 33	Brazil	Attendance: 500 Referees: Gatelis, Mazeika (LTU)
	Touati 6	(18–16)	Ribeiro, Ferreira 9
	3× 3×	Report	6× 4×

26 January 20:00	Russia	27 – 31	Egypt	Attendance: 1,000 Referees: Opava, Valek (CZE)
	Igropulo 8	(12–16)	El Ahmar, Rabie 8
	8× 3× 1×	Report	5× 3×

Placement Matches (13–24th Place)

23rd–24th

27 January 15:00	Australia	19 – 23	Saudi Arabia	Mate Parlov Sport Centre, Pula Attendance: 300 Referees: Nilson Aires, Aparecido (BRA)
	Fletcher 6	(11–15)	B. Al-Harbi 6
	5× 3×	Report	4× 3×

21st–22nd

27 January 16:00	Kuwait	24 – 27	Brazil	Žatika Sport Centre, Poreč Attendance: 200 Referees: El-Moamli, Shaaban (EGY)
	Al-Gharaballi 8	(12–13)	Ribeiro 11
	2× 4×	Report	3× 3×

19th–20th

27 January 17:00	Cuba	27 – 34	Algeria	Mate Parlov Sport Centre, Pula Attendance: 350 Referees: Gubica, Milošević (CRO)
	Turino 8	(15–18)	Chehbour, Soudani, Berriah 6
	4× 3×	Report	7× 4×

17th–18th

27 January 18:00	Argentina	23 – 29	Tunisia	Žatika Sport Centre, Poreč Attendance: 500 Referees: Opava, Valek (CZE)
	Migueles 5	(13–14)	Gharbi, Kraiem 6
	4× 3×	Report	4× 3×

15th–16th

27 January 19:00	Romania	42 – 38	Russia	Mate Parlov Sport Centre, Pula Attendance: 750 Referees: Gatelis, Mazeika (LTU)
	Irimescu 8	(25–21)	Dibirov 12
	6× 3×	Report	6× 3×

13th–14th

27 January 20:00	Spain	28 – 24	Egypt	Žatika Sport Centre, Poreč Attendance: 1,000 Referees: Stanojević, Višekruna (SRB)
	Cañellas 9	(15–10)	Hassan 7
	2× 3×	Report	4× 3×

Ranking and Statistics

Final ranking

	France
	Croatia
	Poland
4	Denmark
5	Germany
6	Hungary
7	Sweden
8	Serbia
9	Norway
10	Slovakia
11	Macedonia
12	South Korea
13	Spain
14	Egypt
15	Romania
16	Russia
17	Tunisia
18	Argentina
19	Algeria
20	Cuba
21	Brazil
22	Kuwait
23	Saudi Arabia
24	Australia

2009 Men's World Champions

France
Third Title

Team Roster

Jérôme Fernandez, Didier Dinart, Guillaume Gille, Daniel Narcisse, Guillaume Joli, Daouda Karaboué, Nikola Karabatić, Christophe Kempe, Franck Junillon, Thierry Omeyer, Joël Abati, Luc Abalo, Cedric Sorhaindo, Michaël Guigou, Sebastien Bosquet and Sebastien Ostertag.
Head Coach: Claude Onesta.

All Star Team

Goalkeeper: Thierry Omeyer (FRA)
Left wing: Michaël Guigou (FRA)
Left back: Blaženko Lacković (CRO)
Pivot: Igor Vori (CRO)
Centre back: Nikola Karabatić (FRA)
Right back: Marcin Lijewski (POL)
Right wing: Ivan Čupić (CRO)

Chosen by team officials and IHF experts: IHF.info

Other awards

Most Valuable Player: Igor Vori (CRO)
Best Defence Player:
Top Goalscorer: 92 goals
Kiril Lazarov (MKD)

Top Goalkeepers

Rank	Name	Team	%	Saves	Shots
1	Per Sandström	Sweden	44%	52	118
2	Nándor Fazekas	Hungary	41%	79	195
	Daouda Karaboué	France		41	99
	Richard Štochl	Slovakia		110	266
5	Mohamed Nakib Bakir	Egypt	39%	62	157
5	Jose Manuel Sierra	Spain	39%	54	139
7	Steinar Ege	Norway	38%	95	249
7	Andreas Palicka	Sweden	38%	44	116
9	Thierry Omeyer	France	37%	91	244
9	Johan Sjöstrand	Sweden	37%	56	150

Source: ihf.info

Top goalscorers

Rank	Name	Team	Goals	Shots	%
1	Kiril Lazarov	Macedonia	92	167	55%
2	Ivan Čupić	Croatia	66	81	81%
3	Felipe Borges Ribeiro	Brazil	61	87	70%
4	Valentin Marian Ghionea	Romania	58	87	67%
4	Tomasz Tłuczyński	Poland	58	73	79%
6	Bandar Al-Harbi	Saudi Arabia	55	100	55%
7	Kristian Kjelling	Norway	54	102	53%
8	Michaël Guigou	France	52	66	79%
8	Momir Ilić	Serbia	52	100	52%
10	Hussein Hussein	Egypt	50	50	64%

Source: ihf.info

Match officials

German officials Bernd Ullrich (left) and Frank Lemme (right) refereed the opening match between Croatia and South Korea on 16 January.

