Slovenia (SLO)

Slovenia secured a place at what will be their 15th Men’s EHF EURO through a powerful qualifiers phase, in which they won all six games to finish on top of group 1. Slovenia’s qualification for the final tournament came after a 13th-place finish at the 2025 IHF Men’s World Championship and a historic first Olympic semi-final participation, achieved at Paris 2024. 

At the previous EURO, they ranked sixth. Together with their fourth place in 2020, Slovenia’s result in 2024 made it two final weekend appearances in the three last EUROs. 

However, few players who were part of the 2020 success or even the 2024 campaign remain, following some retirements post-Paris 2024, but more currently a slew of injuries having an impact. Most recently, perennial top scorer Aleks Vlah has been ruled out by a thigh injury, resulting in Borut Mačkovšek being called up at late notice after originally sitting out due to overload.

Blaž Blagotinšek, who normally forms part of Slovenia’s central defence, is also out due to overload, and a string of other top players including the likes of Miha Zarabec and Mitja Janc will also miss the tournament due to injury.

With Vlah out, pressure will be put on other shoulders. The Barça duo of right back and wing Blaž Janc and centre back Domen Makuc were both injured and absent for the 2024 edition, but are back for 2026, making up for some of the absences, particularly in offence. Vlah’s club teammate at Kielce, goalkeeper Klemen Ferlin, has been enjoying exceptional form and can be also expected to be an impact player.

The Slovenian team which will show up in Oslo are a young side with lots of talent. In a group where it appears anything can happen, Slovenia’s absences could prove detrimental, but they nevertheless enter as the on-paper frontrunners.

Competition records:
Number of EHF EURO participations, including 2026: 15
Silver: 2004