The best 24 teams in the world and only one place at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games up for grabs. This is the scenario for the 24th Men’s Handball World Championship that begins on Thursday (15 January) in Doha, Qatar. The first of this year’s Rio 2016 qualifying tournaments ends on 1 February and features teams from Europe, South America, Africa and Asia. The winner will become the first men’s handball team to confirm its presence at the first Olympic Games in South America.

Among the favourites are reigning Olympic champions France, who will be out to win a fifth world title in Qatar. Their coach, Claude Onesta, has a clear objective. “We always have high expectations and we always go for the trophy,” he said. “The 2015 world championship is something very special as the winner is rewarded with a straight ticket for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio. And definitely it is our goal to make it to Rio and defend our title.”

Three South American teams will compete: Brazil, Chile and Argentina, with the latter high on confidence after winning the 2014 Pan American Championship in Uruguay. The Gladiadores, as they are known, also took the gold medal at the 2011 Pan American Games and made their Olympic debut at the London 2012 Games, where they finished 10th.

Federico Pizarro’s and his Argentina team-mates are in confident mood (Photo: Getty Images/Jeff Gross)

“We are in a very difficult group but are as prepared as we can be,” said right winger Federico Pizarro. “This year and next year the team will do very well, because we have managed to achieve a great balance between age and maturity. If we play intelligently and keep our game up to the standard we achieved in the Pan American Championship, we could have a great world championship.”

Tunisia , the only non-European team to make the London 2012 quarter finals, are the strongest African representatives, with nine continental titles to their name. “We are in a good way and really ambitious after our performances at international level in recent years,” said right back Amine Bannour. “Our first goal is to qualify for the last 16 and I believe we are capable of this.”

Tunisia, Africa’s leading team, impressed at the London 2012 Games (Photo:Getty Images/Jeff Gross)

Macedonia, who are in the same group as Tunisia, hope the world championship will be an important stepping stone towards their dream of an Olympic debut in Rio. Winning the title in Qatar seems a tough task, but the team is aiming to finish in the top seven, which would guarantee a place in one of the three international Olympic Qualification Tournaments that will take place in April 2016.

“We want to go step by step, but we want to use this world championship as a launching pad for our dream to qualify for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio,” said captain Kiril Lazarov. “For generations, all Macedonians have hoped for this step and we want to do it now – and therefore we need a good result at the world championship to secure a spot in the qualification tournaments.”

The 24 teams competing in the world championship have been drawn in four groups, with the top four teams in each group going through to the knock-out phase. The men’s and women’s handball tournaments at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games will each be contested by 12 teams. Brazil is already guaranteed a place in both tournaments and the Norwegian women’s team is already through, having won the 2014 European title. By the end of 2015, a further three teams will have booked their places for each tournament (winners of the world championship, Pan-American Games and Asian pre-Olympic tournament).