The 28th IHF World Championships begins on Wednesday. Coach Patryk Rombel announced the squad of 20 Polish players on Saturday morning. The day before, the Polish team won against Belgium 29:18 in the last match of the New Year Tournament played in Katowice.
The national team won this competition with a set of victories, having earlier defeated Iran 32:27 and Morocco 30:23. On Wednesday (Jen 11), also in Spodek, Katowice, they will face France in the opening match of the World Cup.
Slovenia, Saudi Arabia, and France are the group rivals of Polish handball players in the World Cup. The Poles will play their preliminary phase matches in Katowice and will move to Krakow if they advance to the main round.
The World Cup will be played from 11 to 29 January 2023 in Poland and Sweden.
Organization of the World Cup
In the first round of the 28th World Cup, the competition will take place in eight four-team groups. The top three teams will advance to the second round with the scores counting (without the scores from the match against the weakest team). The fourth-placed teams will play in the IHF President’s Cup in Plock for positions 25-32 in the final table.
In the second phase, four groups of six teams will be formed. Each of them will play three matches against rivals they have not faced before. Two teams will advance to the quarterfinals.
In the preliminary round, matches will be played in Katowice, Krakow (two groups each) and Gothenburg, Jönköping, Kristianstad, and Malmö. The main phase will be hosted by Krakow, Gothenburg, Katowice, and Malmö. From the quarterfinals onwards, the competition will move to Gdansk and Stockholm. The final will be played in the Swedish capital on 29 January.
Read also ⤵️