Familiar rivals to meet again in Men’s EHF EURO 2026 Qualifiers

The Qualifiers, to be played between November 2024 and May 2025, will feature several games between teams that played each other at the Men’s EHF EURO 2024 – or in the Qualifiers for that tournament.

Group 7 pits 2024 hosts Germany against Austria, Switzerland and Türkiye. Germany and Austria played each other in the main round in Cologne in January, with Austria securing a superb 22:22 draw; the two sides met again in the Olympic Qualification Tournament last week, where Germany won 34:31 on their way to Paris.

Meanwhile Germany and Switzerland were in the same preliminary round group at the EHF EURO 2024, playing their opening match in front of a world record crowd in Dusseldorf which Germany won 27:14.

Greece and Georgia both made their debuts at the final tournament in January, and they face each other for their chances of a repeat appearance in group 3, alongside Iceland and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Georgia sensationally clinched a debut 22:19 victory against Bosnia in their last preliminary round game in Mannheim and will surely take that confidence to the 2026 Qualifiers.

Fellow 2024 debutants the Faroe Islands, who captured the hearts of fans with their fighting spirit and 26:26 draw with Norway, have again been drawn in a qualifying group alongside Ukraine. Their 33:26 win against Ukraine in April 2023 was one of the keys to their qualification for the tournament in Germany, but to make it to the 2026 championships they face the Netherlands and Kosovo as well.

Italy and Latvia are also drawn in the same group for Qualifiers as for the previous tournament; Italy’s two victories against Latvia in March last year were not enough to take them through. The duo face another hard task, with record EHF EURO medallists Spain, and 2012 silver medallists Serbia, their opposition.

Look out two for the regional derbies between the likes of Lithuania and Estonia in group 1, and Belgium and Luxembourg in group 5.

The top two teams in each group, plus the four best third-placed teams, will join reigning champions France and hosts Norway, Sweden and Denmark at the final tournament in January 2026.

Men’s EHF EURO 2026 Qualifiers

Group 1: Slovenia, North Macedonia, Lithuania, Estonia
Group 2: Hungary, Montenegro, Slovakia, Finland
Group 3: Iceland, Greece, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia
Group 4: Spain, Serbia, Italy, Latvia
Group 5: Croatia, Czechia, Belgium, Luxembourg
Group 6: Netherlands, Faroe Islands, Ukraine, Kosovo
Group 7: Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Türkiye
Group 8: Portugal, Poland, Romania, Israel

The draw event in Copenhagen, hosted by Markus Floth, saw Danish Handball Federation president Morten Stig Christensen welcome spectators to the first official event of the tournament. Christensen said the decision for Denmark, Norway and Sweden to jointly bid for the championships represented their connection built on historic, linguistic and cultural ties and a shared passion for handball.

“Our hope as host nations together with the hundreds of volunteers who make it all possible is that everyone involved in the event will be captivated by the same energy and feeling of pure energy,” Christensen said.

The draw was assisted by four former handball stars from the host nations – Danes Thomas Mogensen and Lars Christiansen, Norway’s Håvard Tvedten, and Swede Ljubomir Vranjes. The quartet spoke of their hopes for home support in 2026, remembering the EHF EUROs they played at home with fondness.

“Hopefully for Norway it’s going to be a huge advantage. It’s important to use them as a force so you can have almost an extra player on the field, but it can also be a bit of pressure. Hopefully they will manage and use them as best as they can,” Tvedten said.

Vranjes predicted that Sweden would again reach the medal matches in 2026, after gold in 2022 and bronze this year.

“They have a really great team and a really great future. 2026 will be a difficult tournament for sure, but they will I think with the home advantage be in the semi-finals at least,” he said.

Photos © Dejan Obretkovic