2017 World Women's Handball Championship – European qualification

The European qualification for the 2017 World Women's Handball Championship in Germany was played over two rounds. The 2017 hosts Germany and the 2015 Champion Norway qualified automatically for the World Championship.

In the first round of qualification, the 15 teams who did not participate in the 2016 European Championship were split into four groups. The first and second placed teams from Groups 1–3 and the first placed team from Group 4 joined the eleven teams from the European Championship that did not qualify directly in a playoff to determine the nine teams that qualified for the 2017 World Championship.

Qualification phase 1

Seeding

The draw was held on 24 June 2016.^[1]^[2] The first and second placed teams from Group 1–3 and the group winner of Group 4 advanced to the playoff round.

Pot 1	Pot 2	Pot 3
Austria Belarus Iceland Slovakia Turkey Ukraine	Italy Lithuania Macedonia Portugal Switzerland	Faroe Islands Greece Israel Kosovo

All times are local.

Group 1

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Ukraine	3	3	0	79	50	+29	6	Qualification phase 2
2	Slovakia (H)	3	2	1	74	61	+13	4	Qualification phase 2
3	Lithuania	3	1	2	63	83	−20	2
4	Greece	3	0	3	63	85	−22	0

Source: Eurohandball
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) goal difference.
(H) Hosts

25 November 2016 17:45	Ukraine	21–20	Slovakia	Mestská športová hala, Šaľa Attendance: 2,000 Referees: Pech, Vagvölgyi (HUN)
	Snopova 6	(9–13)	Jakubisová 7
	3× 3×	Report	3× 3×

25 November 2016 19:45	Lithuania	31–25	Greece	Mestská športová hala, Šaľa Attendance: 1,000 Referees: Praštalo, Todorović (BIH)
	Šatkauskaitė 9	(18–13)	Vafeiadou 9
	3× 3×	Report	2× 4×

26 November 2016 17:45	Slovakia	27–24	Greece	Mestská športová hala, Šaľa Attendance: 2,000 Referees: Pech, Vagvölgyi (HUN)
	Rechtorisová 11	(13–10)	Tsakalou 7
	3× 4×	Report	3× 7× 1×

26 November 2016 19:45	Ukraine	31–16	Lithuania	Mestská športová hala, Šaľa Attendance: 500 Referees: Praštalo, Todorović (BIH)
	Redka 6	(16–6)	Šatkauskaitė] 8
	2× 5×	Report	3× 4×

27 November 2016 17:45	Slovakia	27–16	Lithuania	Mestská športová hala, Šaľa Attendance: 2,000 Referees: Praštalo, Todorović (BIH)
	Holešová 8	(13–9)	Šatkauskaitė 6
	2× 2× 1×	Report	2× 4×

27 November 2016 19:45	Greece	14–27	Ukraine	Mestská športová hala, Šaľa Attendance: 500 Referees: Pech, Vagvölgyi (HUN)
	Tsaousidou 3	(7–14)	Borshchenko 11
	3× 1×	Report	3× 3×

Group 2

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Belarus (H)	3	3	0	103	63	+40	6	Qualification phase 2
2	Turkey	3	2	1	88	78	+10	4	Qualification phase 2
3	Switzerland	3	1	2	87	85	+2	2
4	Kosovo	3	0	3	51	103	−52	0

Source: Eurohandball
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) goal difference.
(H) Hosts

2 December 2016 17:00	Belarus	37–23	Turkey	Sport Palace Uruchye, Minsk Attendance: 1,850 Referees: Năstase, Stancu (ROU)
	Vasileuskaya, Yezhkava 5	(17–10)	Özel 5
	3× 3×	Report	2× 3×

2 December 2016 19:00	Switzerland	36–21	Kosovo	Sport Palace Uruchye, Minsk Attendance: 318 Referees: Rakytina, Tkachuk (UKR)
	Scherer 8	(16–10)	Kelmendi 7
	2× 5× 1×	Report	2× 6× 1×

3 December 2016 13:00	Turkey	36–17	Kosovo	Sport Palace Uruchye, Minsk Attendance: 205 Referees: Rakytina, Tkachuk (UKR)
	Akcanca, Özel 5	(15–10)	Kelmendi, Rama 7
	1× 1×	Report	2× 7×

3 December 2016 15:00	Belarus	35–27	Switzerland	Sport Palace Uruchye, Minsk Attendance: 1,820 Referees: Năstase, Stancu (ROU)
	Nestsiaruk 8	(17–15)	Scherer 7
	2× 4×	Report	3× 4×

4 December 2016 12:00	Turkey	29–24	Switzerland	Sport Palace Uruchye, Minsk Attendance: 425 Referees: Năstase, Stancu (ROU)
	İskit 11	(15–13)	Scherer 7
	2× 1×	Report	3× 3×

4 December 2016 14:00	Kosovo	13–31	Belarus	Sport Palace Uruchye, Minsk Attendance: 1,510 Referees: Rakytina, Tkachuk (UKR)
	Gjikoka 6	(6–16)	Mazgo 9
	3× 3× 1×	Report	2× 2×

