Croatia is to host the 21st edition of the Men's World Handball Championship. From tomorrow until 1 February, seven Croatian cities (Zagreb, Zadar, Split, Osijek, Varazdin, Porec and Pula) will host 24 teams from as many countries.

Group one matches, which will take place between the national teams of France, Hungaria, Slovakia, Romania, Argentina and Australia, will be held in Osijek. Group B (Croatia, Sweden, Spain, South Korea, Kuwait and Cuba) will be played out in Split (Spalato). Group C will be held in Varazdin and includes the teams of Germany, Poland, Macedonia, Russia, Tunisia and Algeria. Group D (Denmark, Norway, Egypt, Brazil, Serbia and Saudi Arabia) will play their matches in Porec.

The top three of groups A and B will then meet in the Croatian capital, whilst the top three of groups C and D will move to Zadar. The semi-finals will be held in Split and Zagreb. The Croatian capital will host the final match, which will be played at the Arena, a new sport complex which has a capacity of 15,000 seats. Finally, Porec and Pula will host the "President Cup" for those national teams that don't get through to the final phase of the tournament, and will battle it out for positions 13-24.

The 21st edition of the Men's Handball World Championships is, according to the organisers, the most important sporting event ever to take place in Croatia since the declaration of the country's independence and represents an unmissable opportunity to show people and sport-lovers alike its rich supply of tourist attractions.

Croatia won the 2003 World Championships in Portugal, Olympic gold at Athens 2004 and took the silver at the European Championships in Norway in 2008,

For more info please visit www.croatia2009.com