Speaking to insidethegames, IHF competition's director, Patrick Strub confirmed that six bids have been submitted for the men's World Championships while Japan and Norway are the only two countries in the running for the women's World Championships.

Denmark, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Poland and a joint bid from Slovakia and Hungary are the bids up for consideration to host the men's event.

Thirteen countries had originally sent a letter of intent to the IHF confirming their interest in hosting the Championships, and they had until September 2 to send a basic outline of their bid to the world governing body and to reaffirm their desire to stage the event.

Tunisia and the Ukraine had initially declared an interest in hosting the women's World Championships only, while Macedonia had indicated it would be bidding for both Championships, but Struber confirmed that these countries had dropped out of the bidding race.

Slovakia had also declared a desire to host both World Championships, but has settled on submitting a joint bid with Hungary for the men's tournament.

Hosts Spain won the men's World Handball Championships earlier this year