A total of 33 European sides entered the overall World Championship competition, including two directly qualified: Hosts Hungary and defending title holders Norway. Hungary and Norway will be joined by the highest-ranked team at the upcoming Women’s EHF EURO 2026 as direct qualifiers.
Excluding these three places, Europe has a further 14 spots allocated at the World Championship, which will be played from 30 November to 19 December 2027. Those 14 places will be allocated through a two-phase qualification, both of which will be played as two-leg knockout play-offs. Phase 1 will take place on 21–22 and 24–25 October 2026.
2027 Women's World Championship Qualification Europe Phase 1
The draw to determine the pairings for phase 1 is set for 14 July at 11:00 CEST, when the draws for the EHF European League Women and EHF European Cup 2026/27 will also take place. The draw will be streamed live on the Home of Handball YouTube channel.
The eight teams allocated to phase 1 have been placed so according to the current Women’s National Team ranking. They are the eight lowest-ranked teams not qualified for the Women’s EHF EURO 2026.
The pots for the Qualification Europe Phase 1 draw are as follows:
- Pot 1: Kosovo, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg
- Pot 2: Bulgaria, Great Britain, Belgium, Estonia
The pot 1 teams will be drawn against pot 2 teams, with the sides drawn first having the home right for the first leg of their play-off.
2027 Women's World Championship Qualification Europe Phase 3
The phase 1 winners will progress to qualification phase 3 (note there is no phase 2), where they will join the highest-ranked side not qualified for the Women’s EHF EURO 2026, Portugal, as well as the 21 teams coming from the European Championship.
Excluding Norway, Hungary and keeping in mind one of the following teams will be the best-ranked side qualifying for the World Championship via the EURO, the squads waiting in phase 3 will be:
- Austria
- Croatia
- Czechia
- Denmark
- Faroe Islands
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Iceland
- Montenegro
- Netherlands
- North Macedonia
- Poland
- Romania
- Serbia
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Spain
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Türkiye
- Ukraine
The draw for Qualification Europe Phase 3 is set for 19 December 2026, as part of the final weekend of the Women’s EHF EURO 2026.
The 13 highest-ranked teams from the Women’s EHF EURO 2026, aside from the directly qualified sides, will be drawn from pot 1. The lowest-ranked 13 teams from the EURO, Portugal and the winners from qualification phase 1 will be drawn from pot 2.
As per the phase 1 draw, each pot 1 team will be drawn against an opponent from pot 2. and those drawn first will have the home right in the first leg.
Phase 3 will be played on 7–8 and 10–11 April 2027, with the winners securing places at the final tournament.
Follow the draw for Qualification Europe Phase 1 on the EHF’s Home of Handball YouTube channel.
