Gruppe A
Germany is turning into a powerhouse at national team level again within mens' handball. They reached the final against Denmark in the Olympics and finished in 4th spot at the European championships last year in their own country.
Its hard to see any of the other countries posing a threat for the Germans in this group.
The Czech Republic is at the World Cup for only the second time since 2007. Their most recent participation in 2015 ended in the President's Cup with 17th place.
Poland, on the other hand, have only missed the World Championships once since winning silver in 2007, and they have even won two bronze medals since then, but they finished 15th and 16th at the most recent editions of the European championships and World Championships and will arrive with a lot of young and ineperienced players.
Switzerland is seeded last and did not feature at the last World Championships but in January they managed to draw against France in the group stage of the European championships - but then lost the other two matches and were eventually eliminated.
Group B
Tunesia
Italy
Denmark's three-time world champions no longer have national team legends Mikkel Hansen and Niklas Landin at their disposal, but even so should have so much talent within their squad that qualifying in first place from this group won't pose any challenge for the olympic champions.
Tunisia made it all the way to the semifinals of the 2005 World Cup when they hosted the tournament, but at the last World Cup they finished in 25th spot.
Italy have suprisingly qualified for the World Cup for the first time since 1997, when they lost three games, beat Argentina and drew 19-19 with Norway.
Algeria finished 13th at the 2001 World Cup, their best result in a total of 16 previous appearances. In 2023, they finished as number 31 out of 32 teams, so needless to say expectations are at an all-time low for the African nation.
Group C
France
France must recover from their own disappointing olympic tournament, where they were already eliminated in the quarter-finals. And even though Group C on paper shouldn't pose any problems for them, they will be severely handicapped by the absence of Kentin Mahé. There are also doubts how well Dika Mem has recovered from recent shoulder surgery.
Austria did not take part in the 2023 World Cup, but in January they finished 8th at the European Championship in Germany, thus equaling their best ever performance - which was at the 2020 European Championship, where they also finished 8th.
The 6-time Asian champions from Qatar stunned the world and won the silver medals on home soil in 2015, but they finished in a hugely disappointing 22nd spot at the 2023 World Cup
Kuwait also finished in 22nd spot when they appeared last time in a World Cup, but that was way back in 2009.
Group D
Guinea
Hungary were already eliminated from the olympic handball tournament after the group stage but they have made it to the quarterfinals in four of the last five World Cups and on a good day they are a match for any nation.
Hungary's biggest competitor for 1st place will probably be the Netherlands, who are participating in the World Cup for the third time. The first time was back in 1961, while they reappeared in the 2023 World Cup where they finished in 14th spot.
Without the services of the legendary Kiril Lazarov North Macedonia who finished 9th at the 2015 World Cup, have struggled to compete against the big handball nations and most likely wont make it into the next round this time around.
Guinea, who finished 5th and 6th at the last two African Championships, are debutants at the World Cup and it will be major surprise if they can challenge any of the teams in the group.
Group E
USA
Norway have struglled to fulfill their potental during the last two international final tournaments probably due to the fact that their absolut star player Sander Sagosen has been far from his best.
Portugal were in a group with Norway in the intermediate round at the 2021 World Cup, and lost 29-28 in a match that would otherwise have given them a ticket to the quarterfinals which would have been their best result ever.
Brazil doesn´t have the same tradition for handball as they do for football and their best position so far is 9th place from 2019.
The USA managed to qualify for the 2023 World Cup, which was their first World Cup since 2001, where they lost all five of their matches. In 2023 they managed to win two of their six games.
Group F
Sweden have reached the semi-finals at both Eurpean Championships and World Championships the last two times and after bowing out of the olympic tournament to Denmark in the quarterfinals, the Swedes will no doubt be eager to reappear in the Top 4.
Spain is the group's second favorite and are defending World Cup bronze winners from 2023.
Japan did not participate in the last World Cup, but they were part of the Olympic Games in Paris, where they they lost by four goals to Spain in the group stage.
Two years ago in Poland and Sweden, Chile crashed out of the group stage with three defeats, but they won their first three games in the President's Cup and in the end faced Tunesia for 25th spot.
Group G
Cape Verde
Cuba
Its safe to say that Slovenia were one of the biggest surprises in the olympic handball tournament when they reached 4th spot to the amazement of handball experts and they will certainly go into this tournament as a dark horse.
Iceland were one of the most dominant handball nations in earlier times but they have struggled to to live up to previous impressive results recently. Only once since 2014 have they finished among the top 10 at a final tournament and that was 6th place at the 2022 European championships.
Cuba won the North American Championships in 2024 and now they are in the World Cup for the first time since 2009
Cape Verde is participating in the World Cup for the third time in a row, and most recently they even reached the intermediate round, where they lost all five matches.
Group H
The African champions from Egypt forced Spain into extra time in the quarter-finals at the Olympics in Paris, and one of the most legendary matches in World Cup handball history was their quarterfinal against Denmark in 2021 in which the Danes prevailed on penalties
A 4th place in France in 2001 is the Egyptians' best World Cup result, but they have finished in the top eight at the last three World Cups.
Croatia for whom the 36-year old Domagoj Duvnjak will play his final tournament for the national team, won World Cup gold in 2003, but they have not won a medal since bronze in 2013.
Argentina is at the World Cup for the 15th time in a row, but they are yet to feature amongst the top 10 nations.
Bahrain have qualified for the last four World Cup finals, but they have won just four of their total of 26 matches, Maso it would be a big surprise if they can qualify from this group.
The top three nations advance and carry their head-to-head results into the intermediate round, where they are paired with three teams from another group, creating four intermediate groups of six teams each.
Each team then plays against the three teams from the intermediate round group that they have not yet met. The winners of the four intermediate round groups meet the runners-up in the quarter-finals, and the winners of these matches must then play against each other in the semi-finals.
The eight teams already eliminated in the preliminary group stage will play the Presidents Cup.