# 1974 World Men's Handball Championship

The 1974 World Men's Handball Championship was the eighth team handball World Championship. It was held in East Germany between 28 February-10 March 1974. Romania won the championship.

## Teams

| Group A | Group B | Group C | Group D |
| Czechoslovakia | Poland | East Germany | Algeria |
| Denmark | Romania | Japan | Bulgaria |
| Iceland | Spain | Soviet Union | Hungary |
| West Germany | Sweden | United States | Yugoslavia |

## Preliminary round
### Group A

| Date | Venue | Game | Res. | Half |
| 28 Feb | Karl-Marx-Stadt | Czechoslovakia - Iceland | 25-15 | (11-6)0 |
| 28 Feb | Karl-Marx-Stadt | Denmark - West Germany | 12-11 | (7-5) |
| 1 Mar | Gera | Czechoslovakia - Denmark | 16-12 | (7-4) |
| 1 Mar | Erfurt | West Germany - Iceland | 22-16 | (10-7) |
| 3 Mar | Karl-Marx-Stadt | Czechoslovakia - West Germany | 17-11 | (6-7) |
| 3 Mar | Erfurt | Denmark - Iceland | 19-17 | (10-10) |
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| Czechoslovakia | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 58 | 38 | +20 | 6 |
| Denmark | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 43 | 44 | −1 | 4 |
| West Germany | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 44 | 45 | −1 | 2 |
| Iceland | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 48 | 66 | −18 | 0 |

### Group B

| Date | Venue | Game | Res. | Half |
| 28 Feb | Schwerin | Romania - Poland | 18-14 | (10-6)0 |
| 28 Feb | Schwerin | Spain - Sweden | 15-14 | (7-9) |
| 1 Mar | Wismar | Poland - Sweden | 20-10 | (6-5) |
| 1 Mar | Rostock | Romania - Spain | 21-11 | (12-8) |
| 3 Mar | Schwerin | Sweden - Romania | 20-18 | (9-8) |
| 3 Mar | Rostock | Poland - Spain | 21-15 | (11-6) |
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| Romania | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 57 | 45 | +12 | 4 |
| Poland | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 55 | 43 | +12 | 4 |
| Sweden | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 44 | 53 | −9 | 2 |
| Spain | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 41 | 56 | −15 | 2 |

### Group C

| Date | Venue | Game | Res. | Half |
| 28 Feb | East Berlin | East Germany - Japan | 31-16 | (13-9)0 |
| 28 Feb | East Berlin | Soviet Union - United States | 40-11 | (16-6) |
| 1 Mar | Brandenburg an der Havel | East Germany - United States | 35-14 | (16-6) |
| 1 Mar | Brandenburg an der Havel | Soviet Union - Japan | 25-18 | (13-7) |
| 3 Mar | East Berlin | East Germany - Soviet Union | 15-15 | (7-4) |
| 3 Mar | Brandenburg an der Havel | Japan - United States | 29-18 | (13-9) |
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| East Germany | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 81 | 45 | +36 | 5 |
| Soviet Union | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 80 | 44 | +36 | 5 |
| Japan | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 63 | 74 | −11 | 2 |
| United States | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 43 | 104 | −61 | 0 |

### Group D

| Date | Venue | Game | Res. | Half |
| 28 Feb | Halle an der Saale | Yugoslavia - Bulgaria | 25-17 | (11-7)0 |
| 28 Feb | Halle an der Saale | Hungary - Algeria | 30-10 | (12-5) |
| 1 Mar | Magdeburg | Yugoslavia - Algeria | 35-12 | (17-7) |
| 1 Mar | Dessau | Hungary - Bulgaria | 19-15 | (9-7) |
| 3 Mar | Halle an der Saale | Yugoslavia - Hungary | 21-18 | (9-10) |
| 3 Mar | Dessau | Bulgaria - Algeria | 23-16 | (10-9) |
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| Yugoslavia | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 81 | 47 | +34 | 6 |
| Hungary | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 67 | 46 | +21 | 4 |
| Bulgaria | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 55 | 60 | −5 | 2 |
| Algeria | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 38 | 88 | −50 | 0 |

