SUMMARY: Close wins for Greece, Montenegro and Spain on opening night

• round 1 of the Men's EHF EURO 2026 qualifiers, with nine games opening the round on Wednesday
• results: North Macedonia vs Estonia 37:33 in group 1; Montenegro vs Finland 29:28 and Hungary vs Slovakia 37:32 in group 2; Greece vs Georgia 27:26 and Iceland vs Bosnia and Herzegovina 32:26 in group 3; Serbia vs Latvia 38:25 and Spain vs Italy 31:30 in group 4; Czechia vs Luxembourg 23:17 in group 5; Faroe Islands vs Kosovo 32:21 in group 6
• 20 places at the final tournament will be decided through the six rounds of qualifiers — the two top-ranked teams in each of the eight groups, and the four best-ranked third-placed teams
• EHF EURO 2026 co-hosts Denmark, Norway and Sweden are all directly qualified for the final tournament, along with defending title holders France. The four teams play the EHF EURO Cup 2026
• round 1 to conclude on Thursday with seven games; see where to watch in your country here
• Courtney Gahan reporting; qualifiers and Cup photos courtesy of the home teams

Wednesday 6 November

23:28 

That brings us to the end of the live blog coverage for round 1, day one, of the Men's EHF EURO 2026 qualifiers. Find all competition info, including the groups, their schedules and the current rankings here. 

Be sure to join us again tomorrow as we gain a full picture of how the teams in the race for the final tournament are looking! 

23:01

Alongside the nine Men's EHF EURO 2026 qualifiers played tonight, the two opening games of the EHF EURO Cup 2026 took place. EHF EURO 2024 finalists Denmark and France both emerged the victors, with the title winners France beating Sweden 37:31 and Denmark defeating Norway 32:27. 

It is little surprise who top scored the day in the EHF EURO Cup: Current IHF World Player of the Year and top scorer of the last three major national team events — the 2024 Olympics, EHF EURO 2024 and 2023 World Championship — Mathias Gidsel. The right back struck 10 times for Denmark. 

The EHF EURO Cup 2026 will continue on the weekend, when round 2 of the qualifiers take place. Norway will meet France in Stavanager on Saturday, and Sweden will host Denmark in Linköping on Sunday. 

See all EHF EURO Cup results and the schedule here. 

16:26

We are just minutes from throw-off in the opening match for the round! All matches are streamed live on the new-look EHFTV, with English commentary on the Highlight Matches. In addition, tonight's game Serbia vs Latvia will have Latvian commentary. 

The Highlight Match of round 1, Portugal vs Romania, will be played on Thursday. 

16:22

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16:11

While there is no doubt today marks a big milestone in the journey to the Men's EHF EURO 2026, some teams started the race some time ago.

Belgium, Kosovo and Luxembourg all made their way to phase 2 via the promotion round, defeating Cyprus, Great Britain and Latvia, respectively, in two-leg ties decided with an aggregate result. Luxembourg only just overcame Latvia, 61:60 on aggregate, while Belgium and Kosovo both enjoyed clearer victories. 

Both Great Britain and Cyprus had already contested phase 1 of the qualifiers, which saw Great Britain win a round-robin tournament that also featured Azerbaijan and Malta. 

The remaining teams playing the phase 2 qualifiers for 2026 were all part of either the final tournament for the EHF EURO 2024 or phase 2 of those qualifiers. 

15:59

To get you warmed up for all the action coming your way this evening, check out our preview of the matches, which includes key facts on all encounters.

Also below, see where you can watch and follow the games.

And one last piece of news that is definitely of interest to EHF EURO fans — tickets for the Swedish venues at the Men's EHF EURO 2026 went on sale yesterday! 

15:45

Good afternoon and welcome to the opening day of Men's EHF EURO 2026 qualifiers! Nine games are set to take place today, with every point up for grabs crucial in determining who will make it to the final tournament in Denmark, Sweden and Norway. Of the 32 teams contesting the qualifiers, 20 will make it to the final tournament. 

Four teams are directly qualified for the EHF EURO 2026: Tournament co-hosts Denmark, Sweden and Norway, as well as title holders France. That means all medallists from the 2024 edition are already through to the final tournament, as Denmark were the runners-up at the event held in Germany in January this year, while Sweden placed third. The four already qualified teams will play the EHF EURO Cup 2026, which will see the two round 1 matches played tonight.