Summary: Austria draw with Germany; France, Hungary win

• Cologne takes the spotlight again with main round group I
• France dominate Iceland, 39:32; Hungary beat Croatia 29:26; Germany draw 22:22 with Austria
• watch the EHF EURO live show, presented by Trivago, on Twitch from 17:15 CET
• download the Home of Handball app to make your match predictions and vote for Grundfos Player of the Match (45 minutes into each game)
• follow the EHF EURO social media channels: X, Facebook and Instagram
• find out how to follow the tournament
• all photographs © Kolektiff Images

22:40

What more can be said about today's games? We're running out of words for the excitement levels at this EHF EURO. So that's it from Cologne for tonight - once more, we'll be back in the morning as we head into round 3 in Hamburg.

22:35

All today's games were great, but the last was a classic. Relive the emotion in the highlights, and click here for the other matches.

22:23

That draw was Austria's third of the tournament - and keeps them unbeaten. It could be key in the next two rounds, with group I far from decided at this point. 

Enjoy the match review from a thriller.

22:05 | FULL-TIME

Germany 22:22 Austria

What. A. Match.

Austria put on the performance of their lives, but Germany kept fighting for every ball and forced a thrilling end. It got a bit scrappy in the last 10 minutes - with no goals for much of the last five - until Christoph Steinert equalised with 45 seconds on the clock with a nine-metre rocket.

Ales Pajovic used the ensuing Austrian possession for a timeout, but Robert Weber uncharacteristically lost the ball. It was a scrabble then in the last German attack, and they ran out of time but were awarded a free throw, which went high. It is a DRAW! That's Austria's third of the competition, and keeps them ahead of Germany in the standings by a single point.

The Grundfos Player of the Match is none other than Constantin Möstl, who made 17 saves (46 per cent). 

21:55

Rune Dahmke misses a chance to equalise, but Johannes Golla steals the ball on the counterattack. It's 21:22 with three minutes to go.

21:53

The German defence is working overtime now to stop the Austrian attacks, and it's working - all the Austrian shots being blocked in the last attack.

21:50

Tobias Wagner hits the post and Johannes Golla eventually scores at the other end. 20:22, eight minutes on the clock ...

21:47

A glimmer for Germany. Austria have moved to seven-on-six in attack, lose possession and Timo Kastening scores into the empty net. But Nikola Bilyk soon restores the four-goal lead.

21:44

Austria lead by four goals and Ales Pajovic calls a timeout. Can his men actually do this - beat Germany for the first time ever, at an EHF EURO in Germany, in the LANXESS arena?

21:40

An unusual sequence: Austria are given a penalty, Sebastian Frimmel takes it, Andy Wolff saves, but the save puts the ball back into the Austrian half. And then Austria get another penalty after some vigorous German defending, which Robert Weber takes but scores. 

Austria briefly lead by four goals, but Martin Hanne closes the gap back to 16:19. Still, Germany are struggling to get back on terms as we head towards the fourth quarter. 

You will soon be able to vote for the Grundfos Player of the Match.

21:32

Line player Lukas Herburger is key to the centre of Austria's defence, but with two two-minute suspensions he needs to be careful as he marks Julian Köster. 

For the moment, Austria again have the upper hand, with a 17:15 lead and taking possession again just now.

21:27

A poor shot by Nikola Bilyk gives the ball back to Germany, and Timo Kastening scores - the Austrian defence failing to stop it. 13:13!

21:22

Austria attack, Andy Wolff saves, it's back on.

Constantin Möstl is also on court, so apparently not too badly injured from that collision with the post earlier.

21:14

The Austrians who spent the first half on the bench are all warming up, indicating they will likely play a role in the second half. The same goes for the Germans, although there are fewer of them. With a game so finely poised, every goal counts and it will be interesting to see how each coach uses his bench.

21:09 | HALF-TIME

Germany 11:12 Austria

We were promised a handball party and we have one - the atmosphere in the arena is hopping, even though the match isn't going Germany's way quite yet. Austria have taken the fight to their opponents and playing with the sort of confidence that gave them the win over Hungary on Thursday. Just before half-time Germany found a bit extra and closed the gap to a single goal - Sebastian Frimmel's attempt at a buzzer-beater to keep the gap at two was just a fraction of a second too late. 

Key to the half-time scoreline have been the two goalkeepers, who have just been outstanding. Constantin Möstl, racing in to intercept Johannes Golla on a fast break, hit his shoulder hard against the post just before the break; hopefully for Austria he'll be OK for the rest of the match. Andy Wolff went over to check on him as the players left the court for the break.