Group 3

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Austria	3	2	1	81	67	+14	4^[a]	Qualification phase 2
2	Macedonia	3	2	1	67	67	0	4^[a]	Qualification phase 2
3	Iceland	3	2	1	72	67	+5	4^[a]
4	Faroe Islands (H)	3	0	3	55	74	−19	0

Source: Eurohandball
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) goal difference.
(H) Hosts
Notes:

^ ^a ^b ^c Austria, 2 Pts, +5 GD; Macedonia, 2 Pts, −2 GD; Iceland, 2 Pts, −3 GD

2 December 2016 18:00	Austria	24–28	Iceland	Hollin a Halsi, Tórshavn Attendance: 50 Referees: Chrzan, Janas (POL)
	Goricanec 8	(12–12)	Haraldsdóttir, Knútsdóttir 5
	2× 2×	Report	2× 3×

2 December 2016 20:00	Macedonia	21–19	Faroe Islands	Hollin a Halsi, Tórshavn Attendance: 200 Referees: Mandák, Rudinský (SVK)
	Ristovska 6	(8–8)	Brimnes 6
	2× 3×	Report	2× 3×

3 December 2016 15:00	Austria	28–19	Macedonia	Hollin a Halsi, Tórshavn Attendance: 50 Referees: Chrzan, Janas (POL)
	Frey 8	(14–10)	Ristovska 8
	2× 6×	Report	3× 5×

3 December 2016 17:00	Iceland	24–16	Faroe Islands	Hollin a Halsi, Tórshavn Attendance: 150 Referees: Mandák, Rudinský (SVK)
	Stefánsdóttir 7	(9–5)	Henneberg 7
	3× 5×	Report	2× 4×

4 December 2016 16:00	Iceland	20–27	Macedonia	Hollin a Halsi, Tórshavn Attendance: 60 Referees: Mandák, Rudinský (SVK)
	Knútsdóttir, Stefánsdóttir 5	(11–15)	Ristovska 10
	3× 3×	Report	3× 3×

4 December 2016 18:00	Faroe Islands	20–29	Austria	Hollin a Halsi, Tórshavn Attendance: 180 Referees: Chrzan, Janas (POL)
	Henneberg 6	(10–18)	Goricanec 5
	3× 3×	Report	2× 4×

Group 4

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Italy (H)	2	1	1	0	51	46	+5	3	Qualification phase 2
2	Portugal	2	1	0	1	55	43	+12	2
3	Israel	2	0	1	1	44	61	−17	1

Source: Eurohandball
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) goal difference.
(H) Hosts

25 November 2016 18:00	Israel	26–26	Italy	Palasport Concetto Lo Bello, Syracuse Attendance: 500 Referees: Vujačić, Kažanegra (MNE)
	Conen 7	(12–12)	Gheorghe 8
	3× 4×	Report	3× 3×

26 November 2016 20:00	Portugal	35–18	Israel	Palasport Concetto Lo Bello, Syracuse Attendance: 200 Referees: Vujačić, Kažanegra (MNE)
	Soares 5	(19–10)	Vakrat 7
	3× 1×	Report	2× 3×

27 November 2016 16:30	Italy	25–20	Portugal	Palasport Concetto Lo Bello, Syracuse Attendance: 1,000 Referees: Vujačić, Kažanegra (MNE)
	Niederwieser 10	(12–12)	Soares 6
	3× 2×	Report	3× 4×

Qualification phase 2

The draw was held on 17 December 2016 at Gothenburg.^[3]^[4] The teams played a home-and away series to determine the final tournament participants.

Seedings

Pot 1 (9 best ranked teams from the 2016 European Championship)	Pot 2 (2 lowest ranked teams from the 2016 European Championship + teams from the qualification round)
Czech Republic Hungary Montenegro Romania Russia Serbia Slovenia Spain Sweden	Austria Belarus Croatia Italy Macedonia Poland Slovakia Turkey Ukraine

Overview

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Montenegro	56–51	Belarus	33–26	23–25
Italy	39–67	Serbia	23–33	16–34
Russia	63–48	Poland	31–20	32–28
Hungary	52–43	Slovakia	28–19	24–24
Romania	67–53	Austria	34–29	33–24
Ukraine	44–46	Spain	24–24	20–22
Croatia	51–55	Slovenia	23–28	28–27
Czech Republic	60–48	Turkey	29–25	31–23
Macedonia	47–77	Sweden	20–31	27–46

All times are local.

Matches

9 June 2017 19:00	Montenegro	33–26	Belarus	Topolica Sport Hall, Bar Attendance: 2,000 Referees: Florescu, Stoia (ROU)
	Jauković, Ujkić 9	(12–15)	Mazgo 5
	3× 2×	Report	3× 3×

15 June 2017 18:00	Belarus	25–23	Montenegro	Minsk Sports Palace, Minsk Attendance: 1,800 Referees: Jurinović, Mrvica (CRO)
	Vasileuskaya, Yezhykava 4	(11–10)	three players 5
	3× 3×	Report	3× 4×

Montenegro won 56–51 on aggregate.

