2021 Women’s Handball World Championship Predictions Favor Norway

The 2021 Women’s Handball World Championship is held between the 1st and 19th of December in Spain. 32 teams compete for the title including the defending champions, the Netherlands, and the fresh Olympic champions, France. But the 2021 Women’s Handball World Championship predictions mention Norway ahead of them as the top favorites. 

The participating 32 teams will start their quest to win the trophy in the preliminary stage, divided into eight groups of four. Three teams from each group will advance to the main round. But all teams will take their previous points against the other advanced teams with themselves. From the four groups of this stage, only the first two teams will qualify for the quarter-finals. So every game has importance from the very beginning, as an early draw can decide if the team can go through at a later stage. The Netherlands are the defending champions after defeating Spain in the final two years ago. Now Spain will host the tournament in four different host cities. The final will be held in Granollers, 30km northeast of Barcelona on the 19th of December. 

The European Champions Lead In the 2021 Women’s Handball World Championship Predictions

Norway won the 2020 European Championship for the 8th time making them the most successful team in the tournament’s history. Online sportsbooks in Spain offer the smallest odds, 2.10 for their victory on this event too. Their team showed a strong performance this summer at the Tokyo Olympics, but they only won the bronze medal there. After Thorir Hergeirsson’s players were defeated by the Russian team in the semi-final by one single goal. Norway finished fourth in the previous world championship after losing also against Russia in the bronze medal match. So surely they want to take revenge on their rivals and go all the way. Their team will be led by top players like Stine Bredal Oftedal, Nora Mork, and 41-year-old goalkeeper, Katrine Lunde. 

The current Olympic champions, France have the odds of 5.50 in the 2021 Women’s Handball World Championship predictions. Due to their latest success and to their previous great results. Like winning the World Championship in 2017 and the European Championship in 2018. French teams like Brest and Metz have been performing strongly in recent years as well, having several great French players in their squads. For example, 21-year-old line player Pauletta Foppa and Olympic All-Star team player right-wing Laura Flippes. Olivier Krumbholz’s team will start in a tough group against Montenegro, Slovenia, and Angola. But they should still win all their games there. 

The Chances of Other Top Teams

The reigning world champions, the Netherlands follow Norway and France in the favorites with the odds of 6.50. Their recent form hasn’t been that great after finishing sixth in the last European Championship and fifth at the Olympics. Of course, they still have great players who can decide games with their goals. Like Estavana Polman who was the MVP of the previous tournament. And left-back Lois Abbingh, who scored the most goals in Japan two years ago. Other experienced players such as Angela Malestein can also help the new manager, Monique Tijsterman to succeed in her role. 

Online gambling sites in Spain surprisingly offer the odds of 16.00 for their team’s victory. In spite of Spain finishing as a runner-up in the last tournament and playing on home soil now. But they only finished 9th in Tokyo which also meant the dismissal of their coach. Now they can try to win their first title at a major tournament under the leadership of their new coach, Jorge Ignacio Prades. Not much better chances are offered for the Olympic silver medalists, the Russian Handball Federation’s team. It is understandable though as their team will miss several key players in this event. Like Anna Vyakhireva, her sister, Polina Kuznetsova, and the team’s captain, Daria Dmitrieva. They still have good players and young talents who can surprise their opponents. Russia’s odds to win the tournament are 14.00 on bet365. 

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