IHF World Men's Handball Championship
The IHF Men's Handball World Championship has been organized indoor by the International Handball Federation since 1938.
In the twenty-nine tournaments held, twelve national teams have won the title. France is the most successful team with six titles, followed by Sweden, Denmark and Romania with four titles each.
The current champion is Denmark, which won its fourth consecutive title at the 2025 tournament in Croatia, Denmark and Norway.
History
The first indoor championship took place in Germany in 1938, involving four teams from Europe made up of 7 players who competed in a round robin stage to find a winner. It wouldn't be until sixteen years later where the second World Championship was held in the country of Sweden. Throughout their history, the World Championships have been dominated by European teams, with no medals being won by non-European countries until 2015, by Qatar. Over the years, the organization of the World Championships has changed. Initially, there were group games in both the preliminary and main rounds, but since the 1995 edition a knockout system has been applied after the preliminary round.Tournaments
Medal table
Notes:IHF considers that the national team of Russia succeeds the Soviet Union, the national team of Serbia succeeds the Yugoslavia/Serbia and Montenegro, and the national teams of the Germany succeed by West and East Germany.
Participating nations
Statistics
List of hosts
List of hosts by number of championships hosted.| Times hosted | Host | Year |
| 9 | 1938, 1958*, 1961**, 1974*, 1982**, 2007, 2019, | |
| 5 | 1954, 1967, 1993, 2011, 2023 | |
| 4 | 1978, 2019, 2025, | |
| 4 | 1970, 2001, 2017, | |
| 2 | 2009, 2025 | |
| 2 | 1964, 1990 | |
| 2 | 1999, 2021 | |
| 2 | 1995, | |
| 2 | 2025, | |
| 1 | 1997 | |
| 1 | 2023 | |
| 1 | 2003 | |
| 1 | 2015 | |
| 1 | 2013 | |
| 1 | 1986 | |
| 1 | 2005 |
All-time table for semi-finalists (1938–2025)
Draws include knockout matches decided in a penalty shootout.Most successful players
Boldface denotes active handball players and highest medal count among all players per type.Multiple gold medalists
| Rank | Player | Country | From | To | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | Thierry Omeyer | 2001 | 2017 | 5 | – | 2 | 7 | |
| 2 | Nikola Karabatić | 2005 | 2023 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 7 | |
| 3 | Mads Mensah Larsen | 2013 | 2025 | 4 | 1 | – | 5 | |
| 3 | Henrik Møllgaard | 2013 | 2025 | 4 | 1 | – | 5 | |
| 5 | Jérôme Fernandez | 2001 | 2015 | 4 | – | 2 | 6 | |
| 5 | Michaël Guigou | 2005 | 2019 | 4 | – | 2 | 6 | |
| 5 | Daniel Narcisse | 2001 | 2017 | 4 | – | 2 | 6 | |
| 8 | Cédric Sorhaindo | 2009 | 2019 | 4 | – | 1 | 5 | |
| 9 | Simon Hald | 2019 | 2025 | 4 | – | – | 4 | |
| 9 | Jóhan Hansen | 2019 | 2025 | 4 | – | – | 4 | |
| 9 | Magnus Landin Jacobsen | 2019 | 2025 | 4 | – | – | 4 |
Multiple medalists
The table shows players who have won at least 6 medals in total at the World Championships.| Rank | Player | Country | From | To | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | Thierry Omeyer | 2001 | 2017 | 5 | – | 2 | 7 | |
| 2 | Nikola Karabatić | 2005 | 2023 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 7 | |
| 3 | Jérôme Fernandez | 2001 | 2015 | 4 | – | 2 | 6 | |
| 3 | Michaël Guigou | 2005 | 2019 | 4 | – | 2 | 6 | |
| 3 | Daniel Narcisse | 2001 | 2017 | 4 | – | 2 | 6 | |
| 6 | Magnus Andersson | 1990 | 2001 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | |
| 6 | Ola Lindgren | 1990 | 2001 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | |
| 6 | Magnus Wislander | 1990 | 2001 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | |
| 9 | Jackson Richardson | 1993 | 2005 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 |
Top scorers by tournament
The record-holder for scored goals in a single World Championship is Kiril Lazarov. He scored 92 goals for Macedonia in nine matches at the 2009 World Championship.| Year | Player | Goals |
| 1938 |  |