Bosnia and Herzegovina was awarded hosting rights in May 2011, at the IHF XXXIII Ordinary Congress in Marrakech, Morocco. After long negotiations with local government, four cities were chosen to host the competition: capital Sarajevo with two halls and Banja Luka, Ljubuški and Zenica with one hall each.
Oceania gave up their spot, a team from Europe (Serbia) replaced its spot.
Preliminary round
24 teams were drawn into four groups of six teams each. The draw was made in Sarajevo on 19 April 2013.[2][3] The top four teams from each group advance to the Round of 16. The match schedule was released on May 16.[4][5]