EHF EURO history
The first Men's EHF European Handball Championship was EHF EURO 1994 in Portugal with 12 teams competing for honours.
For the first time, 24 teams took to the court in Sweden, Austria and Norway. The 14th EHF European Championship was also the first final tournament hosted by three different nations.
Overall, six different nations have won the Men's EHF EURO to date. Sweden lead the medal table with their four gold medals, but France are hot on their heels having won three EHF EURO events to date. Spain, Denmark and Germany have won two championships each; Russia topped the podium on one occasion respectively.
Dive deeper into the EHF EURO history here: 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2020.
Men's EHF EURO 1994
Twelve teams took part in the 1st Men's Handball European Championship from 3 to 12 June 1994 in Portugal.
After 38 matches had been played, Sweden were crowned the first EHF EURO champions.
In a pretty straight-forward final the Scandinavians beat Russia 34:21. Croatia became the first bronze medallist in EHF EURO history when they beat Denmark 24:23 in the match for third place.
Sweden and Russia also shared the top player awards as Sweden's Magnus Andersson was named the event's best player and Vasily Kudinov became the tournament's best scorer.
All-Star Team
Left wing: Eric Hajas (SWE)
Left back: Vasiliy Kudinov (RUS)
Centre back: Magnus Anderson (SWE)
Right back: Jan Jorgensen (DEN)
Right wing: Pierre Thorsson (SWE)
Line player: Dimitry Torgovanov (RUS)
Goalkeeper: Thomas Svensson (SWE)
Find a full tournament summary including all match results here.
Men's EHF EURO 1996
The 2nd Men's European Championship took place in 1996 and was hosted by Spain.
The twelve participating nations were split into two groups of six, with the top two teams from each group advancing to the semi-final.
Group A was held in Cuidad Real, while Group B, including the host nation, was played in Sevilla.
The tournament began on 24 May and came to an end on 2 June with the final in Sevilla, where Russia beat hosts Spain by the narrowest of margins, 23:22.
Yugoslavia turned a four-goal deficit around to beat Sweden 26:25 and secure the bronze medal.
Player Awards
Topscorer: Thomas Knorr (GER)
Best goalkeeper: Jaume Fort Mauri (ESP)
Best player: Talant Dushebaev (ESP)
Find a full tournament summary, including all match results here.
The 3rd Men's Handball European Championship in Italy took place from 29 May to 7 June 1998.
Following their victory at the inaugural final tournament in 1994, Sweden were crowned EHF EURO champions for a second time, beating Spain 25:23 in the final.
Defending champions, Russia, had to return home empty-handed after they lost the bronze medal match to Germany 28:30 after extra time.
Despite the fact that they only finished 11th on home court, host nation Italy will always be able to look back at the tournament, knowing that they were the only nation beat the eventual champions, Sweden, at Italy 1998 when they won their last Group A match 29:28 against the Scandinavians.
Germany's Daniel Stephan was awarded best player of the tournament.
All-star Team
Goalkeeper: Peter Gentzel (SWE)
Left wing: Stephan Kretzschmar (GER)
Right wing: Johan Petterson (SWE)
Line player: Andrey Tschepkin (ESP)
Left back: Daniel Stephan (GER)
Centre back: Talant Dujshebaev (ESP)
Right back: Serguei Pogorelov (RUS)
Find a full tournament summary including all match results here.
The 4th Men's Handball European Championship in Croatia took place from 21 to 30 January 2000.
Sweden claimed the EHF EURO championship for the second time in a row, and the third time in four events. The Swedes beat Russia 32:31 in double extra time, in front of 7,500 fans in Zagreb. In the bronze medal match, Spain held off France, to take third place in the tournament with a 24:23 victory.
Despite his team finishing last in the competition, Ukraine's Oleg Velykky was the best goalscorer, with 46 goals in six games. France's Jackson Richardson was awarded best player in the tournament, he was also centre back in the All-Star Team.