EHF journalist Adrian Costeiu offers his analysis of the first half:

21:01

That defence is starting to work better for Germany, and they successfully stop two consecutive Austrian attacks. Nikola Bilyk's efforts to repeat this go to nothing.

20:58

Lukas Hutecek, Robert Weber, Sebastian Frimmel, Nikola Bilyk - the core Austrian quartet have all played every minute in attack and defence so far. They've led Austria to an 11:8 lead with six minutes of the half to go. Germany are looking to prop up their defence now.

20:53

With 20 minutes gone, there have been 16 saves - nine by Constantin Möstl, seven by Andy Wolff. Insane!

20:50

Alfred Gislason uses a timeout with Austria leading 6:4, and Juri Knorr then nets. Ales Pajovic will know Germany have more depth on their bench than he does, and it's already evident in the switches between attack and defence and who's not played a part yet. When you have the likes of Rune Dahmke on your bench, you know you've got an extra weapon you can call on.

20:43

Austria are showing they're not afraid of Germany or the German crowd, and so far Germany have had more turnovers. However, Germany lead 4:3 in a lively game so far.

20:34

Before this round, Andreas Wolff and Constantin Möstl were the goalkeepers with the most saves - so it's unsurprising both started the day with another save. In fact the young Austrian has added another already, and Austria lead 2:1.

20:29

The roof of the LANXESS arena is almost lifted off by the enthusiastic welcome to the teams and the singing of the German national anthem (with a shout-out to the Austrian team and their fans, who did a great job at their anthem too). 

Who will win this 11th meeting between these two sides?

20:15

No surprises on the team sheets for Germany or Austria. This is Andreas Wolff's 150th international match for Germany, and Juri Knorr's 50th, and you can bet that both key players will be pumped for this game. Currently, Austria have three points to Germany's two, so a win for the hosts would put them level with Hungary and challenging for a semi-final spot while a win for Austria would keep them solidly in second place in the group. 

All to play for! Follow here: Germany vs Austria

20:03

Less than half an hour until the match which all the fans here are looking forward to. Remember this one will have live audio description in German, to help blind and visually impaired fans to follow the match.

19:50

Before moving on to the last game of the night - Germany vs Austria - check out the match review from the clash between Hungary and Croatia.

19:45

Only France before them have reached this mark - 3,000 EHF EURO goals. And although they lost tonight, Croatia should be seriously proud of this milestone. It was Tomislav Kusan's only goal of the match!

19:38

The roof of the LANXESS arena is lifted as the fans cheer the 1978 world champions. West Germany beat the Soviet Union in the competition held in Denmark, and the team are here in Cologne. What a lovely moment.

19:33 | FULL-TIME

Hungary 29:26 Croatia

Hungary had the better start, Croatia the better middle, Hungary the better end - when it mattered they combined their defence with some good fast breaks to score. Overall, there was more variety in Hungary's shot-making than Croatia's, with the latter relying heavily on nine-metre goals. 

Bence Imre is top scorer with seven goals from seven attempts. But the hero for Hungary, as they claim an important two points, was goalkeeper László Bartucz who played the entire match and ended with 17 saves (40 per cent). No wonder he's voted as Grundfos Player of the Match!

19:27

With two minutes to play, Hungary lead 27:25 - the goalkeepers are still being amazing and the defensive efforts still incredibly physical.

19:23

And it's level again as Luka Klarica equalises, benefitting from a Zoran Ilic miss at the other end. 

19:21

A penalty gives Hungary a two-goal lead - 23:21, with 21 and a half minutes played. The match is becoming more physical as each side toughens up their defence. Adrián Sipos goes down after being hit by Veron Nacinovic trying to get out of the Hungarian's hold - it's a suspension for Nacinovic after a video review, but when things resume, Tin Lucin scores and Croatia are back to within a goal.

19:12

Hungary retake the lead briefly, before Croatia reply again. With 12 minutes to play, the winner of this game is very, very far from clear.

19:08

With 15 minutes to go, you can now vote for the Player of the Match.

Filip Glavaš gives Croatia a 19:18 lead.

19:03

Here we go, now they're scoring! Croatia take a brief lead at 17:16, before Richárd Bódó levels it again. The crowd, quite silent a few minutes ago, have woken up again.

19:00

There have been precisely two goals in eight minutes, with both László Bartucz and Dominik Kuzmanovic shutting up shop early in the second half. Croatia take a timeout - will it result in some faster play?

18:54

Croatia are marking Bence Bánhidi particularly closely and it's meant they've conceded a couple of penalties.

In right back, Dominik Mathe is now on, replacing Gábor Ancscin who had a good first half. Croatia have switched right wings Mario Sostaric for Filip Glavaš.

