Phase 1 earlier this month produced four winners – Italy, Slovakia, Estonia, and Finland – while the tie between Luxembourg and Israel was postponed due to the current situation in Israel. Those four teams, plus Luxembourg or Israel, moved on to the first part of phase 2, joining Lithuania, Ukraine and Belgium.
Based on the current national team ranking, the teams have been divided into two pots for Tuesday’s draw:
Pot 1:
- Belgium
- Lithuania
- Ukraine
- Luxembourg/Israel
Pot 2:
- Slovakia
- Finland
- Estonia
- Italy
Each team from pot 1 will draw an opponent from pot 2. The team drawn first will have the home right in the first leg on 13/14 March 2024. The second leg is on 16/17 March.
The draw follows immediately after the draw for the Last 16 in the EHF European Cup Women, which starts at 11:00 CET. The entire draw ceremony will be streamed live on the Home of Handball YouTube channel.
The four winners advance to the second part of phase 2 – the final stage of qualification, which will also feature 18 teams participating at the EHF EURO 2024 in January. Those decisive qualification matches take place in May.
World Championship co-hosts Croatia, Denmark – who are also the defending champions – and Norway, as well as the three best-ranked teams at the EHF EURO, directly qualify for the World Championship.
The final tournament in January 2025 is held with 32 participants in total.