## Placement Round (9-12 pos.)

The four third placed teams from the preliminary round played a round robin tournament for positions 9-12.
| Date | Venue | Game | Res. | Half |
| 5 Mar | Erfurt | West Germany - Sweden | 20-18 | (8-3) |
| 5 Mar | Wismar | Bulgaria - Japan | 23-22 | (13-12) |
| 7 Mar | Magdeburg | West Germany - Japan | 30-24 | (15-12) |
| 7 Mar | Gera | Sweden - Bulgaria | 21-19 | (12-8) |
| 9 Mar | Halle an der Saale | West Germany - Bulgaria | 22-13 | (11-8) |
| 9 Mar | Dessau | Sweden - Japan | 28-21 | (14-11) |
| Placement Round | Placement Round | Games | Goals | Points |
| 9. | West Germany | 3 | 72-55 | 6 |
| 10. | Sweden | 3 | 67-60 | 4 |
| 11. | Bulgaria | 3 | 55-65 | 2 |
| 12. | Japan | 3 | 67-81 | 0 |

## Second round
### Group 1

| Date | Venue | Game | Res. | Half |
| 5 Mar | Karl Marx Stadt | Poland - Czechoslovakia | 19-16 | (11-6) |
| 5 Mar | Halle an der Saale | Romania - Denmark | 20-11 | (9-1) |
| 7 Mar | Schwerin | Romania - Czechoslovakia | 20-13 | (11-6) |
| 7 Mar | Karl Marx Stadt | Poland - Denmark | 14-9 | (6-5) |
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| Romania | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 58 | 38 | +20 | 6 |
| Poland | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 47 | 43 | +4 | 4 |
| Czechoslovakia | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 45 | 51 | −6 | 2 |
| Denmark | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 32 | 50 | −18 | 0 |

### Group 2

| Date | Venue | Game | Res. | Half |
| 5 Mar | Schwerin | East Germany - Hungary | 17-10 | (10-4) |
| 5 Mar | Magdeburg | Yugoslavia - Soviet Union | 18-15 | (11-8) |
| 7 Mar | East Berlin | East Germany - Yugoslavia | 19-17 | (10-8) |
| 7 Mar | Dessau | Soviet Union - Hungary | 17-15 | (8-7) |
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| East Germany | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 51 | 42 | +9 | 5 |
| Yugoslavia | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 56 | 52 | +4 | 4 |
| Soviet Union | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 47 | 48 | −1 | 3 |
| Hungary | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 43 | 55 | −12 | 0 |

## 7th / 8th place

| Date | Match$^1$ | Match$^1$ | Match$^1$ | Score | Half |
| 09.03.1974 | Hungary | - | Denmark | 22-15 | (13-6) |
* ($^1$) - In East Berlin

## 5th / 6th place

| Date | Match$^1$ | Match$^1$ | Match$^1$ | Score | Half |
| 10.03.1974 | Soviet Union | - | Czechoslovakia | 26-24 | (14-11) |
* ($^1$) - In East Berlin

## 3rd / 4th place

| Date | Match$^1$ | Match$^1$ | Match$^1$ | Score | Half |
| 09.03.1974 | Yugoslavia | - | Poland | 18-16 | (10-9) |
* ($^1$) - In East Berlin

## Final

| Date | Match$^1$ | Match$^1$ | Match$^1$ | Score | Half |
| 10.03.1974 | Romania | - | East Germany | 14-12 | (7-8) |
* ($^1$) - In East Berlin

## Final standings

| Rank | Team |
| | Romania |
| | East Germany |
| | Yugoslavia |
| 4 | Poland |
| 5 | Soviet Union |
| 6 | Czechoslovakia |
| 7 | Hungary |
| 8 | Denmark |
| 9 | West Germany |
| 10 | Sweden |
| 11 | Bulgaria |
| 12 | Japan |
| 13 | Spain |
| 14 | Iceland |
| 15 | Algeria |
| 16 | United States |
Source: International Handball Federation