The 2003 World Men's Handball Championship took place in Portugal from 20 January to 2 February 2003. It was the 18th edition of the World Championship in

team handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a Handball goalkeeper, goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands ...

and

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

won the championship.

Venues

9 cities were hosts for the tournament. The final match took place in the capital

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

Qualification

First round

Group A

---- ---- ---- ----

Group B

---- ---- ---- ----

Group C

---- ---- ---- ----

Group D

---- ---- ---- ----

Second round

Group I

----

Group II

----

Group III

----

Group IV

----

Final round

5–8th place semifinals

----

Semifinals

----

7th place game

5th place game

Third place game

Final

Final standings

Awards

MVP:

Christian Schwarzer Christian "Blacky" Schwarzer (born 23 October 1969) is a now-retired professional German handball player and present-day coach. As a member of the Germany men's national handball team, he won the world championship in 2007 and the silver medal ...

All Star Team

*Goalkeeper:

Henning Fritz Henning Fritz (born 21 September 1974) is a German retired handball goalkeeper, current entrepreneur, book author and TV expert. In 2004, he was the first goalkeeper to be named World Player of the Year. Sports career At , Fritz is a relative ...

*Left Wing:

Eduard Koksharov Eduard Aleksandrovich Koksharov (, born 4 November 1975) is a Russian handball player and coach of the HC Meshkov Brest. He played as a left winger. He retired from his national team in 2012. He came to Celje from SKIF Krasnodar in the 1999–20 ...

*Left Back: Carlos Pérez *Center Back:

Enric Masip Enric Masip Borrás (born September 1, 1969 in Barcelona) is a retired Spanish handball player. He is considered one of the best Spanish handball players ever. Formed in the younger categories of BM Granollers, in 1987 begun to play with the fir ...

*Pivot :

*Right Back:

Patrick Cazal Patrick Cazal (born 1971) is a French team handball coach and former player. As a player he was part of the French team, that won the 1995 World Championship; the first time ever France won a major international tournament. He also competed at ...

*Right Wing:

Mirza Džomba Mirza Džomba (born 28 February 1977) is a Croatian former professional team handball, handball player, World champion in 2003 World Men's Handball Championship, 2003 and Olympic champion in Handball at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Men's tournam ...

Statistics

Top goalscorers

Top goalkeepers

Medalists

External links

XVI Men's World Championship
at IHF.info {{World Handball Championship World Men's Handball Championship W H H Hanball

Handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of thr ...

Sports competitions in Lisbon 2000s in Lisbon