Croatia join EHF EURO 2024 line-up; Switzerland take crucial win

For Austria and Switzerland, the wins against Romania and Georgia, respectively, were fairly clear, while Croatia cast Greece off in the second half and Portugal had to work hard to keep a determined comeback from Türkiye at bay.

With the results of the first games, there are now 14 berths at the final tournament in Germany still available.

GROUP 1
Türkiye vs Portugal 35:37 (14:19)

Portugal made it five wins from five matches in the qualifiers as they recorded a narrow win over Türkiye, which took their points tally to 10 on top of the table. Portugal were quick to take the upper hand and the difference between the sides seemed evident early, but Türkiye never gave in and came very close to a successful comeback in the end.

After the score of 25:31 in the 47th minute, Türkiye closed the gap to two several times, and even one, at 33:34 with five minutes on the clock. But ultimately it was not enough and at the final whistle, the visitors celebrated an extension of their overall unblemished record of victories against Türkiye to four.

It was an entertaining clash in which both exhibited some great attack for the vocal spectators in Ankara. Shooting accuracy was high on both sides, and Portugal’s young stars such as Miguel Martins and Salvador Salvador stood out with their assists and shooting records making for an important influence in attack.

Despite the loss, Türkiye’s hope of reaching the EHF EURO for the first time ever remains alive, as they will meet North Macedonia in round 6 in what looks to be the deciding clash regarding the group’s second ticket to the final tournament.

GROUP 4
Romania vs Austria 30:35 (17:19)

Group leaders Austria extended their winning run through the qualifiers with a solid victory that took them to the maximum 10 points on top of the table, and left Romania in a perilous position. With only Austria through to the final tournament, the second ticket from the group — and potentially one of the berths for best third-ranked teams — is still waiting to be claimed by Romania, Ukraine or the Faroe Islands.

Romania had the stronger start, leading by up to three goals multiple times in the first 15 minutes. But after the score of 11:8 in the 16th minute, Tobias Wagner and Boris Zivkovic combined for a series of goals that levelled the game. Led by very strong halves from Nikola Bilyk, who dished seven assists and scored three goals, and Thomas Eichberger, who made eight saves, the visitors capitalised on the momentum and went to the break with the advantage. 

The key damage turned out to be done by half-time. From that point, the gap was never less than two goals, although it was often more, and Austria could see their fifth straight qualifiers victory ahead long before the final whistle. 

GROUP 6
Georgia vs Switzerland 19:26 (10:14)

After an opening 15 minutes in which the home side had the edge or the score stood level, Switzerland grabbed the other hand and were dominant through to the end, gradually increasing the score line to finish with a clear result in their favour. Lack of efficiency was a key problem for Georgia, as they scored 10 off 21 shots in the opening half and recorded a shooting efficiency under 50 per cent.

Georgia’s leading scorer of the qualifiers and one of the top scorers overall, Giorgi Tskhovrebadze, could not deliver his usual tally while, on the other hand, Switzerland backs Lenny Rubin and Andy Schmid combined for 11 goals.

With what was their fifth win overall against Georgia, Switzerland did their job for round 5, as they moved up to six points on the table and now await the result of Lithuania versus Hungary on Thursday. If Hungary win, Switzerland’s place at the final tournament in Germany will be booked. 

GROUP 5
Greece vs Croatia 26:31 (10:10)

Greece showed why they have earned their surprise position on top of the group with another strong performance as they hosted Croatia. After a close opening half that saw both teams have their turn with the advantage, though Greece were more often the leaders on the score board, the teams were equal at the break. Greece’s success in this period was led by a 41 per cent save rate from goalkeeper Petros Boukovinas. But 14 turnovers and nine technical errors cost Greece any chance of a steady lead, while Croatia struggled to find the goal past Boukovinas.

In the second half, Croatia lived up to the bill as favourites. Boukovinas stopped saving and, led by a nine-goal outing from Luka Cindric, Croatia took their 50 per cent shot rate from the first half up to 91 per cent for the second 30 minutes. After the last level score at 14:14 in the 37th minute, Croatia held steady in front, always with an easy cushion of goals in their favour. For their part, Greece reduced their errors significantly, and the result was a far higher scoring second period as Croatia recorded the win that saw them join the line-up for the EHF EURO 2024. 

Photos © Paris Sarrikostas; Ekrem Özsoy/Turkish Handball Federation; Romanian Handball Federation; Guram Svanidze/GHF