1961 World Men's Handball Championship

Tournament details
Host country	West Germany
Dates	1–12 March 1961
Teams	12
Final positions
Champions	Romania
Runner-up	Czechoslovakia
Third place	Sweden
Tournament statistics
Matches played	28
Goals scored	811 (28.96 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Petre Ivănescu Zdeněk Rada (24 goals each)
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The 1961 World Men's Handball Championship was the fourth team handball World Championship. It was held in West Germany between 1–12 March 1961. A united team composed of players from the German Democratic Republic and the Federal Republic of Germany competed. Romania won the championship.

GROUP A Date Venye Match Res. Half 1 Mar Stuttgart Sweden - Norway 15-11 (11-5) 2 Mar Bietigheim Norway - Yugoslavia 18-17 (9-9) 3 Mar Ulm Sweden - Yugoslavia 14-12 (9-8) Group A Matches Goals Points  Sweden 2 29-23 4  Norway 2 29-32 2  Yugoslavia 2 29-32 0

GROUP B Date Venue Match Res. Half 1 mar West Berlin Germany - Netherlands 33-7 (11-3) 2 mar Wolfsburg France - Netherlands 21-11 (7-5) 3 mar Kiel Germany - France 21-7 (9-2) Group B Matches Goals Points  Germany 2 54-14 4  France 2 28-32 2  Netherlands 2 18-54 0

GROUP C Date Venue Match Res. Half 1 mar Karlsruhe Czechoslovakia - Japan 38-10 (15-5) 2 mar Hassloch Romania - Japan 29-11 (14-7) 3 mar Freiburg Czechoslovakia - Romania 12-8 (3-3) Group C Matches Goals Points  Czechoslovakia 2 50-18 4  Romania 2 37-23 2  Japan 2 21-67 0

GROUP D Date Venue Match Res. Half 1 Mar Karlsruhe Denmark - Iceland 24-13 (9-6) 2 Mar Wiesbaden Iceland - Switzerland 14-12 (7-7) 3 Mar St. Ingbert Denmark - Switzerland 18-13 (12-5) Group D Matches Goals Points  Denmark 2 42-26 4  Iceland 2 27-36 2   Switzerland 2 25-32 0

GROUP 1 Date Venue Match Res. Half 5 Mar Stuttgart Sweden - France 15 - 11 (7-6) 5 Mar Stuttgart Czechoslovakia - Iceland 15 - 15 (10-7) 7 Mar Essen Sweden - Iceland 18 - 10 (7-3) 7 Mar Essen Czechoslovakia - France 25 - 6 (11-3) 9 Mar West Berlin Czechoslovakia - Sweden 15- 10 (10-5) 9 Mar Homberg Iceland - France 20 - 13 (11-3) Group 1 Matches Goals Points  Czechoslovakia 3 55-31 5  Sweden 3 43-36 4  Iceland 3 45-46 3  France 3 30-60 0

GROUP 2 Date Venue Match Res. Half 5 mar Dortmund Germany - Norway 15- 8 (10-4) 5 mar Dortmund Romania - Denmark 15 -13 (6-7) 7 mar Krefeld Romania - Germany 12 - 9 (7-5) 7 mar Krefeld Denmark - Norway 10 - 9 (6-7) 9 mar Münster Germany - Denmark 15 - 13 (6-4) 9 mar Münster Romania - Norway 16 - 14 (9-6) Group 2 Matches Goals Points  Romania 3 43-36 6  Germany 3 39-33 4  Denmark 3 36-39 2  Norway 3 31-41 0

Date	Venue	Match	Score
Match for 7th place
12 March	Dortmund	France -  Norway	12-13* (7-7, 10-10)
Match for 5th place
11 March	Dortmund	Iceland -  Denmark	13-14 (8-7)
Bronze medal match
11 March	Dortmund	Sweden -  Germany	17-14 (8-9)
Final
12 March	Dortmund	Czechoslovakia -  Romania	8-9** (4-4, 7-7, 7-7)
*after 1 extra-time ; **after 2 extra-times

Rank	Team
	Romania
	Czechoslovakia
	Sweden
4	Germany
5	Denmark
6	Iceland
7	Norway
8	France
9	Yugoslavia
10	Switzerland
11	Netherlands
12	Japan

Gold	Silver	Bronze
Romania	Czechoslovakia	Sweden
Ioan Bogolea Michael Redl George Bădulescu Aurel Bulgaru Gheorghe Coman Mircea Costache I Mircea Costache II George Covaciu Virgil Hnat Petre Ivănescu Hans Moser Olimpiu Nodea Cornel Oţelea Otto Tellman	František Arnošt Karel Čermák Václav Duda Antonín Frolo Rudolf Havlík František Herman Karol Lukošík Vojtěch Mareš Oskar Poliak Jaroslav Provazník Zdeněk Rada Dušan Ruža Jaroslav Skála František Šobora Josef Trojan Jiří Vícha	Rolf Almqvist Gunnar Brusberg Hans Collin Uno Danielsson Bengt J. Johansson[1] Kjell Jönsson Hans Karlsson Gunnar Kämpendahl Lennart Kärrström Donald Lindblom Hans Olsson Karl-Oskar Olsson Stig-Lennart Olsson Åke Reimer Lennart Ring Rune Åhrling

• "1961 World Men's Handball Championship" (pdf). ihf.info. International Handball Federation. Retrieved 2023-08-18.
• "Men Handball IV World Championship 1961 West Germany". todor66.com. Retrieved 2023-08-18.