# Handball at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Women's qualification

The qualification for the 2020 Women's Olympic Handball Tournament assigned quota places to twelve teams: the hosts, the World champion, four continental champions and six teams from the World Olympic qualification tournaments respectively. The 2020 Olympics were postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

## Qualification summary

| Qualification | Date | Host | Vacancies | Qualified |
| Host nation | — | — | 1 | Japan |
| 2018 European Championship | 29 November – 16 December 2018 | France | 1 | France |
| 2019 Pan American Games | 24–30 July 2019 | Lima | 1 | Brazil |
| 2019 Asian Qualification Tournament | 23–29 September 2019 | Chuzhou | 1 | South Korea |
| 2019 African Qualification Tournament | 26–29 September 2019 | Dakar | 1 | Angola |
| 2019 World Championship | 29 November – 15 December 2019 | Japan | 1 | Netherlands |
| 2020 IHF Women's Olympic Qualification Tournaments | 19–21 March 2021 | Llíria | 2 | Spain Sweden |
| 2020 IHF Women's Olympic Qualification Tournaments | 19–21 March 2021 | Győr | 2 | ROC Hungary |
| 2020 IHF Women's Olympic Qualification Tournaments | 19–21 March 2021 | Podgorica | 2 | Montenegro Norway |
| Total | | | 12 | |

## Legend for qualification type

* Legend for qualification type
* Team qualified from the World Championship directly to the 2020 Olympic Tournament
* Team qualified from Continental Events or as hosts directly to the 2020 Olympic Tournament
* Team qualified from the World Championship to the Olympic Qualification Tournaments
* Team qualified from Continental Events to the Olympic Qualification Tournaments

## Host country

* Japan

## World Championship

| Rank | Team |
| | Netherlands |
| | Spain |
| | ROC |
| 4 | Norway |
| 5 | Montenegro |
| 6 | Serbia |
| 7 | Sweden |
| 8 | Germany |
| 9 | Denmark |
| 10 | Japan |
| 11 | South Korea |
| 12 | Romania |
| 13 | France |
| 14 | Hungary |
| 15 | Angola |
| 16 | Argentina |
| 17 | Brazil |
| 18 | Senegal |
| 19 | Slovenia |
| 20 | DR Congo |
| 21 | Cuba |
| 22 | Kazakhstan |
| 23 | China |
| 24 | Australia |

## Continental qualification
### Europe

| Rank | Team |
| | France |
| | ROC |
| | Netherlands |
| 4 | Romania |
| 5 | Norway |
| 6 | Sweden |
| 7 | Hungary |
| 8 | Denmark |
| 9 | Montenegro |
| 10 | Germany |
| 11 | Serbia |
| 12 | Spain |
| 13 | Slovenia |
| 14 | Poland |
| 15 | Czech Republic |
| 16 | Croatia |

### Americas

| Rank | Team |
| | Brazil |
| | Argentina |
| | Cuba |
| 4 | United States |
| 5 | Dominican Republic |
| 6 | Puerto Rico |
| 7 | Canada |
| 8 | Peru |

