2026 Asian Men's Handball Championship


The 2026 Asian Men's Handball Championship was the 22nd edition of the Asian Men's Handball Championship, the biennial international men's handball championship of Asia and Oceania organized by AHF. The tournament was held from 15 to 29 January 2026 in Sabah Al-Salem, Kuwait.
It was the fourth time in history that the championship was organised by the Kuwait Handball Association.
It also acted as a qualification tournament for the 2027 World Men's Handball Championship in Germany, with top four teams from the championship directly qualifying for the event. If Australia would have finished inside the top five, they would have qualified as well, as the representative of Oceania.
Qatar were the six time defending champions, recently beating Japan 30–24 in the 2024 final in Isa Town. Bahrain won their first title with a win over Qatar in the final.

Host selection

Kuwait was given the hosting rights on 24 February 2025. It will be the fourth time in history that the championship will be organised by the Kuwait Handball Association after 1977, 1995, and 2020.

Venue

The venue was the Sheikh Saad Al-Abdullah Al-Salim Al-Sabah Covered Halls Complex in Sabah Al-Salem.

Draw

The draw was held at 17:30 AST on 15 October 2025 at the Conference Room of the Safir Fintas Kuwait Hotel, Fintās, Kuwait. 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.

Seeding

The seeding was based off the results of the previous edition.
Pot 1Pot 2Pot 3Pot 4





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:
  1. Highest number of points in matches between the teams directly involved;
  2. Superior goal difference in matches between the teams directly involved;
  3. Highest number of goals scored in matches between the teams directly involved;
  4. Superior goal difference in all matches of the group;
  5. Highest number of plus goals in all matches of the group;
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 AHF through drawing of lots.

Group A

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Group B

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Group C

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Group D

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Martyr Fahad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah Cup

Group III

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Group IV

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Main round

Group I

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Group II

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Final round

Semifinals

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