World Handball Championship 2015: Teams, Groups, Schedule for Qatar Tournament

The 2015 World Handball Championship kicked off on Thursday, January 15, as hosts Qatar beat Brazil 28-23 in the first match of this year's tournament. A total of 24 teams will play five group matches to determine who advances to the knockout stages, as all teams eye the ultimate prize.

Defending champions Spain started their campaign with a tough win over Belarus, while Russia easily handled Saudi Arabia and Egypt trashed Algeria.

The European teams remain the strong favourites for the title, but the sport has made tremendous progression in the past two years, with Egypt and Qatar in particular seen as dangerous outsiders for this year's title. Here's the full schedule for the group stages of the World Championship:

Group A	Date	Teams	Result	Group B	Date	Teams	Result
Group C	Date	Teams	Result	Group D	Date	Teams	Result
	1/15/2015	QAT - BRA	28 : 23		1/16/2015	BIH - IRI	30 : 25
	1/16/2015	ESP - BLR	38 : 33		1/16/2015	MKD - TUN	33 : 25
	1/16/2015	SLO - CHI	36 : 23		1/16/2015	CRO - AUT	32 : 30
	1/17/2015	BLR - SLO	TBD		1/17/2015	IRI - MKD	TBD
	1/17/2015	BRA - ESP	TBD		1/17/2015	TUN - CRO	TBD
	1/17/2015	CHI - QAT	TBD		1/17/2015	AUT - BIH	TBD
	1/19/2015	BLR - BRA	TBD		1/19/2015	BIH - MKD	TBD
	1/19/2015	ESP - CHI	TBD		1/19/2015	CRO - IRI	TBD
	1/19/2015	SLO - QAT	TBD		1/19/2015	AUT - TUN	TBD
	1/21/2015	CHI - BLR	TBD		1/21/2015	IRI - AUT	TBD
	1/21/2015	SLO - BRA	TBD		1/21/2015	MKD - CRO	TBD
	1/21/2015	QAT - ESP	TBD		1/21/2015	BIH - TUN	TBD
	1/23/2015	BRA - CHI	TBD		1/23/2015	TUN - IRI	TBD
	1/23/2015	ESP - SLO	TBD		1/23/2015	CRO - BIH	TBD
	1/23/2015	QAT - BLR	TBD		1/23/2015	MKD - AUT	TBD
	1/16/2015	ALG - EGY	20 : 34		1/16/2015	RUS - KSA	27 : 17
	1/16/2015	FRA - CZE	30 : 27		1/16/2015	POL - GER	26 : 29
	1/16/2015	SWE - ISL	24 : 16		1/16/2015	DEN - ARG	24 : 24
	1/18/2015	ISL - ALG	TBD		1/18/2015	GER - RUS	TBD
	1/18/2015	EGY - FRA	TBD		1/18/2015	ARG - POL	TBD
	1/18/2015	CZE - SWE	TBD		1/18/2015	KSA - DEN	TBD
	1/20/2015	CZE - EGY	TBD		1/20/2015	POL - RUS	TBD
	1/20/2015	FRA - ISL	TBD		1/20/2015	ARG - KSA	TBD
	1/20/2015	SWE - ALG	TBD		1/20/2015	DEN - GER	TBD
	1/22/2015	SWE - EGY	TBD		1/22/2015	GER - ARG	TBD
	1/22/2015	ALG - FRA	TBD		1/22/2015	POL - KSA	TBD
	1/22/2015	ISL - CZE	TBD		1/22/2015	RUS - DEN	TBD
	1/24/2015	EGY - ISL	TBD		1/24/2015	KSA - GER	TBD
	1/24/2015	ALG - CZE	TBD		1/24/2015	RUS - ARG	TBD
	1/24/2015	FRA - SWE	0 : 0 (0 : 0)		1/24/2015	DEN - POL	TBD

Group A

Pos.	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	P
1	Slovenia	1	1	0	0	36	23	2
2	Spain	1	1	0	0	38	33	2
3	Qatar	1	1	0	0	28	23	2
4	Belarus	1	0	0	1	33	38	0
5	Brazil	1	0	0	1	23	28	0
6	Chile	1	0	0	1	23	36	0

With Spain, Slovenia, Belarus and Qatar all brought together in the same group, Group A could rightfully be seen as a Group of Death.

Two years ago, not a single non-European team made the quarter-finals, and Qatar face a serious battle to reverse those fortunes in 2015. As shared by The Peninsula, the hosts started the tournament in the right fashion:

Veteran goalkeeper Danijel Saric knows the schedule looks daunting for the hosts, as he told the event's official website:

"

Brazil and Chile are on our level. Chile could be very dangerous if we don’t take them seriously. Firstly, we have to try and compete with teams from “our league”, and then think about the others. We will keep both feet firmly on the ground and only think about the next match. Honestly, I don’t think about how far we could go at this moment. Our goal is to win each match and fight until the final whistle.

"

Slovenia and Spain met in the semi-finals in 2013, and both will be favoured to progress from Group A once again. Belarus should comfortably grab the third spot, while hosts Qatar seem like the safe pick to grab the final ticket for the knockout stages.

Group B

Pos.	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	P
1	Macedonia	1	1	0	0	33	25	2
2	Bosnia-Herzegovina	1	1	0	0	30	25	2
3	Croatia	1	1	0	0	32	30	2
4	Austria	1	0	0	1	30	32	0
5	Iran	1	0	0	1	25	30	0
6	Tunisia	1	0	0	1	25	33	0

A similar story in Group B, where Austria nearly shocked favourites Croatia on Friday. Macedonia and Bosnia-Herzegovina are more experienced and more talented than Iran or Tunisia, and judging by the Austrians' narrow loss to the semi-finalists from 2013, they too should fancy their chances.

This fan knows Bosnia will be in for a fight on Saturday:

Could Europe grab all four spots that lead to a ticket to the knockout stages? It sure looks likely.

Group C

Pos.	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	P
1	Egypt	1	1	0	0	34	20	2
2	Sweden	1	1	0	0	24	16	2
3	France	1	1	0	0	30	27	2
4	Czech Republic	1	0	0	1	27	30	0
5	Iceland	1	0	0	1	16	24	0
6	Algeria	1	0	0	1	20	34	0

If there's any African team which has a great chance of making a run in the tournament, it's Egypt. Sitting at the top of Group C thanks to a decisive win over Algeria on Friday, Sweden France and the Czech Republic present strong, but not unbeatable competition.

Iceland are relative minnows to the sport, while Algeria are a good, but not great team. The Czech Republic have some defensive issues, and star Filip Jicha remains absent with an illness, as shared by Handball Australia's Courtney Gahan:

The Swedes are the early favourites to win the group, but a top-three finish is definitely possible for Egypt.

Group D

Pos.	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	P
1	Russia	1	1	0	0	27	17	2
2	Germany	1	1	0	0	29	26	2
3	Argentina	1	0	1	0	24	24	1
4	Denmark	1	0	1	0	24	24	1
5	Poland	1	0	0	1	26	29	0
6	Saudi Arabia	1	0	0	1	17	27	0

Argentina shocked 2013 finalists Denmark by holding them to a draw on Friday, a sign Group D may not be as clear-cut as expected. On Paper, Russia and Denmark are the clear favourites, with Poland, Germany and Argentina battling for the remaining tickets to the group stages.

The draw against Denmark is great news for Argentina, but Germany shocked Poland as well on Friday, setting up what should be one of the closest races of the entire tournament.  

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