The 24 qualified nations were seeded into six pots and will be drawn into four groups for the preliminary round by Leon Kalin, chairman of the International Handball Federation (IHF) Qatar 2015 Commission in Doha on July 20.

Defending world champions Spain are in pot one, alongside European champions France, continental silver medallists Denmark and Croatia, who finished fourth at this year's European Championship in Denmark.

Asian champions Qatar were seeded in pot three, together with African champions Algeria, Russia and Macedonia, but as the host nation of the event they have the prerogative to assign themselves to a group of their choice after the remaining pots have been drawn.

Pot two features Bosnia and Herzegovina, Poland, Sweden and Slovenia, pot four comprises Austria, Argentina, Belarus and Czech Republic, while pot five consists of Tunisia, Egypt, Brazil and Bahrain.

Pot six completes the list of participating nations, with Iran, United Arab Emirates, Chile and Germany.

Defending world champions Spain are in pot one for the 2015 Men's Handball World Championship draw event ©Getty Images



At the draw, the teams from pot six will be drawn to the four respective groups, followed by pots five, four, two and one.

Qatar will then announce the group they have chosen, and the three other teams from pot three will be drawn to the remaining groups.

The World Championship, which will place at the Qatar Handball Association Complex, Al-Sadd Sports Centre, Lusail Multipurpose Arena and the temporarily built handball arena in the Aspire Dome from January 15 to February 1, offers automatic qualification for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and the 2017 World Championship in France for the gold medal winning nation.

The teams that finish in positions two to six will also book their place in the Rio 2016 qualification tournaments.

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