Handball at the 1972 Summer Olympics – Qualification

The qualification for the 1972 Men's Olympic Handball Tournament assigned quota places to sixteens teams: the host, seven teams from the world championships, four continental champions and six teams from the World Olympic qualification tournaments respectively.

Qualification summary

Qualification	Date	Host	Vacancies	Qualified
Host nation	26 April 1966	Rome	1	West Germany
1970 World Championship	26 February – 8 March 1970	France	7	Romania East Germany Yugoslavia Denmark Sweden Czechoslovakia Hungary
Asian qualification tournament	13–29 November 1971	Japan	1	Japan
American qualification tournament	2–6 February 1972	Elkhart	1	United States
European qualification tournament	15–25 March 1972	Spain	5	Soviet Union Norway Iceland Poland Spain
African qualification tournament	25–31 March 1972	Tunis	1	Tunisia
Total			16

Legend for qualification type

Qualified
Key	From	To
	World Championship	Olympic Tournament
	World Championship	Qualification Tournament

Host country

• West Germany

World Championship

Main article: 1970 World Men's Handball Championship

Rank	Team
	Romania
	East Germany
	Yugoslavia
4	Denmark
5	West Germany
6	Sweden
7	Czechoslovakia
8	Hungary
9	Soviet Union
10	Japan
11	Iceland
12	France
13	Norway
14	Poland
15	Switzerland
16	United States

Asian qualification tournament

Main article: 1971 IHF Olympic Asian qualification tournament

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Japan (H)	4	4	0	0	74	24	+50	8	1972 Summer Olympics
2	Israel	4	1	0	3	46	63	−17	2
3	South Korea	4	1	0	3	43	76	−33	2
4	Taiwan (W)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Source: Todor66
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Head-to-head goals scored; 5) Goal difference; 6) Goals scored; 7) Draw.
(H) Hosts; (W) Withdraw
Notes:

American qualification tournament

Main article: 1972 IHF Olympic American qualification tournament

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	United States (H)	3	3	0	0	70	35	+35	6	1972 Summer Olympics
2	Canada	3	2	0	1	57	31	+26	4
3	Argentina	3	1	0	2	53	64	−11	2
4	Mexico	3	0	0	3	36	86	−50	0

Source: Todor66
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Head-to-head goals scored; 5) Goal difference; 6) Goals scored; 7) Draw.
(H) Hosts

European qualification tournament

Main article: 1972 IHF Olympic European qualification tournament

1972 IHF Olympic European qualification tournament

African qualification tournament

Main article: 1972 IHF Olympic African qualification tournament

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Tunisia (H)	5	4	0	1	97	86	+11	8	1972 Summer Olympics
2	Egypt	5	3	1	1	105	81	+24	7
3	Senegal	5	3	0	2	97	100	−3	6
4	Algeria	5	2	1	2	90	94	−4	5
5	Cameroon	5	2	0	3	91	99	−8	4
6	Morocco	5	0	0	5	83	103	−20	0

Source: Der Bund
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Head-to-head goals scored; 5) Goal difference; 6) Goals scored; 7) Draw.
(H) Hosts