The winners and runners-up of the eight groups and the four best third-ranked teams will book their tickets for the final tournament, the qualifiers are divided into three blocks with two rounds each and will conclude in April 2023.
This week sees the first two rounds carried out. France are the best-ranked EHF EURO 2022 participants, who did not book a straight ticket for the upcoming event and start their campaign against Latvia.
Latvia, Belgium, Turkey and Finland proceeded from the relegation round in January and as Russia and Belarus were excluded from all EHF competitions, Luxembourg and Georgia took their places as teams with the best record who did not qualify.
For the first time in this campaign, highlight matches in every round of both the EHF EURO Qualifiers and EHF EURO Cup will be streamed live on EHFTV with English commentary and dedicated social media coverage. In Round 1, those matches are Austria vs Romania in the qualifiers and Germany vs Sweden in the EHF EURO Cup.
GROUP 1
North Macedonia vs Luxembourg
Wednesday 12 October at 19:00 CEST, live on EHFTV
- since 2012, North Macedonia have qualified for every EHF EURO, finishing 5th in Serbia was their best result
- legendary former player Kiril Lazarov, has moved from a player-coach role to focusing fully on coaching
- at EHF EURO 2022, the Macedonians had their weakest final result, finishing 22nd among 24 teams after three defeats in the preliminary round
- Luxembourg lost the relegation play-offs against their neighbours Belgium 59:53 on aggregate
- it is the first time since 2008 that Luxembourg are in this phase of the qualifiers and they have never qualified for a final tournament
Portugal vs Türkiye
Thursday 13 October at 20:30 CEST, live on EHFTV
- Portugal were the big surprise at EHF EURO 2020, when finishing sixth
- two years later, they lost against Iceland, Hungary and Netherlands to miss out on the main round and finish 20th
- their qualification for the EHF EURO 2020 was almost perfect, with five victories from six matches
- Portugal coach Paulo Pereira: "We will fight for this qualification in order to continue to make history for Portuguese sport. We feel that we can still do more and better. An unfinished story is not a story."
- in a tough qualification group for EHF EURO 2022 with Slovenia, Netherlands and Poland, Türkiye did not win a point
- Türkiye are still in search of their first final tournament ticket
GROUP 2
Serbia vs Finland
Wednesday 12 October 18:00 CEST, live on EHFTV
- Serbia impressed in the last qualifiers campaign, taking a victory and a draw against Olympic champions France to win their group
- Serbia’s best result was winning the silver medal on home ground in 2012, at the 2022 edition, they missed the main round and finished 14th
- Finland have not qualified for any final tournament so far - in the relegation round for the EURO 2024 qualification they beat Georgia 52:45 on aggregate
- in the 2022 qualifiers, Finland did not win a point against Denmark, North Macedonia and Switzerland
Norway vs Slovakia
Thursday 13 October at 18:15 CEST, live on EHFTV
- Norway must do without their superstar Sander Sagosen after his ankle operation
- Norway’s best EHF EURO result was the bronze medal in 2020, since 2016, they had constantly finished among the top eight
- at EHF EURO 2022, they missed the semi-finals due to a one-goal defeat against eventual champions Sweden in their final main round match
- as co-hosts, Slovakia had qualified directly for the EHF EURO 2022, but missed the spot in the main round, finishing 18th position
- in total, the Slovaks have made it to four final tournaments, three times finishing last in the old format with 16 teams
GROUP 3
Czech Republic vs Estonia
Wednesday 12 October 18:10 CEST, live on EHFTV
- the Czechs had been part of EHF EURO tournaments 12 times, their best result was sixth position, in 1996 and 2018
- at EHF EURO 2022, one goal in the final preliminary round match against Sweden was missing to make it to the main round - Czech Republic finished 13th
- on the way to the EHF EURO 2022, the team of Xavier Sabate finished second in their qualification group below Russia
- Czech Republic failed to qualify for the 2023 World Championship, defeated by North Macedonia in the play-offs
- Estonia never managed to qualify for a final tournament, in the 2022 qualification, they only took one victory against Bosnia-Herzegovina and finished fourth in their group
Iceland vs Israel
Wednesday 12 October at 21:45 CEST, live on EHFTV
- since 2000, Iceland have qualified for every EHF EURO final tournament, winning the bronze medal in 2012 was their best result
- in 2022, the team of Gudmundur Gudmundsson narrowly missed the semi-finals and finally lost the 5/6 placement match against Norway
- on their way to the EHF EURO 2022, Iceland had beaten Israel twice in their qualification group
