Argentina are seeking to defend their crown at the South and Central American Men's Handball Championship in Recife ©Getty Images

The South and Central American Men's Handball Championship is set to get underway at the Ginásio de Esportes Geraldo Magalhães in Recife, with Argentina seeking to defend their crown.

For the seven teams taking part, four qualification places for next year's International Handball Federation (IHF) Men's World Championship in Poland and Sweden are up for grabs.

Colombia have been forced to withdraw from the Championship because of a COVID-19 outbreak among their delegation, with no replacement for their place in Group A.

Chile are scheduled to take on Costa Rica in the opening match of the tournament in Group B tomorrow, before reigning champions Argentina face Bolivia in the other group.

Hosts Brazil are due to start their Group B campaign against Paraguay later in the evening.

Uruguay are the final team scheduled to play their first match, taking on Bolivia in Group A on Wednesday (January 26).

The 2020 final featured Argentina and Brazil, who were the only two nations who featured at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

They were South and Central America's two representatives at the World Championship last year.

The Brazilians lost out to Argentina in the final in 2020.

They and Uruguay were the only three nations who featured at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

The group stage at the Championship is set to conclude on Thursday (January 27), with the semi-finals scheduled for Friday (January 28) and the medal matches for Saturday (January 29).