The draw for the 2024 IHF Men's and Women's Beach Handball World Championships will be held in the International Handball Federation (IHF) Head Office in Basel, Switzerland on Friday 3 May 2024 at 11:00 (CEST).

The draw will be streamed live via the main International Handball Federation (IHF) YouTube Channel and will feature 32 national teams who will travel from across the world to compete for global glory in Asia.

The 2024 IHF Men's and Women's Beach Handball World Championships will take place at the ‘Pingtan International Beach Sports Base’ at the Long Wangtou Ocean Park on Pingtan Island in the People’s Republic of China from 18 to 23 June 2024.

Qualification for the world championships completed earlier this month with the NACHC and SCAHC continental championships.

China 2024 is the 20-year anniversary of the IHF Men’s and Women’s Beach Handball World Championships, after it made its debut in 2004 in Egypt.

11th IHF Men's and Women's Beach Handball World Championships – Participating Teams

Men's competition
Hosts: People’s Republic of China (CHN)
World Champions: Croatia (CRO)
Performance places*: Brazil (BRA), Denmark (DEN), Germany (GER), Hungary (HUN)
Africa (CAHB): Tunisia (TUN)
Asia (AHF): Qatar (QAT), Oman (OMA)
Europe (EHF): Portugal (POR), Spain (ESP)
North America and the Caribbean (NACHC): Puerto Rico (PUR), United States of America (USA)
South and Central America (SCAHC): Argentina (ARG), Uruguay (URU)
Oceania (OCHF): Australia (AUS)

Women's competition
Hosts: People’s Republic of China (CHN)
World Champions: Germany (GER)
Performance places*: Netherlands (NED), Norway (NOR), Portugal (POR), Spain (ESP)
Africa: Tunisia (TUN) - (replaced by Croatia (CRO))**
Asia: Philippines (PHI), Vietnam (VIE)
Europe: Denmark (DEN), Greece (GRE)
North America and the Caribbean: Puerto Rico (PUR), United States of America (USA)
South and Central America: Argentina (ARG), Brazil (BRA)
Oceania: Australia (AUS)

*four places awarded to the Continental Confederations based on the ranking of the preceding IHF Beach Handball World Championship (Greece 2022)

**As per the official Regulation for IHF Competitions, article 2.1.6., "If the team of a federation that has qualified for the WCh does not take part, the first substitute nation of the continent in question shall take that place.If the first substitute nation does not take part, the second substitute nation shall take the place. If this team also does not take part, the COC shall decide on which team takes the place and on the consequences thereof." Croatia, as the first reserve team from the continent of the World Champions, Germany, were selected to take part in the competition.

Draw Procedure
As organisers, the People’s Republic of China (CHN) have the right to choose the group in which they will compete. This applies for both the men’s and women’s competitions. 

Pots

Men's Competition
Pot 1: CRO, HUN, GER, BRA
Pot 2: DEN, CHN, QAT, ARG
Pot 3: POR, ESP, OMA, URU
Pot 4: USA, AUS, TUN, PUR

Women's competition
Pot 1: GER, NED, ESP, POR
Pot 2: NOR, CHN, BRA, ARG
Pot 3: GRE, DEN, VIE, PHI
Pot 4: USA, PUR, AUS, CRO

1. Teams in pot 4 are drawn to groups A-D in row 4.
2. Teams in pot 3 are drawn to groups A-D in row 3.
3. Teams in pot 1 are drawn to groups A-D in row 1.
4. Organised CHN has the prerogative to assign itself to a group of its choice in row 2.
5. Remaining teams in pot 2 are drawn to groups A-D in row 2.

The draw procedure for the men’s and women’s competition are the same.

Competition Format
The men’s and women’s competitions feature 16 teams each, initially divided into four preliminary round groups of four teams each.

The top three teams in each group (12 in total) move through to two main round groups of six teams each, with the top four in each then moving through to the quarter-finals and subsequent semi-finals, bronze medal, placement and final matches.

The bottom team in each of the four preliminary groups will move into the consolation round.

Match schedule
Once the draw is complete, the match schedule and throw-off times will be decided and communicated in due course via IHF.info. Please note – the IHF reserves the right to change the throw-off times and other details of the match schedule at any time within the principles of the ‘Regulations for IHF Competitions’.

Playing squads
All 32 teams competing at China 2024 have to provide a provisional list of a maximum of 20 players by 18 May 2024 (one month before the start of the event). All players must be eligible to play and be a minimum of 16 years old (born by, or earlier than, 2008).