2019 World Men's Handball Championship
The 2019 IHF World Men's Handball Championship was the 26th event hosted by the International Handball Federation and held in Denmark and Germany from 10 to 27 January 2019. It was the first IHF World Men's Handball Championship to include more than one host country. It was also the first time a unified Korean team participated. Denmark, in a clean sweep, won their first title by defeating Norway 31–22 in the final. This was Norway's second final in a row and the first final since 1995 between two nations who had  not won before. France captured the bronze medal after a 26–25 win over Germany. The tournament set a new spectator record with 906,283, helped by the fact that there were two home teams. Biggest number of spectator at single events was 19,250 at Germany's matches in the main round. Bidding process. Denmark/Germany presented a bid and were up against competitors from Poland and Slovakia/Hungary. The International Handball Federation announced on 28 October 2013 that Denmark/Germany would be awarded the 2019 World Men's Handball Championship. Format. This edition saw a format change back to the one  used in 2011. The 24 teams were split into four groups, in which the first three teams qualified for the main round. The bottom three teams of each group played the Presidents' Cup to determine the positions from 13 to 24. In the main round, the 12 teams were split into two groups. Their points from the preliminary round against the other qualified team were carried over, and the best two placed teams in each main round group qualified for the semifinals, while the third- and fourth ranked teams played placement matches. From the semifinals on, a knockout system was  used. Venues. Following is a list of all venues and host cities which was used. All venues have a capacity of more than 10,000 spectators. The final was held in Jyske Bank Boxen in Herning, Denmark. Draw. The draw took place on 25 June 2018 in Copenhagen, Denmark. Seeding. The seedings and draw procedure were announced on 22 June 2018. Referees. The referee pairs were selected on 25 October 2018. Preliminary round. The provisional schedule was confirmed on 28 June 2018 and the final schedule was announced on 31 October 2018. Tiebreakers. In the group stage, teams are ranked according  to points (2 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). After completion of the group stage, if two or more teams have scored the same number of points, the ranking will be determined as follows: If the ranking of one of these teams is determined, the above criteria are consecutively followed until the ranking of all teams is determined. If no ranking can be determined, a decision shall be obtained by IHF through drawing of lots. During the group stage, only criteria 4–5 apply to determine the provisional ranking of teams. "All times  are local (UTC+1)." Main round. Points obtained against qualified teams from the same group were carried over. Final ranking. Places 1–8 and 13–24 were decided by play–off or knock–out. Teams finishing fifth in the main round are ranked 9th to 10th and teams ranked sixth are ranked 11th and 12th. In case of a tie in points gained, the goal difference of the preliminary round were taken into account. Awards. All-Star Team. All-Star Team of the tournament and MVP. International broadcasters. Source: