Handball at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Women's qualification

The qualification for the 2016 Women's Olympic Handball Tournament was held from December 2014 to March 2016. Twelve teams qualified, the hosts, the World champion, four continental champions and six teams from the World Olympic qualification tournaments respectively.

Qualification summary

Mean of qualification	Date	Host	Vacancies	Qualified
Host nation	2 October 2009	Copenhagen	1	Brazil
2014 European Championship	7–21 December 2014	Zagreb Budapest	1	Spain^[1]
2015 African Qualification Tournament	19–21 March 2015	Luanda	1	Angola
2015 Pan American Games	15–24 July 2015	Toronto	1	Argentina
2015 Asian Qualification Tournament	20–25 October 2015	Nagoya	1	South Korea
2015 World Championship	5–20 December 2015	Denmark	1	Norway
2016 Olympic Qualification Tournaments	18–20 March 2016	Metz	2	Netherlands
				France
		Aarhus	2	Romania
				Montenegro
		Astrakhan	2	Russia
				Sweden
Total			12

^ 1. Norway won the European Championship, ensuring its qualification. Norway later also won the 2015 World Championship title, which took precedence in the qualification path. Therefore, the European Championship's runner-up, Spain, received the European continental tournament berth.

Legend for qualification type

	Qualified for the 2016 Summer Olympics
	Qualified for the 2016 World Olympic Qualification Tournaments

Host country

•  Brazil

World Championship

Main article: 2015 World Women's Handball Championship

Rank	Team
	Norway
	Netherlands
	Romania
4	Poland
5	Russia
6	Denmark
7	France
8	Montenegro
9	Sweden
10	Brazil
11	Hungary
12	Spain
13	Germany
14	South Korea
15	Serbia
16	Angola
17	China
18	Argentina
19	Japan
20	Puerto Rico
21	Tunisia
22	Kazakhstan
23	Cuba
24	DR Congo

Continental qualification

Europe (1st ranking continent)

Main article: 2014 European Women's Handball Championship

Rank	Team
	Norway
	Spain
	Sweden
4	Montenegro
5	France
6	Hungary
7	Netherlands
8	Denmark
9	Romania
10	Germany
11	Poland
12	Slovakia
13	Croatia
14	Russia
15	Serbia
16	Ukraine

America (2nd ranking continent)

Main article: Handball at the 2015 Pan American Games – Women's tournament

Rank	Team
	Brazil
	Argentina
	Uruguay
4	Mexico
5	Cuba
6	Puerto Rico
7	Canada
8	Chile

	Qualified for the 2016 Summer Olympics
	Qualified for the Olympic Qualification Tournament

Asia (3rd ranking continent)

The competition was held in Nagoya, Japan.

All times are local (UTC+9).

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	South Korea	4	4	0	0	160	82	+78	8	Advance to final tournament
2	Japan	4	3	0	1	125	94	+31	6	Advance to qualification tournaments
3	China	4	2	0	2	106	102	+4	4
4	Kazakhstan	4	1	0	3	103	114	−11	2
5	Uzbekistan	4	0	0	4	80	182	−102	0

Source: Asianhandball
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) goal difference.

20 October 2015 17:00	Kazakhstan	18−28	China	Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium, Nagoya
		(8−13)

20 October 2015 19:00	Japan	51−17	Uzbekistan	Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium, Nagoya
		(25−10)

---

21 October 2015 17:00	South Korea	35−24	Kazakhstan	Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium, Nagoya
		(18−10)

21 October 2015 19:00	China	19−29	Japan	Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium, Nagoya
		(11−13)

---

22 October 2015 17:00	China	22−34	South Korea	Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium, Nagoya
		(8−15)

22 October 2015 19:00	Uzbekistan	27−38	Kazakhstan	Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium, Nagoya
		(15−18)

---

24 October 2015 16:00	Japan	24−23	Kazakhstan	Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium, Nagoya
		(13−11)

24 October 2015 18:00	Uzbekistan	15−56	South Korea	Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium, Nagoya
		(8−30)

---

25 October 2015 14:00	Uzbekistan	21–37	China	Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium, Nagoya
		(6–21)

25 October 2015 16:00	South Korea	35–21	Japan	Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium, Nagoya
		(17–11)

Africa (4th ranking continent)

The competition was held in Luanda, Angola.

All times are local (UTC+1).

