The Opening Ceremony celebrated the theme of unity through sport with lighting displays, dancing and music at the 15,300-capacity Lusail Sports Arena.

The event also featured Qatari children from several different local schools, the Qatar Armed Forces Band, the Qatar Army Military Sport Parachute Team and a fireworks display.

The official anthem of the World Championship, Live It, was sung by 24 performers, with each one representing one of the participating nations.

Qatar 2015 chairman Sheikh Joaan Bin Hamad Al Thani and International Handball Federation President Hassan Moustafa gave speeches, while Qatar Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani gave the start signal for the tournament.

Qatar Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani declared the tournament open ©Qatar 2015/Facebook


The host team then got the playing action underway when they successfully took on Brazil to secure a 28-23 victory.

It was a tight match that could have gone either way.

Qatar claimed an early 4-1 lead before Brazil soon caught up by scoring two in a row.

However, the hosts were still leading at half time with a scoreline of 15-12.

The second half saw Qatar maintaining a comfortable lead but Brazil fought back and it was largely thanks to home goalkeeper Danijel Šarić that they managed to keep the win within their reach.

"The first game is always hard," said Qatar's Mahmoud Hassab Alla.

"There is a lot of pressure in the opening game.

"I'm very happy with the performance of my team.

"We think step by step and we will see how far we can go."

Qatar secured a 28-23 opening victory against Brazil ©Qatar 2015/Facebook


Brazil's Diogo Hubner was pragmatic about the defeat.

"Qatar is a strong team and they play at home," he said.

"Today it was a difficult match for us and our defence was not good.

"We will rest now and focus on the match against Spain."

Action at the World Championship continues tomorrow with Bosnia and Herzegovina taking on Iran, Russia facing Saudi Arabia, Macedonia competing against Tunisia, Slovenia facing Chile, Spain going up against Belarus, Algeria taking on Egypt, Croatia facing Austria, Poland competing against Germany, Demark taking on Argentina, France facing the Czech Republic and Sweden competing against Iceland.

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