The Qatari bid was selected over those of Norway, Poland and France after a vote by the IHF Council on 27 January 2011, in Malmö, Sweden.

[5] Denmark secured the fifth place by winning against Croatia which finished sixth and thus had the worst result in the past 13 years of international handball competing.

The games of the tournament were played in 3 cities: Doha, Al Rayyan and the newly created town of Lusail.

The spot was instead handed out as a wild card to the nation with the highest ranking at the previous world championships not qualified for the Qatar tournament.

FT: 27–27 Pen: 3–1 FT: 28–28 Pen: 3–4 Source: IHF.info Source: IHF.info France5th title William Accambray, Igor Anić, Xavier Barachet, Cyril Dumoulin, Jérôme Fernandez, Mathieu Grébille, Michaël Guigou, Samuel Honrubia, Guillaume Joli, Luka Karabatic, Nikola Karabatić, Kentin Mahé, Daniel Narcisse, Alix Nyokas, Thierry Omeyer, Valentin Porte, Cédric SorhaindoHead coach: Claude Onesta All-Star Team of the tournament:[1]

As mentioned under qualifications, Australia lost its spot in the tournament due to an IHF decision, being replaced by Germany, who had not originally qualified.

[22] Head of the Qatar Handball Federation, Ahmed Mohammed Abdulrab Al Shaabi, acknowledged the policy in a statement in June 2013, saying "We're a small nation with limited human resources, so we had to bring players from outside in the past."

"[25] At a press conference during the championship, Qatar head coach Valero Rivera declined to comment on the matter.

"[21] After the controversial semi-final against Poland, and reaching the final as a result, the practice was even more criticised, with players such as Danijel Šarić having now represented four different national teams.