The 1997 World Men's Handball Championship was the 15th team handball World Championship. It was held in Kumamoto, Japan and was the first World Championship not played in a European country. Russia won the championship.

Qualification

Venues

The organizing committee used four venues to host the 1997 World Men's Handball Championship:

Preliminary round

The top 4 placed teams of each group continues to the knockout stage. The teams are ranked through the following rules.

Group A

Group B

Group C

Group D

Final round

Bracket

Round of 16

Quarter-finals

Placement matches

7th place match

5th place match

Semi-finals

Bronze final

Final

Final standings

Medalists

All Star Team