- Israel have only once, in 2002, been part of an EHF EURO, finishing 12th
- Israel’s only victory in the 2022 qualification was against Lithuania
GROUP 4
Ukraine vs Faroe Islands
Wednesday 12 October at 20:00 CEST, live on EHFTV (in Aschaffenburg/GER)
- due to the war in their home country, Ukraine will play all home matches in Germany
- Ukrainian champions HC Motor compete in the second German Bundesliga and most of the national team players are part of this club now
- Ukraine qualified for seven EHF EURO final tournaments including the 2022 edition, where they finished last
- both sides duelled in the 2022 qualification, Ukraine won both close encounters
- Faroe Islands made a huge step forward in the last years and hope to reach their first final tournament after their U18 and U20 teams impressed at this summer’s EHF EURO events
- they will be without their injured 20-year-old star Elias Ellefsen á Skipagøtu, who will join THW Kiel next season
Austria vs Romania
Thursday 13 October at 18:00 CEST, live on EHFTV
- Austria were part of five of the last seven EHF EURO final tournaments, including the last three (2018, 2020, 2022)
- on home ground, in 2020, they took their best ranking of 8th place but dropped to 20th in 2022
- on their way to EHF EURO 2022, Austria finished second below their neighbours Germany on six points
- since the ninth-place finish in 1996, Romania have not qualified for a Men’s EHF EURO
- in qualification for EHF EURO 2022, Romania beat Montenegro, but were defeated by Kosovo and finished on three points and ranked fourth in their group
GROUP 5
Croatia vs Greece
Wednesday 12 October at 18:00 CEST, live on EHFTV
- Croatia have never missed a Men’s EHF EURO - but the former world and Olympic champions still wait for their first trophy
- Croatia’s best results were three silver medals in 2008, 2010 and 2020
- the team of head coach Hrvoje Horvat ranked eighth at the EHF EURO 2022 after a surprising main round defeat against Montenegro and a draw against their qualification opponents Netherlands
- Croatia head coach Hrvoje Horvat: "What we are interested in the most is our game, what we are going to show on the court, and what we are focused on. We need the fans, we need that support from the stands and then the Croatian national team is at its best."
- Greece still wait for their first participation at a Men’s EHF EURO
- on the road to the 2022 event, they finished third in their group below Serbia and France, taking four points against Belgium
Netherlands vs Belgium
Thursday 13 October at 20:00 CEST, live on EHFTV
- the neighbour’s duel is composed by two participants of the 2023 World Championship - Netherlands received a wild card, while Belgium beat Slovakia in the qualification play-offs
- Belgium never booked a ticket for an EHF EURO final tournament - on the way to the EHF EURO 2022, they finished fourth in their group, without a point
- Belgium goalkeeper Jef Lettens: "You can be confident and say you are favourite, or you can hide and say the other team is favourite. We each have equal chances. When I look at our squad, I see a talented and a homogeneous group"
- Netherlands are on the way up after finishing 17th at their first EHF EURO in 2020, they took tenth position at this year’s event and had an All-star team player in Kay Smits
- on their way to the EHF EURO 2022, the Dutch side had a smooth campaign, finishing joint-top with Slovenia on nine points
- clubs from Belgium and Netherlands play in the same top league, BENE League, meaning the majority of players know each other very well
GROUP 6
Switzerland vs Georgia
Wednesday 12 October at 18:00 CEST, live on EHFTV
- after being part of the EHF EURO 2020 and the 2021 World Championship, Switzerland missed out on EHF EURO 2022
- in their qualification group, they finished on four points below Denmark and North Macedonia - and were on the unlucky fifth position in terms of the best third-ranked teams
- top star Andy Schmid, who now plays for Swiss club Luzern, is still with the national team
- Georgia had not qualified for any EHF EURO final tournament so far
- Georgia were eliminated in the relegation round by an aggregate result of 52:45 by Finland but were upgraded after Russia and Belarus were excluded from the competition
We haven’t played against Lithuania since 2008, when I was already in the team, however, we don’t have recent memories of the Baltic squad, but we know they have a solid team.
Bosnia Herzegovina replaced the coaching staff and a good part of the team. To be fair, there is a big unknown ahead of Thursday's game. We will see what they will bring with them.
We are working to understand what our opening match will be like and how to face it. It will be a complicated game, but we are here to play our cards and we are not afraid of anyone.
