With less than 30 days before the throw off for the 2025 IHF Men’s World Championship, the preparations are in full swing, with plenty of work still needing to be done before the world flagship handball competition starts in five venues across three countries.

For the first time in history, Norway will co-host the IHF Men’s World Championship, after hosting the IHF Women’s World Championship three times, in 1993, 1999 and 2023.

While in the last edition of the IHF Women’s World Championship, Norway co-hosted the matches in Stavanger and Trondheim, now the focus will move to the capital, Oslo, with the municipality of Bærum being one of the fulcrums of the competition, with the state-of-the-art Unity Arena.

Built between 2007 and 2009, the Unity Arena, formerly known as the Telenor Arena, is a multi-purpose indoor arena, which can host a multitude of events, from football matches to concerts, being the host of the Eurovision Song Contest in 2010, as well as the venue for huge concerts with popular artists such as Tina Turner, Madonna, Beyonce, Rihanna, Lady Gaga, Celine Dion or the Rolling Stones.

The Unity Arena also hosted Norwegian club Stabæk Fotball between 2009 and 2011, where football matches were organised both in the domestic league and in international competitions, such as the Europa League.

But now, the Unity Arena will be the host for a major international handball competition for the first time in history, which implies a mammoth task for all the parties involved, as the Norwegian Local Organising Committee assumed to deliver a serious makeover to the 15,000-seater to comply to rules and regulations.

The Unity Arena is not the first stadium to undergo a makeover for the IHF Men’s World Championship, recent examples are the Stade Pierre Mauroy in Lille, at France 2017, and the Tele2 Arena in Stockholm, for Poland/Sweden 2023.

Yet creating a new state-of-the-art arena, worthy of the final of such a fantastic competition, require plenty of time. The Norwegian Local Organising Committee received access to the arena from 2 December, with 18 days planned to reorganise the Unity Arena, create new stands and ensure that everything is ready for the 2025 IHF Men’s World Championship.

42 trailers and two containers of equipment have been sent to Norway from Germany for this task, with dozens of persons working around the clock to ensure the renovations are completed until 20 December, with the Unity Arena being able to hold around 12,000 spectators for each match.

The first matches hosted by the “new” Unity Arena will take place on 29 December, with the finals of the Norwegian Cup scheduled as a warm-up for the IHF Men’s World Championship. Kolstad take on Elverum in the men’s final, while Storhamar Elite Handball face Tertnes Bergen in the women’s final.

Two preliminary round groups will take place in the Unity Arena at the 2025 IHF Men’s World Championship, with Group E, where Norway take on Portugal, Brazil and the USA, and Group F, where Sweden, Spain, Japan and Chile collide, being hosted by the multi-purpose arena. The competition will throw on 14 January, in Herning, Denmark and Poreč, Croatia, with the maiden match in the Unity Arena scheduled for 15 January.

One main round group, two quarter-finals, one semi-finals and the two medal matches – the final and the bronze medal match – will also take place in the Unity Arena, with 26 of the 108 scheduled matches taking place in Norway.

Featuring on home soil will be special also for Norway’s players, but especially for right back Magnus Abelvik Rød, who grew up just in the neighbourhood across the Unity Arena.

“Now being able to play 20 minutes away from where you grew up and played handball is what you dream of when you start this sport. So it is definitely a dream come true. Maybe you can say that the circle has ended, by finally getting to experience it too, says Rød, according to the official website of the Norway Handball Federation.