All-star Team
Goalkeeper: Peter Gentzel (SWE)
Left wing: Castillo Guijosa (ESP)
Left back: Carlos Resende (POR)
Centre back: Jackson Richardson (FRA)
Line player: Andrij Tschepkin (ESP)
Right back: Patrick Cazal (FRA)
Right wing: Irfan Smajlagic (CRO)
Find a full tournament summary including all match results here.
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The 5th Men's European Championship took place in Sweden from 25 January to 3 February 2002. A new playing system was introduced as this was the first EHF EURO event with 16 teams instead of 12.
The final tournament came to a dramatic end with Sweden winning their fourth European Championship title, beating Germany 33:31 after extra time and becoming the first host nation to take the EHF EURO crown. Denmark took bronze, winning the match for third place 29:22 against Iceland.
This top event in European handball was declared a success with almost 300,000 spectators and matches broadcast in over 40 countries. Media coverage from the event reached a record high. Over 600 media representatives converged on Sweden to cover the championship.
Iceland's charismatic Olafur Stefansson became the tournament's top scorer with 58 goals, while Sweden's Magnus Wislander was awarded the best player.
All-star Team
Goalkeeper: Peter Gentzel (SWE);
Left wing: Lars Christiansen (DEN)
Left back: Stefan Lövgren (SWE)
Centre back: Daniel Stefan (GER)
Line player: Magnus Wislander (SWE)
Right back: Olafur Stefansson (ISL)
Right wing: Denis Krivoshlykov (RUS)
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The 2004 Men's European Championship threw off on 22 January and came to an end on 1 February with Germany being crowned as the new European champions.
7,000 spectators created an electric atmosphere during the final in the Tivoli Hall in Slovenia's capital, Ljubljana. However, the hosts had no chance against a powerful German team that eventually won the final 30:25 against Slovenia. Denmark won bronze, beating Croatia 31:27.
EHF EURO 2004 was broadcast on television in 109 countries and territories worldwide. The official website of the tournament was also visited by a record number of visitors, with over 22 million page impressions.
Mirza Dzomba's 46 goals were enough to grant him the top scorer crown, while his teammate Ivano Balic was named the best player of the event.
All-star Team
Goalkeeper: Henning Fritz (GER)
Left wing: Eduard Koksharov (RUS)
Left back: Nikola Karabatic (FRA)
Centre back: Ivano Balic (CRO)
Line player: Michael Knudsen (DEN)
Right back: Volker Zerbe (GER)
Right wing: Vid Kavticnik (SLO)
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The 7th Men's European Championship took place in Switzerland from 26 January to 5 February 2006.
The championship came to a spectacular finish as France took their first European Championship title with an impressive and clear victory over Spain 31:23, in front of a capacity crowd in the Hallenstadion in Zurich. Denmark took bronze, beating Croatia 32:27, after taking a commanding seven-goal lead in the first half.
Once again, an EHF EURO event broke records in all areas. Over 60 countries followed the event via 56 television and 17 radio broadcasters. The official euro06 website saw a 60% increase in users, compared to the 2004 event site, with 74.6 million page impressions.
Slovenia's Siarhei Rutenka was the top scorer with 51 goals, while Croatian Ivano Balic was awarded the best player of the tournament.
All-star Team
Goalkeeper: Thierry Omeyer (FRA)
Left wing: Eduard Koksarov (RUS)
Left back: Iker Romero (ESP)
Centre back: Ivano Balic (CRO)
Line player: Rolando Urios (ESP)
Right back: Olafur Stefansson (ISL)
Right wing: Soren Stryger (DEN)
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The 8th Men's European Championship took place in Norway from 17 to 27 January 2008.
It came to an end with Denmark winning the tournament in front of a lively crowd in the Hakons Arena in Lillehammer. This was the first European Championship title for Denmark with a final (Denmark vs. Croatia 24:20) that had never been seen before at an EHF EURO. France won bronze following a 36:26 victory against Germany.
The championship was an event of superlatives, reaching new heights, which had never been reached before in handball. 180,000 spectators came to the arenas, and a cumulative audience of 1.2 billion fans followed the event on TV.