### Asia

The tournament was held in Chuzhou, China from 23 to 29 September 2019.
All times are local (UTC+8).
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | South Korea | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 181 | 93 | +88 | 10 | 2020 Summer Olympics |
| 2 | China (H) | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 138 | 103 | +35 | 6 | |
| 3 | North Korea | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 142 | 115 | +27 | 6 | |
| 4 | Kazakhstan | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 133 | 110 | +23 | 6 | Qualification tournaments |
| 5 | Hong Kong | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 86 | 165 | −79 | 2 | |
| 6 | Thailand | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 86 | 180 | −94 | 0 | |
* 1 2 3 China 2 Pts, +4 GD; North Korea 2 Pts, +1 GD, Kazakhstan 2 Pts, −5 GD
| 23 September 2019 14:00 | Kazakhstan | 30–16 | Hong Kong | Chuzhou Handball Stadium, Chuzhou Referees: Lee, Lee (KOR) |
| 23 September 2019 14:00 | | (16–7) | | Chuzhou Handball Stadium, Chuzhou Referees: Lee, Lee (KOR) |
| 23 September 2019 16:00 | South Korea | 39–21 | North Korea | Chuzhou Handball Stadium, Chuzhou Referees: Cheng, Zhou (CHN) |
| 23 September 2019 16:00 | | (20–10) | | Chuzhou Handball Stadium, Chuzhou Referees: Cheng, Zhou (CHN) |
| 23 September 2019 18:00 | China | 36–17 | Thailand | Chuzhou Handball Stadium, Chuzhou Referees: Ota, Shimajiri (JPN) |
| 23 September 2019 18:00 | | (17–9) | | Chuzhou Handball Stadium, Chuzhou Referees: Ota, Shimajiri (JPN) |
| 24 September 2019 14:00 | South Korea | 29–25 | Kazakhstan | Chuzhou Handball Stadium, Chuzhou Referees: Alpaidze, Berezkina (RUS) |
| 24 September 2019 14:00 | | (15–13) | | Chuzhou Handball Stadium, Chuzhou Referees: Alpaidze, Berezkina (RUS) |
| 24 September 2019 16:00 | Hong Kong | 33–22 | Thailand | Chuzhou Handball Stadium, Chuzhou Referees: Ota, Shimajiri (JPN) |
| 24 September 2019 16:00 | | (19–10) | | Chuzhou Handball Stadium, Chuzhou Referees: Ota, Shimajiri (JPN) |
| 24 September 2019 18:00 | North Korea | 25–22 | China | Chuzhou Handball Stadium, Chuzhou Referees: Al-Watani, Qamber (BHR) |
| 24 September 2019 18:00 | | (11–11) | | Chuzhou Handball Stadium, Chuzhou Referees: Al-Watani, Qamber (BHR) |
| 26 September 2019 14:00 | Thailand | 14–40 | South Korea | Chuzhou Handball Stadium, Chuzhou Referees: Al-Watani, Qamber (BHR) |
| 26 September 2019 14:00 | | (6–21) | | Chuzhou Handball Stadium, Chuzhou Referees: Al-Watani, Qamber (BHR) |
| 26 September 2019 16:00 | Kazakhstan | 24–22 | North Korea | Chuzhou Handball Stadium, Chuzhou Referees: Cheng, Zhou (CHN) |
| 26 September 2019 16:00 | | (12–10) | | Chuzhou Handball Stadium, Chuzhou Referees: Cheng, Zhou (CHN) |
| 26 September 2019 18:00 | China | 34–10 | Hong Kong | Chuzhou Handball Stadium, Chuzhou Referees: Lee, Lee (KOR) |
| 26 September 2019 18:00 | | (21–4) | | Chuzhou Handball Stadium, Chuzhou Referees: Lee, Lee (KOR) |
| 27 September 2019 14:00 | North Korea | 36–16 | Thailand | Chuzhou Handball Stadium, Chuzhou Referees: Lee, Lee (KOR) |
| 27 September 2019 14:00 | | (18–8) | | Chuzhou Handball Stadium, Chuzhou Referees: Lee, Lee (KOR) |
| 27 September 2019 16:00 | Hong Kong | 13–41 | South Korea | Chuzhou Handball Stadium, Chuzhou Referees: Al-Watani, Qamber (BHR) |
| 27 September 2019 16:00 | | (4–21) | | Chuzhou Handball Stadium, Chuzhou Referees: Al-Watani, Qamber (BHR) |
| 27 September 2019 18:00 | Kazakhstan | 19–26 | China | Chuzhou Handball Stadium, Chuzhou Referees: Alpaidze, Berezkina (RUS) |
| 27 September 2019 18:00 | | (10–12) | | Chuzhou Handball Stadium, Chuzhou Referees: Alpaidze, Berezkina (RUS) |
| 29 September 2019 14:00 | Thailand | 17–35 | Kazakhstan | Chuzhou Handball Stadium, Chuzhou Referees: Ota, Shimajiri (JPN) |
| 29 September 2019 14:00 | | (8–16) | | Chuzhou Handball Stadium, Chuzhou Referees: Ota, Shimajiri (JPN) |
| 29 September 2019 16:00 | Hong Kong | 14–38 | North Korea | Chuzhou Handball Stadium, Chuzhou Referees: Cheng, Zhou (CHN) |
| 29 September 2019 16:00 | | (6–19) | | Chuzhou Handball Stadium, Chuzhou Referees: Cheng, Zhou (CHN) |
| 29 September 2019 18:00 | China | 20–32 | South Korea | Chuzhou Handball Stadium, Chuzhou Referees: Alpaidze, Berezkina (RUS) |
| 29 September 2019 18:00 | | (8–17) | | Chuzhou Handball Stadium, Chuzhou Referees: Alpaidze, Berezkina (RUS) |

