The 2009 World Men's Handball Championship (21st tournament) took place in

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = " Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capi ...

from 16 January to 1 February, in the cities of

Split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, entertai ...

Zadar Zadar ( , ; historically known as Zara (from Venetian and Italian: ); see also other names), is the oldest continuously inhabited Croatian city. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea, at the northwestern part of Ravni Kotari region. Zadar ser ...

Osijek Osijek () is the fourth-largest city in Croatia, with a population of 96,848 in 2021. It is the largest city and the economic and cultural centre of the eastern Croatian region of Slavonia, as well as the administrative centre of Osijek-Baranja ...

Varaždin ) , image_photo = , image_skyline = , image_flag = Flag of Varaždin.svg , flag_size = , image_seal = , seal_size = , image_shield = Grb_Grad ...

Poreč Poreč (; it, Parenzo; la, Parens or ; grc, Πάρενθος, Párenthos) is a town and municipality on the western coast of the Istrian peninsula, in Istria County, west Croatia. Its major landmark is the 6th-century Euphrasian Basilica, whi ...

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...

and

Pula Pula (; also known as Pola, it, Pola , hu, Pòla, Venetian; ''Pola''; Istriot: ''Puola'', Slovene: ''Pulj'') is the largest city in Istria County, Croatia, and the seventh-largest city in the country, situated at the southern tip of the I ...

. Croatia was selected from a group of four potential hosts which included the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wi ...

and

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

. The opening game and ceremony were held in Split, and the final game was played in Zagreb.

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

won the tournament after defeating

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = " Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capi ...

in the final.

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

took the third place after winning over

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. Tickets for the tournament went on sale from 15 to 20 November. For the finals, ticket prices started at 700

kuna Kuna may refer to: Places * Kuna, Idaho, a town in the United States ** Kuna Caves, a lava tube in Idaho * Kuna Peak, a mountain in California * , a village in the Orebić municipality, Croatia * , a village in the Konavle municipality, Croatia ...

(c. €95). To promote the tournament, the Croatian National Tourist Board launched a series of presentations in the capitals of 13 participating countries. During the championship internal criticism arose against Hassan Moustafa, President of the IHF. The secretary general of the IHF,

Peter Mühlematter Peter Mühlematter is a Swiss handball administrator. He was born on 2 January 1945 in Bern. While working as manager for a Swiss printing machine manufacturer, he started his IHF career as member of the IHF Commission for Development and Public R ...

, criticized Moustafa and asked for his demission. Moustafa asked to exclude Mühlematter after his criticism.

Venues

Seven Croatian cities were selected as hosts for the 2009 Championship:

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and

. The sites included the new

Spaladium Arena The Spaladium Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena located in Split, Croatia. It was opened in December 2008, and hosted the following month's World Men's Handball Championship in 2009. The hall will host the event again in 2025 with Croatia, De ...

in Split and Arena Zagreb, where the final took place.

Qualification

Qualification occurred through the previous years' continental championships or qualifying tournaments: * Host (1 vacancy) * World Champion (1 vacancy) *

2008 African Men's Handball Championship The 2008 African Men's Handball Championship was the 18th edition of the African Men's Handball Championship, held in Angola, from 8 to 17 January 2008. It acted as the African qualifying tournament for the Handball at the 2008 Summer Olympics, 20 ...

(3 vacancies) * 2008 American Handball Championship (3 vacancies) * 2008 Asian Handball Championship (3 vacancies) *

2008 European Men's Handball Championship The 2008 EHF European Men's Handball Championship (8th tournament) was held in Norway from 17 to 27 January, in the cities of Bergen, Drammen, Lillehammer, Stavanger and Trondheim. Denmark men's national handball team, Denmark won the tournament ...

(3 vacancies) * 2008 European qualifiers play-off (9 vacancies) * 2008 Oceania qualifying tournament (1 vacancy)

European qualifiers play-off

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 Ban Jelačić Square (; hr, Trg bana Jelačića) is the central square of the city of Zagreb, Croatia, named after Ban Josip Jelačić. The official name is Trg bana Jelačića. The square is colloquially called ''Jelačić plac''. It is locate ...

and was hosted by Filip Brkić and Kristina Krepela.

Squads

Each nation had to submit a squad of 16 players.

Referees

On 12 October 2008, the match officials for the tournament were confirmed. But due to injury, the Swedish referee couple Rickard Canbro and Mikael Claesson had to withdraw from the championship, and was replaced by Danish couple Per Olesen and Lars Ejby Pedersen. Lemme Ullrich 02

Preliminary round

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Group A

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Group B

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Group C

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Group D

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President's Cup

Group I

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Group II

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Placement games

23rd place game

21st place game

19th place game

17th place game

15th place game

13th place game

Main round

Group I

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Group II

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Final round

Bracket

Semifinals

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Eleventh place game

Ninth place game

Seventh place game

Fifth place game

Third place game

Final

Ranking and statistics

Final ranking

All Star Team

The All Star Team and MVP was announced on 1 February 2009.

Top goalscorers

Source
IHF
/small>

Top goalkeepers

Source
IHF
/small>

Medalists

IHF broadcasting rights

*: RTL *: BHRT (BHT 1) *: ESPN Brasil *: TV 2, TV 2 Sport *: Nile Sport *: Sport+ *: RTL, DSF *: Sport TV *: Kuwait Sport Channel 3 and Kuwait Sport + *:

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(RTS 1) *:

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) *: TV 4 *: Tunis 7 ;High Definition *: TV2 Sport HD *: TVP ( TVP HD) *: NTV Plus HD * (

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References

External links

{{World Handball Championship World Handball Championship tournaments International handball competitions hosted by Croatia World Mens Handball Championship, 2009

World In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

January 2009 sports events in Europe February 2009 sports events in Europe Sports competitions in Zagreb Sports competitions in Split, Croatia 2000s in Zagreb Sport in Varaždin Sport in Osijek Sport in Pula Sport in Zadar Sport in Poreč 21st century in Split, Croatia