Over 1,100 hours were broadcast and overall more than 1,000 media representatives had been accredited. There were broadcast agreements with more than 70 broadcasters and almost 20 radio stations. In Denmark 2,022 million viewers watched the final itself. TV2 Denmark reached a market share of 86.5 per cent with its live transmission.
All-star Team
Goalkeeper: Kasper Hvidt (DEN)
Left wing: Lars Christiansen (DEN)
Left back: Daniel Narcisse (FRA)
Centre back: Ivano Balic (CRO)
Line player: Frank Loke (NOR)
Right back: Kim Andersson (SWE)
Right wing: Florian Kehrmann (GER)
Most Valuable Player: Nikola Karabatic (FRA)
Best Defence Player: Igor Vori (CRO)
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EHF EURO 2010 was the event that gave the year its flourishing start. The men's senior championship was played across five venues in the cities of Graz, Linz, Innsbruck, Wiener Neustadt and Vienna from 19 to 31 January.
The event was the crowning glory to a tremendous 18 months of the French national team.
Having sealed the fate of Croatia in a thrilling final match in front of 11,000 spectators in the Wiener Stadthalle, where the teams were on equal footing at half-time, France turned the match in their favour with a four-goal victory, 25:21, and added another golden accolade to place next to the gold medals from the World Championship 2009 and the 2008 Olympic Games. Iceland secured the bronze medal by beating Poland 29:26.
Over 250,000 spectators watched the games and more than 250 players took part at the EHF EURO 2010. The broadcast of the event reached 1,700 TV programme hours, and a cumulative audience of 1.03 billion viewers followed the tournament. There were broadcast agreements with more than 80 TV and radio broadcasters covering 70 territories worldwide. More than 1,200 media representatives were accredited for the event.
All games were broadcast live on the internet.
All-star Team
Goalkeeper: Slavomir Szmal (POL)
Left wing: Manuel Strlek (CRO)
Left back: Filip Jicha (CZE)
Centre back: Nikola Karabatic (FRA)
Line player: Igor Vori (CRO)
Right back: Olafur Stefansson (ISL)
Right wing: Luc Abalo (FRA)
Most Valuable Player: Filip Jicha (CZE)
Best Defence Player: Jakov Gojun (CRO)
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The Men's EHF EURO 2012 took place in Serbia, the first time the country in Europe's south-east hosted the EHF's flagship national team event. The event's host cities were Belgrade, Nis, Vrsac and Novi Sad.
After two weeks of top-class handball, Denmark topped the podium of a Men's EHF EURO event for the second time, beating hosts Serbia 21:19. Denmark's first success had come in 2008 when they won the EHF EURO in Norway. Croatia won bronze with 31:27 win against Spain in the match for third place.
In total, more than 300,000 spectators had been at the 47 matches of the EHF EURO in Serbia – a new all-time record for European Championships, including each 20,000 fans in Belgrade on the final and semi-final day.
All-star Team
Goalkeeper: Darko Stanic (Serbia)
Left wing: Gudjon Valur Sigurdsson (Iceland)
Left back: Mikkel Hansen (Denmark)
Centre back: Uros Zorman (Slovenia)
Line player: Rene Toft Hansen (Denmark)
Right back: Marko Kopljar (Croatia)
Right wing: Christian Sprenger (Germany)
Top Scorer: Kiril Lazorov (North Macedonia/61 goals)
Best Defender: Virán Morros (Spain)
Most Valuable Player: Momir Ilic (Serbia)
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The 11th Men's EHF EURO was hosted for the first time by the nation which is regarded as one of the sport's cradles: Denmark.
The hosts entered the tournament as the red-hot gold medal favourites and convincingly made their way to the final without losing a match. However, it was France who dominated the tournament's last match from beginning to end to eventually beat Denmark 41:32 to take their third EHF EURO trophy following victories in 2006 and 2010. In the match for third place, Spain beat Croatia 29:28.
The EHF EURO 2014 set a new attendance record, with 316,000 spectators flocking to the arenas in Herning, Aarhus, Aalborg and Brondby to follow the matches.