### Africa

The tournament was held in Dakar, Senegal from 26 to 29 September 2019.
All times are local (UTC+0).
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Angola | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 51 | 35 | +16 | 4 | 2020 Summer Olympics |
| 2 | Senegal (H) | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 43 | 40 | +3 | 2 | |
| 3 | DR Congo | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 39 | 58 | −19 | 0 | |
| 4 | Cameroon | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Withdrew |
| 26 September 2019 18:00 | Angola | 29–21 | DR Congo | Dakar Arena, Dakar |
| 26 September 2019 18:00 | | (19–12) | | Dakar Arena, Dakar |
| 27 September 2019 18:00 | DR Congo | 18–29 | Senegal | Dakar Arena, Dakar |
| 27 September 2019 18:00 | | (8–11) | | Dakar Arena, Dakar |
| 29 September 2019 18:00 | Senegal | 14–22 | Angola | Dakar Arena, Dakar |
| 29 September 2019 18:00 | | (6–12) | | Dakar Arena, Dakar |

## Olympic Qualification Tournaments

There were three Olympic Qualification Tournaments. Only twelve teams that have not yet qualified through the five events mentioned above could play in the tournament:
* The top six teams from the 2019 World Championship that did not already qualify through their continental championships are eligible to participate in the tournament.
* The best ranked teams of each continent in the 2019 World Championship represent the continent in order to determine the continental ranking. The first ranked continent received two more places for the tournament. The second, third and fourth ranked continent received one place each. The last place belongs to a team from Oceania, if one was ranked between 8th–12th at the World Championship. If no team from Oceania met this condition, the second ranked continent receives an extra place instead. The teams that already earned their places through their World Championship ranking will not be considered for receiving places through the continental criterion.
* The twelve teams were allocated in three pools of four teams according to the table below. The top two teams from each pool qualified for the 2020 Olympic Games.
| 2020 Olympic Qualification Tournament #1 | 2020 Olympic Qualification Tournament #2 | 2020 Olympic Qualification Tournament #3 |
| 2nd from World: Spain 7th from World: Sweden 2nd from Africa: Senegal 2nd from the Americas: Argentina | 3rd from World: Russia 6th from World: Serbia 2nd from Asia: China 4th from Asia: Kazakhstan 7th from Europe: Hungary | 4th from World: Norway 5th from World: Montenegro 4th from Europe: Romania 3rd from Asia: North Korea |
On 10 January 2020, North Korea withdrew and was replaced by Kazakhstan.
On 3 February 2020, China and Hong Kong withdrew and were replaced by Thailand. In October 2020, China requested to be reinstated because the tournaments were moved and the IHF granted that request. On 1 March 2021, China withdrew from the tournament due to COVID-19 travel restrictions. Because of that, Kazakhstan was moved to Tournament 2 and no other Asian team was available (Hong Kong declined a participation and Thailand did not respond prior to the deadline), meaning that Tournament 3 was played with three teams. Senegal withdrew on 9 March 2021 and was not replaced by another African team.

### 2020 Olympic Qualification Tournament #1

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Spain (H) | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 59 | 44 | +15 | 3 | 2020 Summer Olympics |
| 2 | Sweden | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 62 | 49 | +13 | 3 | 2020 Summer Olympics |
| 3 | Argentina | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 37 | 65 | −28 | 0 | |
* 1 2 Spain 28–28 Sweden

### 2020 Olympic Qualification Tournament #2

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Russia | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 91 | 73 | +18 | 6 | 2020 Summer Olympics |
| 2 | Hungary (H) | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 100 | 71 | +29 | 4 | 2020 Summer Olympics |
| 3 | Serbia | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 89 | 90 | −1 | 2 | |
| 4 | Kazakhstan | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 75 | 121 | −46 | 0 | |

### 2020 Olympic Qualification Tournament #3

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Montenegro (H) | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 53 | 51 | +2 | 2 | 2020 Summer Olympics |
| 2 | Norway | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 52 | 52 | 0 | 2 | 2020 Summer Olympics |
| 3 | Romania | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 52 | 54 | −2 | 2 | |