The draw for the preliminary round of the 27th IHF Women’s World Championship will take place on 22 May, in s’Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands, at 16:00 CET.

's-Hertogenbosch, also known as Den Bosch, is one of the five host cities of this edition of the IHF Women’s World Championship, alongside Rotterdam in the Netherlands, and Dortmund, Trier and Stuttgart in Germany.

As one of the host cities and the location for the official draw, the city will be in the international spotlight. Den Bosch, the linked city of Trier, Germany, is known for its warm hospitality and cultural richness, promising a unique atmosphere for this event.

The competition will take place in five venues, two in the Netherlands and three in Germany, with the final weekend being scheduled in the Ahoy Arena in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

“In Den Bosch, we are preparing for this fantastic World Championship. Enthusiastic volunteers and our local handball club Blauw-Wit are already busy organizing side events and activations. Our World Championship venue, De Maaspoort, is also fully engaged in hosting the Golden League. That the official draw is also taking place in our welcoming city is the finishing touch to this great event!” said Alderman Marianne van der Sloot.

The draw will take place in the historic halls of the Noordbrabants Museum. Representatives from the participating countries, IHF officials, sponsors, and media are invited to witness this significant milestone.

17 teams have already sealed their tickets for the 2025 IHF Women’s World Championship. From Europe, co-hosts Germany and the Netherlands are joined by reigning world champions, France, and the top three teams at the EHF EURO 2024, Norway, Denmark and Hungary.

The top four placed sides at the 2024 AHF Asian Women’s Handball Championship – Japan, the Republic of Korea, Kazakhstan and the Islamic Republic of Iran – are also qualfiied, as well as the top four sides at the 2024 CAHB African Women’s Handball Championship – Angola, Senegal, Tunisia and Egypt.

From the South and Central American Handball Confederation, the top three sides at the 2024 South and Central American Women’s Handball Championship – Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay – have sealed their spots for the 2025 IHF Women’s World Championship.

The two Local Organising Committees chose to assign the teams with the biggest fan bases as close as possible to their borders and to split the allegedly strongest teams – based on their previous results at the IHF Women’s World Championship – equally between both hosting nations.

The two hosts – Germany and the Netherlands – will feature in the preliminary round of the 2025 IHF Women’s World Championship in Groups C and E respectively, which will take place in Stuttgart and Rotterdam. France, the reigning world champions, will play in Group F in 's-Hertogenbosch.

Another side which is due to play in 's-Hertogenbosch are Hungary, the EHF EURO 2024 bronze medallists, seeded in Group B.

Denmark, bronze medallists at the 2021 and 2023 IHF Women’s World Championships, will play in Group A in Rotterdam.

The runners-up of the 2023 IHF Women’s World Championship and current Olympic and European champions champions, Norway, are due to play in Group H in Trier, as well as Slovenia, which have been seeded in Group D. The latter need to secure their ticket in the European Qualifiers, where they play in a crunch doubleheader with Serbia.

The last team to be seeded is Sweden, with the Scandinavian side set to play in Stuttgart in Group G if they secure their berth.

The composition of the pots will be announced in due time.