All-star Team
Goalkeeper: Niklas Landin (Denmark)
Left wing: Gudjon Valur Sigurdsson (Iceland)
Left back: Mikkel Hansen (Denmark)
Centre back: Domagoj Duvnjak (Croatia)
Line player: Julen Aguinagalde (Spain)
Right back: Krzysztof Liewski (Poland)
Right wing: Luc Abalo (France)
Top Scorer: Joan Canellas (Spain/50 goals)
Best Defender: Tobias Karlsson (Sweden)
Most Valuable Player: Nikola Karabatic (France)
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Men's EHF EURO 2016
Poland had the honour to organise an EHF EURO for the first time in 2016. Spread over four venues, the 12th edition of the Men’s European Championship became an appealing event played in front of enthusiastic crowds.
There was heartbreak for the hosts as Poland lost their decisive main round game against eventual bronze medallists Croatia and missed the semi-finals.
Germany scraped through their semi-final against Norway, beating the Scandinavians only after extra time, but had a clear 24:17 win over Spain in the final to take the trophy back to Germany after 12 years.
All-star Team
Goalkeeper: Andreas Wolff (Germany)
Left wing: Manuel Strlek (Croatia)
Left back: Michal Jurecki (Poland)
Centre back: Sander Sagosen (Norway)
Line player: Julen Aguinagalde (Spain)
Right back: Johan Jakobsson (Sweden)
Right wing: Tobias Reichmann (Germany)
Top Scorer: Valero Rivera Folch (Spain/48 goals)
Best Defender: Henrik Mollgaard (Denmark)
Most Valuable Player: Raul Entrerrios (Spain)
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Men's EHF EURO 2018
Croatia returned as hosts of an EHF EURO after 18 years in 2018 for what would be the last Men’s European Championship with 16 nations participating. Led by iconic coach Lino Cervar, the hosts had high hopes, especially after winning bronze in 2016, but came up just short to Sweden in the tense final standings of the main round.
One of the standout players of the event was Czech Ondřej Zdráhala, who scored 14 times against Hungary and 13 against Croatia to finish on a tournament-leading 56 goals.
In the end, however, it was all about Spain. They finally lifted the trophy for the first time after losing four previous finals. Coming from behind at half-time, Spain defeated Sweden 29:23 for European glory. France downed Denmark for bronze.
All-star Team
Goalkeeper: Vincent Gerard (France)
Left wing: Manuel Strlek (Croatia)
Left back: Mikkel Hansen (Denmark)
Centre back: Sander Sagosen (Norway)
Line player: Jesper Nielsen (Sweden)
Right back: Alex Dujshebaev (Spain)
Right wing: Ferran Sole (Spain)
Top Scorer: Ondrej Zdrahala (Czech Republic/56 goals)
Best Defender: Jakov Gojun (Croatia)
Most Valuable Player: Jim Gottfridsson (Sweden)
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Men's EHF EURO 2020
EHF EURO 2020 marked the beginning of a new era for Europe’s continental national team competition. For the first time, a total of 24 teams took part, eight more than under the previous format.
Also for the first time, three nations were co-hosting the event: Sweden, Austria and Norway overcame the logistic challenges and turned the tournament into an overwhelming success story.
While EHF EURO 2020 provided the many fans across Europe with lots of unexpected results - favourites like France and Denmark failed to advance from the preliminary round - the winners were no surprise, as Spain defended their title from two years earlier with a 22:20 final win over Croatia, while co-hosts Norway took bronze.
All-star Team
Goalkeeper: Gonzalo Perez de Vargas (Spain)
Left wing: Magnus Joendal (Norway)
Left back: Sander Sagosen (Norway)
Centre back: Igor Karacic (Croatia)
Line player: Bence Banhidi (Hungary)
Right back: Jorge Maqueda (Spain)
Right wing: Blaz Janc (Slovenia)
Top Scorer: Sander Sagosen (Norway/65 goals)
Best Defender: Hendrik Pekeler (Germany)
Most Valuable Player: Domagoj Duvnjak (Croatia)
Find a full tournament summary including all match results here.
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