Thibaut Courtois heroics help Madrid beat Valencia in Saudi Arabia to reach Spanish Super Cup final

RIYADH: The Saudi handball team will launch its campaign in the 28th World Championship, being held in Poland and Sweden, on Thursday with a match against Slovenia in Katowice.

Aside from Slovenia, the Greens will also face six-time champions France (Jan. 14) and co-hosts Poland (Jan. 16) in Group.

Mr. Fadel Al-Nimr, chairman of the board of directors of the Saudi Handball Federation, heads the Saudi delegation participating in the tournament.

Participation in the 2023 World Championship marks Saudi Arabia’s tenth appearance at the tournament, after failing to qualify for the previous two editions, where they will hope to better their best-ever finish of 19th place achieved in 2003 and 2013.

32 teams are participating in the World Championship for the second time in a row, after the previous tournaments were held with the participation of only 24 teams. 

The first, second and third place holders from each group qualify for the main round.

In the main round, the qualified teams will be distributed into 4 groups, with 6 teams in each group, with the results of the preliminary round carried over, where the first and second places from the main round will qualify for the quarterfinals, which will be played by the knockout system until reaching the final.

The teams ranked fourth in the preliminary round will be distributed into two groups, with 4 teams in each group, and they will play in a league system to determine positions 25 to 32 in the general standings of the tournament.