The 2003 World Men's Handball Championship took place in Portugal from 20 January to 2 February 2003. It was the 18th edition of the World Championship in team handball and Croatia won the championship.
24 teams were qualified for the first round and dispatched into 4 groups.
Group A : Kuwait, Morocco, Poland, Spain, Tunisia, Yugoslavia.
Group B : Australia, Germany, Greenland, Iceland, Portugal, Qatar.
Group C : Argentina, Croatia, France, Hungary, Russia, Saudi Arabia.
Group D : Algeria, Brazil, Denmark, Egypt, Slovenia, Sweden.
The first 4 teams of each group qualify for the second round.
Monday, 20 January:
Tunisia 29 - 20 Kuwait
Yugoslavia 24 - 20 Poland
Spain 23 - 18 Morocco
Tuesday, 21 January:
Kuwait 14 - 36 Yugoslavia
Morocco 24 - 28 Tunisia
Poland 25 - 34 Spain
Thursday, 23 January:
Morocco 22 - 25 Kuwait
Tunisia 22 - 24 Poland
Spain 22 - 20 Yugoslavia
Saturday, 25 January:
Spain 45 - 18 Kuwait
Yugoslavia 28 - 27 Tunisia
Poland 35 - 29 Morocco
Sunday, 26 January:
Tunisia 25 - 33 Spain
Yugoslavia 34 - 20 Morocco
Poland 36 - 21 Kuwait
Monday, 20 January:
Germany 40 - 17 Qatar
Iceland 55 - 15 Australia
Portugal 34 - 19 Greenland
Tuesday, 21 January:
Qatar 21 - 31 Portugal
Australia 16 - 46 Germany
Greenland 17 -30 Iceland
Thursday, 23 January:
Germany 34 - 20 Greenland
Australia 23 - 28 Qatar
Iceland 29 - 28 Portugal
Saturday, 25 January:
Portugal 29 - 37 Germany
Iceland 42 - 22 Qatar
Greenland 21 - 26 Australia
Sunday, 26 January:
Iceland 29 - 34 Germany
Greenland 23 - 28 Qatar
Portugal 42 - 20 Australia
Monday, 20 January:
Russia 31 - 30 Hungary
Croatia 29 - 30 Argentina
France 30 - 23 Saudi Arabia
Tuesday, 21 January:
Argentina 26 - 26 Russia
Saudi Arabia 18 - 25 Croatia
Hungary 24 - 29 France
Thursday, 23 January:
Hungary 36 - 25 Saudi Arabia
Russia 26 - 28 Croatia
France 35 - 18 Argentina
Saturday, 25 January:
Argentina 23 - 35 Hungary
Croatia 23 - 22 France
Russia 34 - 17 Saudi Arabia
Sunday, 26 January:
Croatia 30 - 29 Hungary
Saudi Arabia 31 - 30 Argentina
Russia 15 - 31 France
Standings
Croatia is ranked before France thanks to its victory in the game between those two teams.
Monday, 20 January:
Algeria 22 - 22 Brazil
Sweden 29 - 23 Egypt
Denmark 33 - 24 Slovenia
Tuesday, 21 January:
Egypt 25 - 25 Algeria
Slovenia 29 - 25 Sweden
Brazil 24 - 28 Denmark
Thursday, 23 January:
Slovenia 26 - 27 Egypt
Sweden 29 - 21 Brazil
Denmark 22 - 19 Algeria
Saturday, 25 January:
Algeria 28 - 32 Sweden
Brazil 27 - 30 Slovenia
Denmark 35 - 26 Egypt
Sunday, 26 January:
Denmark 28 - 32 Sweden
Brazil 24 - 31 Egypt
Algeria 25 - 35 Slovenia
Standings
Sweden is ranked before Denmark thanks to its victory in the game between those two teams.
The best teams of each group advance to the semifinals. The runners-up qualify for the ranking games for 5th to 8th place.
Wednesday, 29 January:
Iceland 33 - 29 Poland
Spain 40 - 15 Qatar
Thursday, 30 January:
Poland 35 - 26 Qatar
Spain 32 - 31 Iceland
Wednesday, 29 January:
Germany 30 - 21 Tunisia
Yugoslavia 30 - 28 Portugal
Thursday, 30 January:
Germany 31 - 31 Yugoslavia
Portugal 27 - 26 Tunisia
Wednesday, 29 January:
Croatia 29 - 23 Egypt
Denmark 28 - 35 Russia
Thursday, 30 January:
Russia 29 - 22 Egypt
Croatia 33 - 27 Denmark
Wednesday, 29 January:
Sweden 33 - 32 Hungary
France 31 - 22 Slovenia
Thursday, 30 January:
Sweden 24 - 30 France
Slovenia 25 - 28 Hungary
Saturday, 1 February
places 5 to 8:
Yugoslavia 33 - 34 Hungary (double overtime)
Iceland 27 - 30 Russia
Sunday, 2 February
places 7 and 8:
Iceland 32 - 27 Yugoslavia
places 5 and 6:
Russia 30 - 25 Hungary
Saturday, 1 February
Germany 23 - 22 France
Spain 37 - 39 Croatia (double overtime)
Sunday, 2 February
Spain 22 - 27 France
Sunday, 2 February
Croatia 34 - 31 Germany
Final standings
- Croatia
- Germany
- France
- Spain
- Russia
- Hungary
- Iceland
- Yugoslavia
- Denmark
- Poland
- Slovenia
- Portugal
- Sweden
- Tunisia
- Egypt
- Qatar
- Argentina
- Algeria
- Saudi Arabia
- Kuwait
- Australia
- Brazil
- Morocco
- Greenland
The first 7 teams were qualified for the 2004 Summer Olympics.
MVP : Christian Schwarzer
Goalkeeper : Henning Fritz (Germany)
Left Wing : Eduard Koksharov (Russian Federation)
Left Back : Carlos Pérez (Hungary)
Center Back : Enric Masip (Spain)
Pivot : Christian Schwarzer (Germany)
Right Back : Patrick Cazal (France)
Right Wing : Mirza Džomba (Croatia)
