Handball combines elements of other popular Olympic sports.
Players pass to teammates, avoid defenders and take shots on goal just as they do in soccer and hockey.
Only difference is that everything is done by hand, as the sport's name suggests.
Handball first debuted at the Olympics in 1936 during the Berlin Games, and an indoor version was added in 1972 at the Munich Games. Women's handball at the Olympics began four years later in 1976 at the Montreal Games.
Here's everything you need to know about the sport.
Olympic handball teams and groups
Men's and women's handball at the 2024 Paris Olympics will each feature 12 teams:
Men’s competition
Group A: Spain, Croatia, Germany, Slovenia, Sweden, Japan
Group B: Denmark, Norway, Hungary, France, Egypt, Argentina
Women’s competition
Group A: Norway, Germany, Slovenia, Sweden, Denmark, South Korea
Group B: Hungary, Netherlands, Spain, France, Brazil, Angola
There are 15 players on a roster, with 14 selected for each match. During play, a team features six field players plus a goalkeeper. There are unlimited substitutions allowed.
Olympic handball format
The men's and women's competitions begin with the preliminary phases, in which teams compete against opposing teams in their group for five games.
The top four teams in the standings from each group after the preliminary phases advance to the quarterfinals for the start of the knockout rounds.
Olympic handball scoring
The objective of handball is quite simple: score more goals than the other team.
Players must throw the ball past the goalkeeper and into the goal, with the ball fully crossing the goal line.
The opposing team will attempt to block shots with their arms and legs, or forming a wall with teammates, to prevent a goal.
The team with the most goals after two 30-minute halves is the winner. If tied after regulation, overtime is played. If still tied after overtime, the teams enter a seven-meter shootout to determine the winner, with five players from each team alternating shots.
Olympic handball rules
Handball is a body-contact sport played on a 40-meter by 20-meter indoor court with goals at each end that measure two meters high by three meters wide. Surrounding the goal is a goal-area line, which is a six-meter semi-circle that only the goalkeeper is allowed to be in.
Players can take up to three steps without dribbling the ball, with possession allowed for only a maximum of three seconds. A violation of either leads to a free throw from the nine-meter semi-circle line for the opposing team.
Teams are not allowed to hold the ball without attacking, and a shot on goal must be taken after a maximum of four passes. Failure to do so leads to a penalty for passive play, which awards a free throw to the opposing team.
If an attacking player steps into the goal-area line before releasing the ball on a made shot attempt, the goal does not count. If a defender steps in, a seven-meter throw is awarded to the attacking team, similar to a penalty shot in soccer.
Attacking players are permitted to jump across the crease line while attempting a shot as long as they release the ball prior to landing.
Players cannot touch the ball with their feet or anywhere below the knee.
Olympic handball medal count
France has dominated men's handball at the Olympics in recent years, winning three of the last four gold medals. France defeated Denmark 25-23 in the final during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics to become the first nation to win three gold medals in the sport.
The Soviet Union, Croatia and Yugoslavia have each won two gold medals in men's handball.
France leads the overall medal count in men's handball with five total medals (three gold, one silver, one bronze). Germany, Sweden, Romania and Spain have each won four. Team USA has never medaled during seven men's handball appearances.
France was also victorious last year in the women's handball competition, defeating ROC to win gold.
Denmark leads all nations in the women's competition with three gold medals. South Korea, Norway and the Soviet Union each have two.
Norway is the overall leader with seven total medals (two gold, two silver, three bronze). South Korea has six, followed by Denmark, Soviet Union and Hungary with three each. The United States has never medaled during five women's handball appearances.
Handball at the 2024 Olympics
Handball will be played at the 2024 Olympics in Paris from July 25 through Aug. 11. The women's final is on Saturday, Aug. 10, and the men's final is Sunday, Aug. 11.
How to watch handball at the 2024 Olympics
Viewers can watch all of NBC’s handball coverage from Paris live on Peacock.