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Angola	3	3	0	0	100	72	+28	6	Advance to final tournament
2	Tunisia	3	2	0	1	74	66	+8	4	Advance to qualification tournaments
3	Senegal	3	1	0	2	65	85	−20	2
4	DR Congo	3	0	0	3	71	87	−16	0

Source: ^[citation needed]
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) goal difference.

19 March 2015 18:00	Angola	38−21	Senegal	Pavilhão da Cidadela, Luanda
		(20–10)
		Report

19 March 2015 20:00	Tunisia	26−21	DR Congo	Pavilhão da Cidadela, Luanda
		(14–11)
		Report

---

20 March 2015 18:00	Senegal	19−25	Tunisia	Pavilhão da Cidadela, Luanda
		(13–13)
		Report

20 March 2015 20:00	Angola	36−28	DR Congo	Pavilhão da Cidadela, Luanda
		(19–13)
		Report

---

21 March 2015 18:00	DR Congo	22–25	Senegal	Pavilhão da Cidadela, Luanda
		(14–11)
		Report

21 March 2015 20:00	Angola	26–23	Tunisia	Pavilhão da Cidadela, Luanda
		(10–12)
		Report

Olympic Qualification Tournaments

The Olympic Qualification Tournaments were held on 18–20 March 2016. Only twelve teams that have not yet qualified through the five events mentioned above could play in the tournament:

• The top six teams from the World championship that did not already qualify through their continental championships are eligible to participate in the tournament.
• The best ranked teams of each continent in the World championship represented the continent in order to determine the continental ranking. The first ranked continent received two more places for the tournament. The second, third and fourth ranked continent received one place each. The last place belongs to a team from Oceania, if it was ranked between 8th–12th at the World Championship. But, as no team from Oceania met this condition, the second ranked continent received an extra place instead. The teams, which already earned their places through their World championship ranking were not considered for receiving places through the continental criterion.
• The twelve teams were allocated in three pools of four teams according to the table below. The top two teams from each pool qualified for the 2016 Olympic Games.[1][2][3]

2016 Olympic Qualification Tournament #1	2016 Olympic Qualification Tournament #2	2016 Olympic Qualification Tournament #3
2nd from World:  Netherlands 7th from World:  France 2nd from Asia:  Japan 2nd from Africa:  Tunisia	3rd from World:  Romania 6th from World:  Denmark 3rd from Americas:  Uruguay 4th from Europe:  Montenegro	4th from World:  Poland 5th from World:  Russia 3rd from Europe:  Sweden 4th from Americas:  Mexico

2016 Olympic Qualification Tournament #1

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Netherlands	3	3	0	0	103	62	+41	6	Advanced to final tournament
2	France (H)	3	2	0	1	75	56	+19	4
3	Japan	3	1	0	2	79	78	+1	2
4	Tunisia	3	0	0	3	55	116	−61	0

Source: IHF
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) goal difference.
(H) Hosts

All times are local (UTC+1).

18 March 2016 16:45	Japan	37–20	Tunisia	Arènes de Metz, Metz Attendance: 4,000 Referees: Gatelis, Mažeika (LTU)
	Fujii 8	(19–8)	Hamrouni 7
	3× 3×	Report	3× 2×

18 March 2016 19:00	Netherlands	24–17	France	Arènes de Metz, Metz Attendance: 5,000 Referees: Arntsen, Røen (NOR)
	Van der Heijden 5	(9–7)	Dembélé 5
	2× 2×	Report	3× 3×

---

19 March 2016 16:45	Netherlands	33–25	Japan	Arènes de Metz, Metz Attendance: 4,000 Referees: Nachevski, Nikolov (MKD)
	Malestein 8	(15–16)	Yokoshima 7
	3× 5×	Report	3× 3×

19 March 2016 19:00	France	33–15	Tunisia	Arènes de Metz, Metz Attendance: 4,000 Referees: Gatelis, Mažeika (LTU)
	Houette 8	(20–6)	three players 3
	4× 4×	Report	3× 3× 1×

---

20 March 2016 17:45	Tunisia	20–46	Netherlands	Arènes de Metz, Metz Attendance: 2,800 Referees: Arntsen, Røen (NOR)
	three players 3	(10–27)	Abbingh 8
	3× 3×	Report	3× 4×

20 March 2016 19:30	France	25–17	Japan	Arènes de Metz, Metz Attendance: 4,000 Referees: Nachevski, Nikolov (MKD)
	Pineau 7	(11–7)	Fujii 5
	3× 1×	Report	3× 2×

2016 Olympic Qualification Tournament #2

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Romania	3	2	1	0	91	67	+24	5	Advanced to final tournament
2	Montenegro	3	2	1	0	83	64	+19	5
3	Denmark (H)	3	1	0	2	85	75	+10	2
4	Uruguay	3	0	0	3	55	108	−53	0

Source: IHF
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) goal difference.
(H) Hosts

All times are local (UTC+1).