10 June 2017 16:30	Italy	23–33	Serbia	Kioene Arena, Padua Attendance: 3,200 Referees: Aliyev, Aghakishiyev (AZE)
	Del Balzo, Rotondo 7	(11–16)	Nikolić, Pop-Lazić 5
	3× 3×	Report	3× 4×

14 June 2017 18:00	Serbia	34–16	Italy	Čair Sports Center, Niš Attendance: 2,000 Referees: Panayides, Andreou (CYP)
	Stoiljković 5	(14–4)	Rotondo 6
	3× 2×	Report	3× 3×

Serbia won 67–39 on aggregate.

9 June 2017 19:00	Russia	31–20	Poland	Sportcomplex Zvezdniy, Astrakhan Attendance: 6,000 Referees: Herczeg, Südi (HUN)
	Samokhina 9	(15–14)	Achruk 5
	3× 3×	Report	3× 4×

15 June 2017 18:30	Poland	28–32	Russia	Hala Widowiskowo-Sportowa w Koszalinie, Koszalin Attendance: 2,900 Referees: Marić, Mašić (SRB)
	Achruk 7	(14–15)	Samokhina, Sen 5
	2× 2×	Report	3× 5×

Russia won 63–48 on aggregate.

10 June 2017 17:00	Hungary	28–19	Slovakia	Debreceni Főnix Csarnok, Debrecen Attendance: 3,822 Referees: Pavićević, Ražnatović (MNE)
	Görbicz 9	(14–8)	Školková 6
	2× 3×	Report	2× 8×

14 June 2017 18:00	Slovakia	24–24	Hungary	Bratislava Attendance: 8,000 Referees: Pandžić, Satordzija (BIH)
	Školková 6	(10–11)	Görbicz 8
	3× 5× 1×	Report	3× 5×

Hungary won 52–43 on aggregate.

9 June 2017 20:00	Romania	34–29	Austria	Arena Antonio Alexe, Oradea Attendance: 2,400 Referees: Sager, Styger (SUI)
	Ardean-Elisei, Neagu 7	(17–16)	Kovacs 10
	3× 3×	Report	3× 4×

13 June 2017 19:35	Austria	24–33	Romania	Sportzentrum Alte Au, Stockerau Attendance: 1,500 Referees: Rakytina, Tkachuk (UKR)
	Kovacs 6	(13–11)	Neagu 6
	3× 1×	Report	3× 4×

Romania won 67–53 on aggregate.

9 June 2017 19:00	Ukraine	24–24	Spain	Sport Manezh of Sumy State University, Sumy Attendance: 1,500 Referees: Mertinian, Syrepisios (GRE)
	Borshchenko 9	(10–16)	Cabral, Martín 5
	3× 5×	Report	3× 4×

14 June 2017 21:00	Spain	22–20	Ukraine	Pabellón Polideportivo Municipal Fernando Argüelles, Antequera Attendance: 2,000 Referees: Harabagiu, Stănescu (ROU)
	Cabral 7	(14–5)	Borshchenko 6
	2× 6×	Report	3× 4×

Spain won 46–44 on aggregate.

10 June 2017 18:00	Croatia	23–28	Slovenia	Gradski Vrt Hall, Osijek Attendance: 2,000 Referees: Alpaidze, Berezkina (RUS)
	Plahinek 5	(10–15)	Irman, Mavsar 6
	2× 5×	Report	3× 7×

15 June 2017 18:00	Slovenia	27–28	Croatia	Golovec Hall, Celje Attendance: 1,100 Referees: Horváth, Marton (HUN)
	Mavsar, Stanko 7	(12–16)	Kožnjak, Marić 6
	2× 4× 1×	Report	3× 3×

Slovenia won 55–51 on aggregate.

10 June 2017 18:30	Czech Republic	29–25	Turkey	Sportovní hala Most, Most Attendance: 600 Referees: Antić, Jakovljević (SRB)
	Hrbková 11	(15–15)	İskit, Özel 6
	3× 1×	Report	2× 3×

15 June 2017 19:00	Turkey	23–31	Czech Republic	THF Sport Hall, Ankara Attendance: 800 Referees: Barysas, Petrušis (LTU)
	Yılmaz 6	(15–14)	Hrbková, Malá 8
	3× 2×	Report	2× 2×

Czech Republic won 60–48 on aggregate.

10 June 2017 20:30	Macedonia	20–31	Sweden	SRC Kale, Skopje Attendance: 1,700 Referees: Vranes, Wenninger (AUT)
	Gjorgjievska 7	(9–12)	four players 4
	3× 4×	Report	2× 2×

13 June 2017 19:15	Sweden	46–27	Macedonia	Ystad Arena, Ystad Attendance: 2,164 Referees: Bounouara, Sami (FRA)
	Sand 9	(26–11)	Bajramoska, Ristovska 6
	3× 4×	Report	3× 4×