The IHF Nations Trophy will open a new chapter for international women’s handball in September with its debut at senior level. The competition’s first editions will take place in South America, Africa and Oceania, bringing together national teams seeking more than just a title: a concrete opportunity to progress towards major continental championships and expand their possibilities on the international stage. Lima, Ouagadougou, Lusaka and Wellington will be among the cities hosting this first stage of the project.
The tournament’s structure is designed to connect different levels of competition. Rather than simply creating international fixtures, the Nations Trophy establishes sporting pathways towards established continental championships, allowing national teams to compete for a place against rivals from their own region. In South America, the top two teams will advance to the South and Central American Women’s Handball Championship; in Africa, the winners of each zone will qualify for the CAHB African Women’s Championship; while in Oceania, the winner will receive support from the IHF to compete in the Asian Women’s Championship.
South America and Africa open the pathway
The IHF Women’s Nations Trophy, South American Zone, will be held in Lima from 2 to 6 September, with Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Uruguay, Bolivia, Peru and Venezuela taking part. The preliminary phase will be played in a league format divided into two groups, followed by the semi-finals and the final at the Villa Deportiva Nacional y Panamericana (VIDENA). Colombia, Ecuador, Chile and Venezuela will form Group A, while Uruguay, Bolivia and Peru will compete in Group B. The sporting incentive will be particularly significant: the top two teams in the tournament will earn qualification for the South and Central American Women’s Handball Championship.
Africa will have an even larger presence in this first edition, with two tournaments taking place during September. Zone III will bring together Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria and Togo in Ouagadougou from 2 to 6 September, with the Palais des Sports de Ouaga 2000 hosting the competition. Burkina Faso, Nigeria and Ghana will be in Group A, while Côte d’Ivoire, Benin, Togo and Liberia will form Group B. Later, from 15 to 19 September, Lusaka will host the Zone VI tournament, featuring Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe. In both cases, the significance goes beyond the match schedule: the winner of each zone will earn a place in the CAHB African Women’s Championship.
Oceania connects with Asian handball
In Wellington, the Nations Trophy will take on a particular dimension. The Oceania tournament will be held from 10 to 14 September, bringing together Australia, Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, New Caledonia, New Zealand and Tahiti at the Ākau Tangi Sports Centre. The competition will also serve as the Oceania Continental Championship, with a format featuring a group stage, semi-finals, a bronze-medal match and a final. New Zealand, New Caledonia, Cook Islands and Kiribati will form Group A, while Australia, Tahiti and Fiji will compete in Group B.
For the team that wins the title, the sporting reward will extend beyond Wellington. The winner will receive IHF support to participate in the Asian Women’s Championship, a particularly significant pathway for Oceania teams given the possibility of subsequently entering the qualification structure for the IHF Women’s World Championship. The Nations Trophy calendar will then continue in Guatemala, from 29 September to 3 October, for the Central American Zone, and in Madagascar from 30 September to 4 October, with the Zone VII tournament in Africa, progressively expanding the international pathway that the new competition seeks to offer women’s national teams.
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