18 March 2016 16:45	Uruguay	19–34	Montenegro	Ceres Arena, Aarhus Attendance: 1,100 Referees: Alpaidze, Berezkina (RUS)
	Scarrone 4	(10–15)	Mehmedović 7
	2× 3×	Report	3× 5×

18 March 2016 19:00	Romania	32–25	Denmark	Ceres Arena, Aarhus Attendance: 3,100 Referees: Geipel, Helbig (GER)
	Buceschi 10	(19–13)	Dalby, Spellerberg 4
	2× 3×	Report	3× 4×

---

19 March 2016 17:45	Romania	36–19	Uruguay	Ceres Arena, Aarhus Referees: Alpaidze, Berezkina (RUS)
	Chintoan 9	(17–10)	Fynn 4
	3× 3×	Report	3× 6×

19 March 2016 20:00	Denmark	22–26	Montenegro	Ceres Arena, Aarhus Attendance: 3,200 Referees: Horáček, Novotný (CZE)
	Jørgensen 7	(10–13)	Bulatović 9
	3× 4×	Report	3× 4×

---

20 March 2016 17:30	Montenegro	23–23	Romania	Ceres Arena, Aarhus Attendance: 1,200 Referees: Horáček, Novotný (CZE)
	Despotović 8	(11–15)	Chintoan 6
	3× 6×	Report	2× 3×

20 March 2016 20:00	Denmark	38–17	Uruguay	Ceres Arena, Aarhus Attendance: 1,500 Referees: Geipel, Helbig (GER)
	Rej 9	(19–7)	Barreiro 8
	3× 4×	Report	2× 4×

2016 Olympic Qualification Tournament #3

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Russia (H)	3	3	0	0	101	71	+30	6	Advanced to final tournament
2	Sweden	3	2	0	1	100	81	+19	4
3	Poland	3	1	0	2	85	71	+14	2
4	Mexico	3	0	0	3	51	114	−63	0

Source: IHF
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) goal difference.
(H) Hosts

All times are local (UTC+3).

18 March 2016 17:30	Poland	25–27	Russia	Sportcomplex Zvezdny, Astrakhan Attendance: 6,000 Referees: Koo, Lee (KOR)
	Kobylińska 5	(11–11)	Vyakhireva 7
	2× 2×	Report	4× 3×

18 March 2016 20:00	Sweden	41–20	Mexico	Sportcomplex Zvezdny, Astrakhan Attendance: 1,000 Referees: Lah, Sok (SLO)
	Sand 5	(21–9)	Aguirre 8
	3× 5×	Report	3× 2×

---

19 March 2016 16:00	Poland	24–30	Sweden	Sportcomplex Zvezdny, Astrakhan Attendance: 3,700 Referees: Bonaventura, Bonaventura (FRA)
	Zych 6	(12–16)	Alm 6
	3× 1×	Report	3× 3×

19 March 2016 18:30	Russia	37–17	Mexico	Sportcomplex Zvezdny, Astrakhan Attendance: 6,000 Referees: Koo, Lee (KOR)
	Gorshkova 6	(17–11)	Sifuentes 5
	3× 5×	Report	3× 3× 1×

---

20 March 2016 18:00	Russia	37–29	Sweden	Sportcomplex Zvezdny, Astrakhan Attendance: 6,000 Referees: Lah, Sok (SLO)
	Dmitrieva, Vyakhireva 7	(15–10)	Gulldén 8
	3× 2×	Report	3× 3×

20 March 2016 20:30	Mexico	14–36	Poland	Sportcomplex Zvezdny, Astrakhan Attendance: 1,500 Referees: Bonaventura, Bonaventura (FRA)
	Esquivel 6	(5–18)	Kołodziejsk 8
	3× 1×	Report	3× 2×

References

1. "Rio 2016 – Qualification Tournament Update". ihf.info. 20 December 2015.
2. Kjærgaard, Bodil. "Damernes OL-kval spilles i Danmark". dhf.dk (in Danish). Danish Handball Federation. Archived from the original on 23 December 2015. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
3. "IHF: Women's Olympic Games Qualification Tournament". dhf.dk. International Handball Federation. Retrieved 31 January 2016.

External links

• Qualification System