2017 World Women's Handball Championship
The 2017 IHF World Women's Handball Championship, the 23rd event hosted by the International Handball Federation, was held in Germany from 1 to 17 December 2017. Germany was the only applicant for this championship. Germany was host of the World Championships in 1965 and 1997. France won their second title after 2003, by defeating reigning champions Norway 23–21 in the final. Venues. The tournament is being played in the following venues: Bietigheim-Bissingen, Magdeburg, Oldenburg, Leipzig, Trier and Hamburg as the final four venue. Draw. The draw was held on 27 June 2017  at Hamburg, Germany. Seeding. The seeding was announced on 26 June 2017. Referees. 16 referee pairs were selected: Preliminary round. The schedule was announced on 30 June 2017 with the exact throw-off times confirmed on 10 July 2017. "All times are local (UTC+1)." Final ranking and statistics. All Star Team. The All Star Team and MVP was announced on 17 December 2017.