Referees (cont.)
Romania	Constantin Din Sorin-Laurenţiu Dinu
Serbia	Zoran Stanojević Slobodan Višekruna
Slovenia	Nenad Krstič Peter Ljubič
Withdrawn due to injury
Sweden	Rickard Canbro Mikael Claesson

On 12 October 2008, the match officials for the tournament were confirmed.^[12] But due to injury, the Swedish referee team Rickard Canbro and Mikael Claesson had to withdraw from the championship, and was replaced by Danish duo Per Olesen and Lars Ejby Pedersen.^[13]

Referees
Belarus	Andrei Gousko Siarhei Repkin
Brazil	Jesús Nílson Aires Rogério Aparecido
Croatia	Matija Gubica Boris Milošević
Czech Republic	Jiří Opava Pavěl Valek
Denmark	Martin Gjeding Mads Hansen
Denmark	Per Olesen Lars Ejby Pedersen
Egypt	Moustafa El-Moamli Mohamed Shaaban
France	Nordine Lazaar Laurent Reveret
Germany	Frank Lemme Bernd Ullrich
Iran	Mohsen Karbaschi Majid Kolahdouzan
Lithuania	Mindaugas Gatelis Vaidas Mažeika
Poland	Mirosław Baum Marek Góralczyk
Portugal	Cacodor Nicolau

IHF Broadcasting rights

Croatia: RTL
Bosnia and Herzegovina: BHRT (BHT 1)
Brazil: ESPN Brasil
Denmark: TV 2, TV 2 Sport
Egypt: Nile Sport
France: Sport+
Germany: RTL, DSF
Hungary: Sport TV
Kuwait: Kuwait Sport Channel 3 and Kuwait Sport +
Macedonia: Sitel
Norway: TV 2, TV 2 Zebra and TV 2 Sport
Poland: TVP (TVP2 and TVP Sport)
Romania: TVR, Sport 1
Russia: NTV Plus
Saudi Arabia (Middle East): Al Jazeera Sports
Serbia: RTS (RTS 1)
Slovenia: RTV Slovenija
Spain: TVE (TVE2, Teledeporte)
Sweden: TV 4
Tunisia: Tunis 7

High Definition

Denmark: TV2 Sport HD
Poland: TVP (TVP HD)
Russia: NTV Plus HD
Saudi Arabia (Middle East): Al Jazeera Sports HD
Sweden: TV4 HD

References

↑ Ulaznica za finale Svjetskog prvenstva 700 kuna (Croatian)
↑ Krenule rukometno-turističke prezentacije (Croatian)
↑ Kritiker vor dem Ausschluss IHF-Generalsekretär ist im Verband isoliert (German)
↑ Moustafa soll gehen (German)
↑ Mühlematter legt Moustafa Rücktritt nahe (German)
↑ Mühlematter fordert Moustafas Rücktritt (German)
↑ Handball Doping: "Da wird ohne Ende gelogen" (German)
↑ 8.0 8.1 "The EHF Body of 1st Instance has dealt with the abandoned Bosnia Herzegovina vs Hungary game.". eurohandball.com. Archived from the original on 22 June 2008. Retrieved 2008-06-19.
↑ Izvlačenje skupina na Trgu bana Jelačića (Croatian)
↑ 10.0 10.1 Runners-up Croatia and 4th-placed Germany had already secured their places at the World Championship before the European Championship.
↑ My name is Ruksi croatia2009.com
↑ Imenovani suci za rukometno SP (Croatian) Sportnet.hr
↑ 2009 Men's World Championship in Croatia: Updated List of Referees ihf.info

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 2009 World Men's Handball Championship.

International handball

IHF World Championship (men) (women) Junior World Championship (men) (women) Youth World Championship (men) (women) Youth Olympics Olympics Beach Handball World Championships IHF Super Globe All-Africa Games Asian Games Pan American Games South American Games Mediterranean Games Pan Arab Games Player of the Year Teams

Africa	CAHB African Championship (men) (women) Junior Championship (men) (women) Youth Championship (men) (women)

Americas	PATHF Pan American Championship (men) (women) Junior Championship (men) (women) Youth Championship (men) (women) Pan American Beach Handball Championship

Asia	AHF Asian Championship (men) (women) Junior Championship (men) (women) Youth Championship (men) (women) Beach Handball Championship (men) (women)

Europe	EHF European Championship (men) (women) Junior Championship (men) (women) Youth Championship (men) (women) Beach Handball Championship

Oceania	OCHF Nations Cup (men) (women) Junior Championship (men) (women) Youth Championship (men) Pacific Cup (Men) (Women)

World Handball Championships

Men's

Tournaments	Germany 1938 Sweden 1954 East Germany 1958 West Germany 1961 Czechoslovakia 1964 Sweden 1967 France 1970 East Germany 1974 Denmark 1978 West Germany 1982 Switzerland 1986 Czechoslovakia 1990 Sweden 1993 Iceland 1995 Japan 1997 Egypt 1999 France 2001 Portugal 2003 Tunisia 2005 Germany 2007 Croatia 2009 Sweden 2011 Spain 2013 Qatar 2015 France 2017 Denmark/Germany 2019 2021 2023

Squads	1938 1954 1958 1961 1964 1967 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1993 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015

Women's

Tournaments	Yugoslavia 1957 Romania 1962 West Germany 1965 Netherlands 1971 Yugoslavia 1973 Soviet Union 1975 Czechoslovakia 1978 Hungary 1982 Netherlands 1986 South Korea 1990 Norway 1993 Austria/Hungary 1995 Germany 1997 Denmark/Norway 1999 Italy 2001 Croatia 2003 Russia 2005 France 2007 China 2009 Brazil 2011 Serbia 2013 Denmark 2015 Germany 2017 Japan 2019 2021 2023

Squads	1957 1962 1965 1971 1973 1975 1978 1982 1986 1990 1993 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015