The 2011 World Men's Handball Championship, the 22nd event hosted by the International Handball Federation, was held in Sweden from 13 to 30 January 2011. All matches were played in Malmö, Lund, Kristianstad, Gothenburg, Skövde, Jönköping, Linköping and Norrköping. In the preliminary round, 24 teams from all the world's continents were split into 4 groups, with the first-placed 3 teams advancing through the main round in two groups, carrying the previously won points against the remaining teams. France won the tournament after defeating Denmark in the final, while Spain won the bronze medal after defeating Sweden in the third-place match. Thus, France has qualified for the tournament at the London Olympics. The teams that finished in 2nd–7th place will play Olympic Qualifying Tournaments. The host broadcaster was the Swedish commercial network TV4 Sport and the television rights were sold to other countries. One of the objectives of the championship was to create a multicultural party that extends far outside the handball arenas. Venues List of qualified teams Bahrain and Chile qualified for their first ever handball World Championship. Austria qualified for the first time since 1993, which, coincidentally, was also hosted by Sweden. The following 24 teams qualified for the final tournament: EHF (14) (host) CAHB (3) AHF (3) PATHF (3) OHF (1) Draw The draw was held on 9 July 2010 at the Scandinavium at Gothenburg, Sweden. Squads Each nation had to submit a squad of 16 players. Match officials On 25 October 2010, the match officials for the tournament were confirmed. Preliminary round Twenty-four participating teams were placed in the following four groups. After playing a round-robin, the top three teams in each group advanced to the Main Round. The last three teams in each group played placement matches. Tie-breaking criteria For the three game group stage of this tournament, where two or more teams in a group tied on an equal number of points, the finishing positions will be determined by the following tie-breaking criteria in the following order number of points obtained in the matches among the teams in question goal difference in the matches among the teams in question number of goals scored in the matches among the teams in question (if more than two teams finish equal on points) goal difference in all the group matches number of goals scored in all the group matches drawing of lots Group A (Kristianstad/Lund) All times are