The 2003 World Women's Handball Championship, the 16th handball world championship for women, was played in Croatia between 2 and 14 December 2003. Qualification The following nations were qualified: Preliminary round Group A in Split Tuesday, 2 December: 41 - 18 32 - 25 28 - 25 Wednesday, 3 December: 33 - 27 12 - 38 15 - 33 Thursday, 4 December: 27 - 25 28 - 24 33 - 13 Saturday, 6 December: 12 - 36 20 - 28 44 - 41 Sunday, 7 December: 30 - 19 28 - 29 27 - 25 Group B in Poreč Tuesday, 2 December: 28 - 27 46 - 16 29 - 19 Wednesday, 3 December: 31 - 18 22 - 26 20 - 47 Thursday, 4 December: 27 - 21 22 - 29 38 - 15 Saturday, 6 December: 24 - 18 26 - 30 12 - 41 Sunday, 7 December: 31 - 16 34 - 39 39 - 14 Group C in Karlovac Tuesday, 2 December: 30 - 24 29 - 30 43 - 13 Wednesday, 3 December: 28 - 28 25 - 27 16 - 24 Thursday, 4 December: 33 - 15 45 - 13 41 - 30 Saturday, 6 December: 14 - 28 19 - 33 25 - 23 Sunday, 7 December: 30 - 39 29 - 21 31 - 18 Group D in Čakovec Tuesday, 2 December: 43 - 25 34 - 26 20 - 20 Wednesday, 3 December: 28 - 32 30 - 27 20 - 29 Thursday, 4 December: 38 - 25 30 - 28 24 - 21 Saturday, 6 December: 17 - 36 34 - 30 29 - 21 Sunday, 7 December: 31 - 26 29 - 28 19 - 29 Main Round Top two teams from each group advanced to the Semifinals. The third placed teams from each group competed in the 5th/6th placement match. Group I Tuesday, 9 December: 27 - 26 31 - 27 25 - 27 Wednesday, 10 December: 25 - 25 25 - 28 33 - 35 Thursday, 11 December: 27 - 38 29 - 32 20 - 19 Group II in Rijeka Tuesday, 9 December: 31 - 30 27 - 30 26 - 25 Wednesday, 10 December: 24 - 24 23 - 25 30 - 28 Thursday, 11 December: 31 - 23 29 - 28 23 - 35 Final round In Zagreb Ranking and Statistics Final ranking All