18:50

Hungary throw off the attack for the second half, and Dominik Kuzmanovic, now in goal for Croatia, saves.

18:44

Bored of good saves yet? We're not.

18:40 | HALF-TIME

Hungary 14:12 Croatia

Croatia have bounced back from a bad beginning and it's now pretty close, with Matej Mandic and László Bartucz performing on a very similar level in goal. Bence Imre is top scorer so far, netting four goals.

EHF journalist Adrian Costeiu gives his thoughts:

18:31

The pace is slow in attack, both sides content to pass the ball about a bit before trying to shoot, but you have to wonder if something quicker wouldn't benefit Croatia a bit. However, Hungary lead still only by one goal (13:12).

18:26

Better from Croatia: a bit more aggression in attack and stepping up their defence has got them to within a goal of Hungary. 

18:20

This is the bonkers Richárd Bódó goal from a little earlier on.

18:18

László Bartucz for Hungary has come out on fire and, helped by the big Hungarian defensive line, is stopping plenty of shots - four out of nine, so far. Croatia are not having a good day so far, with shots going wide or being saved, and Hungary lead 9:5.

18:12

Hungary take a 7:4 lead, grabbing every opportunity they can to score - including a frankly bonkers effort from Richárd Bódó after he was knocked down - and Goran Perkovac calls his first timeout after 10 minutes.

18:08

Hungary would be a weaker team without Bence Bánhidi; the line player has scored two of their three goals and is a rock in defence too.

But Croatia are finding ways through that defence, and it's 3:3 seven minutes in.

18:00

Remember, both sides lost their main round openers; Hungary brought two points to the main round and Croatia one. We are throwing off in the LANXESS arena!

17:50

Hungary vs Croatia is next, throwing off in 10 minutes at 18:00 CET.

This is the fourth EHF EURO meeting and it's one-all and one draw to date. 

Croatia are only nine goals away from becoming the third side ever to score 3,000 EHF EURO goals. But they'll be doing it without their captain Domagoj Duvnjak, who is still unwell and will miss this game.

17:35

We didn't get a chance to share this during the match, but it's simply too good not to share. An astonishing goal from Odinn Rikhardsson for Iceland.

17:30

We're 30 minutes away from throw-off in Hungary vs Croatia, and the EHF EURO live show presented by Trivago is live now on Twitch. Join the team to watchalong with analysis and chat!

17:16

After the highest-scoring game this tournament, EHF journalist Adrian Costeiu takes a look at what made the difference and what the result means for the rest of the tournament, in the match review.

17:05 | FULL-TIME

France 39:32 Iceland

France's chances of progressing look very good right now, with another victory giving them six points at the top of the group. Iceland have pretty much no hope - they would need to win both their remaining games and for other results to go their way, and the chances of that seem slim. The gaps in defence showed up badly, while France have clearly learned from their draw with Switzerland and made the victory look easy.

Centre back Nédim Rémili was voted as Grundfos Player of the Match, having scored five goals and contributed a huge 10 assists to the win. 

Melvyn Richardson, Ludovic Fabregas, Odinn Rikhardsson, Viggó Kristjánsson and Elliði Viðarsson all scored six goals. Samir Bellahcene ended up with 12 saves (29 per cent).

16:56

While France take a timeout, enjoy this goal from Benoit Kounkoud with a great assist from Nédim Rémili. 

16:52

Iceland are not completely out of this. If they should somehow force a goalless period for France there is time to close the gap - but the momentum has been with France since the start, and Iceland's goalkeepers have had an awful day with just six saves in total from 38 shots faced. France lead 33:29 and look pretty comfortable.

16:46

Voting for the Player of the Match is open. France continue to lead Iceland, 31:27 now.

16:43

While Samir Bellahcene remains in goal for France, Björgvin Pall Gustavsson is now between the posts for Iceland.

16:40

With a better Iceland defence and faster transition, the game is going much more goal-for-goal now. It's 27:23 to France.

16:35

Iceland's last timeout was extremely effective. In just over 60 seconds they've scored three times, including two for Haukur Thrastarsson who's just come on court, and it's a three-goal game with France leading 22:19.

16:30

It was a good first two minutes for Iceland, but the next three have been less good. Despite another penalty, France have broken through their opponents' defence way too easily on the counterattacks and now lead 21:16.

16:27

What can Iceland do? Well, it's a good restart, with a save by Viktor Hallgrímsson and then a penalty from Viggó Kristjánsson closing the gap to two goals within two minutes.

16:20

Hugo Descat has had a big role for France so far at the EHF EURO 2024 - not so much tonight so far, but his one goal was a beauty.

