Co-hosts Denmark will be hoping to win the World Handball Championship for the first time in their nation’s history as the tournament gets underway this week.

The Danes are the reigning Olympic champions, having won the gold medal at the Rio 2016 Games, and they are highly rated by experts going into the competition. In fact, according to the implied probabilities produced by Bigbetbookers.com, Denmark are the favourites to win the world title, ahead of the reigning champions France, who are bidding for a third consecutive World Championship.

Denmark haven’t hosted the World Championship since 1979, when they finished fourth behind East Germany, the Soviet Union and winners West Germany. In total, they’ve made three world finals, but have lost them all. They have also struggled to recapture their Rio form since 2016, being knocked out at the last-16 stage in the 2017 World Championship, and losing to Sweden in the semi-finals of last year’s European Championship, held in Croatia.

But the Danes can boast one of the sport’s leading players in left-back Mikkel Hansen, who scored eight goals in the Olympic final, and with home advantage, they will be tough to beat.

Their co-hosts Germany will also be hoping that home crowds will spur them on. They’ve won the title once before, in 2007, but haven’t reached the semi-finals since that year, and while home advantage may give them an edge, they are not quite in the same class as Denmark or France. They’ve also had the misfortune to be drawn in a particularly tough group that includes the reigning champions.

France have dominated men’s handball in recent years, with victories in the World Championships in 2009, 2011, 2015 and 2017, as well as winning Olympic gold in 2008 and 2012, and a third consecutive victory would be historic. French coach Didier Dinart has assembled a typically strong squad, including young stars Dika Mem and Ludovic Fabregas, along with the experience of two-time Olympic champion Luc Abalo, but they will miss the talents of Nikola Karabatic.

The other leading contender for World Championship glory is Spain. The Spanish side is a rising power in the world of handball and they won the European Championship for the first time in their history last year to add to their World Championship win in 2013. They have also landed in a fairly straightforward Group B from which they will hope to progress with Norway and Iceland.

The Norwegians are also improving, and their silver medal in this competition two years ago has sparked further enthusiasm for the sport in that country. Iceland, coached by Gudmundur  Gudmundsson, who led Denmark to their Olympic gold, are not to be underestimated, and there is also a powerful historic element to the tournament, with the entry of a joint Korean team. The Koreans are not expected to reach the latter stages, but their presence will add to a competition that promises to be one of the most exciting World Championships of modern times.

For the Best Handball Bets available online visit BIGGEST BETS OF THE DAY and BIG LIVE BETS NOW sections of BigBetBookmakers.com .