Name: IHF Men's Handball World Championship
Start: 2027-01-13 00:00
End: 2027-01-13 00:00
Location: SAP Garden

Public and international advance ticket sales for the 2027 World Cup will begin on Monday, 15 December 2025 at 12 noon.

‘Where handball is alive’ – under this motto, 32 teams will once again compete for the World Cup trophy exactly 20 years after the historic winter fairy tale: from 13 to 31 January 2027, Germany will host the IHF Men's World Championship for the eighth time.

And after the thrilling and atmospheric matches of the 2019 World Cup and 2024 European Championship, the Olympic Park will once again be the venue for two preliminary round groups. Fans have something extra to look forward to, as the German team will play its three preliminary round matches at the SAP Garden – including the World Cup opening match on 13 January!

As with the two previous tournaments, Olympic Park Munich GmbH and the German Handball Federation (DHB) are responsible for organising the 2027 World Cup in Munich. The atmosphere at the often sold-out matches during the last two tournaments in the Olympic Hall was overwhelming, whether at the 2019 World Cup with big teams such as Croatia and Spain or at the 2024 European Championship with Iceland and Denmark.

The basic details of the preliminary round schedule are already known: On Wednesday, 13 January 2027, the German national team will play the World Cup opening match at the SAP Garden, with further preliminary round matches involving Germany scheduled for Friday, 15 January, and Sunday, 17 January. The second preliminary round group in Munich will play its matches on 14 January, 16 January and 18 January. Parallel to Munich, the preliminary round matches of the two groups in Stuttgart will also take place from 13 to 18 January. The six preliminary round match days of two groups will be held in Kiel and Magdeburg, each one day apart, from 14 to 19 January. The top three teams from each of the eight preliminary round groups will advance to the main round.

Qualification for the 2027 Men's World Cup will begin with the continental championships in Europe, Asia and Africa in January 2026, with the draw for the World Cup scheduled for May/June 2026. Alongside host nation Germany, reigning world champions Denmark have already qualified directly.

If everything goes according to plan for the DHB team, they could write the first chapter of a successful tournament and thus another winter fairy tale in Munich from 13 to 18 January 2027.