16:10 | HALF-TIME

France 17:14 Iceland

France take a decent lead into the break, but Iceland will probably be thinking that at least it's not bigger. Samir Bellahcene's made eight saves (38 per cent) plus there were two from two for Remi Desbonnet in less than a minute on court; compare that to three for Viktor Hallgrímsson and a lot of France's lead is accounted for. But as any goalkeeper will tell you, strong defence makes their job easier and that's where France have shone. They've made two blocks and two steals in the 30 minutes and have rattled Iceland considerably. 

Here's EHF journalist Kevin Domas' assessment.

16:03

It's tough to compete with this, really.

16:00

The French defence has slightly weakened and Iceland have finally scored some easier goals, reducing Samir Bellahcene's impressive save efficiency, but on the counterattack France are still having a better time of it and maintain a four-goal lead. It's 14:10 after 24 minutes.

15:52

A better patch for Iceland brings it back to a two-goal game, with a couple of saves for Viktor Hallgrímsson helping. The Icelandic defence is still poor, however, and Hallgrímsson is not being helped in the way Samir Bellahcene (five saves so far) is being helped by his teammates.

15:45

A timeout for Iceland, whose defence has been lacking and whose attack is not flowing - they're missing passes and shots they should be making. France's defence is much better and the holes in the Icelandic defence are making it easier for them to score, too. France lead 7:4 after 11 minutes.

15:40

Iceland have missed a couple of fairly easy chances, one through a wide shot and one through an attacker foul, and France have a bit of a cushion with a one-goal lead. But then Dika Mem misses, and Janus Smarason levels it at 4:4.

15:35

Less than two and a half minutes in and there's already been a video review after Elliði Viðarsson managed to whack Nikola Karabatic in the face while defending - Vidarsson is suspended for two minutes, and Karabatic is fine and playing defence on the Iceland counterattack.

France lead 2:1 with two Ludovic Fabregas goals answered by one from Aron Pálmarsson.

15:31

A win today would significantly boost France's chances of the semi-finals, although the group is close so it wouldn't secure them a place. 

We throw off: France's starting seven are Samir Bellahcene, Yanis Lenne, Nédim Rémili, Dika Mem, Nikola Karabatic, Ludovic Fabregas and Hugo Descat in attack; Iceland begin with Viktor Hallgrímsson, Aron Pálmarsson, Ymir Gíslason, Ómar Ingi Magnusson, Stiven Valencia, Elliði Viðarsson and Sigvaldi Gudjonsson. 

15:20

We're 10 minutes away from throwing off on this Saturday in Cologne, and the teams are about to be announced. 

To follow all the statistics from this game, click here: France vs Iceland

15:10

Here in the LANXESS arena, the Icelandic drums are already going. Iceland have finished their warm-up, France are still throwing a few balls. 

The last time these two sides met, Iceland sensationally beat France 29:21, in the main round two years ago.

15:00

Coming up at 20:30 CET ... after two other great matches!

14:20

Today's stat of the day shows that Germany's defence has been rock-solid throughout the tournament - but they face a strong offensive side in Austria this evening in Cologne.

13:10

This morning we went to visit Eberhard the oracle pig at the Cologne Zoo - Eberhard has been predicting the result of all Germany's matches! Head to our Instagram story to find out which team he predicted would win tonight's game between Germany and Austria.

We're taking a break now, but will be back with more coverage before the matches begin at 15:30 CET.

12:40

Here's a really nice story from Hamburg: every team competing there will have a tree planted on its behalf by the Barclays Arena as part of its sustainability initiative, 'Fame Forest'. Twenty minutes from the arena, the Fame Forest includes fruit trees processed into juice by mentally disabled people working on the project; as well as the handball trees, there's one for every artist or organiser involved in staging an event at the arena. Every team, as well as the German Handball Federation, also gets a commemorative plaque.

12:15

This group is so close! Check out the standings ... every point will count tonight.

11:57

We're expecting a huge handball party in Cologne this evening: it's Saturday, it's carnival season, and it's cold outside, so the LANXESS arena is surely the place to be.

11:25

The EHF has released an official statement on the end to last night's game between Denmark and Sweden. 

11:00

The Netherlands can no longer make the semi-finals after last night's loss to Norway, but with games against Portugal and Slovenia awaiting, they are still hoping to end things on a high.

10:30

We're back in the LANXESS arena tonight - and the other evening our social media team grabbed this amazing time-lapse of the packed stands during the game between Germany and Iceland.

10:00

Welcome to the live blog on what promises to be a thrilling day in Cologne. Germany will play Austria in the final match of the day, but before then France can take another big step towards the final weekend with a win over Iceland, while Hungary and Croatia are both looking to add to the points they brought to the main round.

Here's today's preview.