2026 African Men's Handball Championship
The 2026 Men's Handball Championship was the 27th edition of the African Men's Handball Championship, the biennial international men's handball championship of Africa organized by CAHB. The tournament was held from 21 to 31 January 2026 in Kigali, Rwanda.
It was the first time in history that the championship was organised by Rwanda and the first time that the championship was held in East Africa.
It acted as the African qualifying tournament for the 2027 World Men's Handball Championship in Germany, with the top five nations qualifying.
Egypt were three time defending champions, most recently beating Algeria 29–21 in the 2024 final in Cairo. They defended their title with a win over Tunisia.
Venues
The tournament will be played in Kigali across two venues.- The main venue is the BK Arena. Built in 2019, the venue previously hosted the 2021 AfroBasket, 2021 Men's and Women's African Volleyball Championship, 2023 Women's Afrobasket and final rounds of the Basketball Africa League.
- The secondary arena in the Petit Stade. Built in the 1980s but significantly renovated in 2024, the venue hosts numerous indoor sports games in the country's domestic leagues.
| Kigali | Kigali | |
| BK Arena | Petit Stade | |
| Capacity: 10,000 | Capacity: 1,000 |
Draw
The draw was held at 17:30 UTC+02:00 on 14 November 2025 at the Amahoro Stadium, Kigali, Rwanda. The draw started with, in order, pots 4, 3, 2 and 1 being drawn, with each team selected then allocated into the first available group alphabetically.Draw results
| Team | |
| B1 | |
| B2 | |
| B3 | |
| B4 |
| Team | |
| D1 | |
| D2 | |
| D3 | |
| D4 |
Preliminary round
''All times are local.''Tiebreakers
In the group stage, teams are ranked according to points. After completion of the group stage, if two or more teams have the same number of points, the ranking will be determined as follows:- Highest number of points in matches between the teams directly involved;
- Superior goal difference in matches between the teams directly involved;
- Highest number of goals scored in matches between the teams directly involved;
- Superior goal difference in all matches of the group;
- Highest number of plus goals in all matches of the group;
Group A
-------------
Group B
---------------
Group C
-------------
Group D
-------------
President Cup
Group I
--------
Group II
--------
Main round
Points and goals gained in the preliminary group against teams that advance will be transferred to the main round.Group I
--------Group II
--------Final round
Bracket
'''5–8th place bracket'''5–8th place semifinals
----Semifinals
----Final ranking
Qualification table
| Qualified for the 2027 World Championship |