The 2009 World Men's Handball Championship was the 21st edition of the tournament that took place in Croatia from 16 January to 1 February, in the cities of Split, Zadar, Osijek, Varaždin, Poreč, Zagreb and Pula.

[3][4][5][6][7] Seven Croatian cities were selected as hosts for the 2009 Championship: Split, Zadar, Osijek, Varaždin, Poreč, Zagreb and Pula.

Qualification occurred through the previous years' continental championships or qualifying tournaments: The draw for the groups of the preliminary round was held on 21 June 2008, in Zagreb.

The draw took place at Zagreb's central Ban Jelačić Square and was hosted by Filip Brkić and Kristina Krepela.

FranceThird title Team roster: Jérôme Fernandez, Didier Dinart, Guillaume Gille, Daniel Narcisse, Guillaume Joli, Daouda Karaboué, Nikola Karabatić, Christophe Kempe, Franck Junillon, Thierry Omeyer, Joël Abati, Luc Abalo, Cedric Sorhaindo, Michaël Guigou, Sebastien Bosquet and Sebastien Ostertag.Head coach: Claude Onesta.