Romania’s women’s national handball team secured its qualification for the 27th IHF Women’s Handball World Championship after defeating Italy on Sunday, April 13, with a score of 31–18 (14–11), in the second leg of the playoff. 

Romania remains the only national team to have participated in every edition of the final tournament across all 27 editions, according to News.ro.

The Championship will take place in the Netherlands and Germany under the motto ‘Hands Up For More.’ Five cities will host the matches, namely Rotterdam, ’s-Hertogenbosch, Dortmund, Stuttgart, and Trier. A total of 32 teams will compete in the final tournament.

Following the play-off matches, other teams that have qualified include Montenegro, the Faroe Islands, Poland, Iceland, Spain, Switzerland, and Sweden. 

The current title holder of the championship is France, who defeated Norway 31–28 in the 2023 final, securing their third world championship. The other three European teams that have qualified directly for the 2025 World Championship are the medalists from the 2024 European Championship: Norway, Denmark, and Hungary. 

Romania finished 12th in 2023, marking the last major international tournament for team captain Cristina Neagu, who has since retired from the national team. Romania’s record includes four medals: gold (1962), silver (1973, 2005), and bronze (2015). The team’s lowest finish was in 2001, in 17th place.

radu@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: FRH - Federația Română de Handbal on Facebook)