The 2009 World Men's Handball Championship was the 21st edition of the tournament that took place in

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 ...

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, enter ...

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

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 Varaždin ( or ; , also known by #Name, alternative names) is a city in Northern Croatia, north-east of Zagreb. The total population is 46,946, with 38,839 in the city settlement itself (2011). The city is best known for its baroque buildings, ...

Poreč Poreč (; known also by several alternative names) 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, which was designated a UN ...

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, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

and

Pula Pula, also known as Pola, is the largest city in Istria County, west Croatia, and the List of cities and towns in Croatia, seventh-largest city in the country, situated at the southern tip of the Istria, Istrian peninsula in western Croatia, wi ...

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

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

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

and

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. 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 located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

won the tournament after defeating

in the final.

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

took the third place after winning over

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

. Tickets for the tournament went on sale from 15 to 20 November. 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. 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.

Venues

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

and

. The sites included the new Spaladium Arena 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 (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

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 Kristina Krepela (born 4 September 1979) is a Croatian actress, the best known for playing in movies '' La Femme Musketeer'' and '' The Hunting Party'' and in telenovela '' Ne daj se, Nina'', the Croatian version of ''Ugly Betty''. Career Krepe ...

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

''All times are local

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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
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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 + *: Sitel *: TV 2, TV 2 Zebra and TV 2 Sport *: TVP ( TVP2 and TVP Sport) *: TVR, Sport 1 *:

NTV Plus NTV Plus () is the brand name for the Russian digital satellite television provider, transmitted from Eutelsat's W4 satellite at 36.0°E and from Bonum 1 at 56.0°E. Previously a part of Vladimir Gusinsky's MediaMost holding, now it is the ...

* (

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

): Al Jazeera Sports *: RTS (RTS 1) *: RTV Slovenija *: TVE ( TVE2, Teledeporte) *: TV 4 *: Tunis 7 ;High Definition *: TV2 Sport HD *: TVP ( TVP HD) *: NTV Plus HD * (

): Al Jazeera Sports HD *: TV4 HD

References

External links

IHF website
{{World Handball Championship World Men's Handball Championship International handball competitions hosted by Croatia World Mens Handball Championship, 2009

World The world is the totality of entities, the whole of reality, or everything that Existence, exists. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the world as unique, while others talk ...

January 2009 sports events in Europe February 2009 sports events in Europe Sports competitions in Zagreb 2000s in Zagreb