Top 5 historic moments at the Women’s EHF EURO

5. 1994: First EHF EURO

The EHF EURO made its debut in 1994, with the men’s event taking place in Portugal and the women’s in Germany. Only 12 teams took part in the maiden tournaments.

Denmark were the first champions in the Women’s EHF EURO, as they beat hosts Germany in the final. Norway took the bronze medal and Hungary placed fourth.

Not only did the 1994 edition mean the start of the bi-annual tournament to determine the continental champions, as well as qualification places for world events, it signalled the start of records that would become lore. Records that would be talked about in subsequent editions, and shape the stories to follow.

Denmark’s trophy was the first of three they would win up to 2002 — three in the first five editions. To this day, they remain the second most titled nation in the Women’s EHF EURO.

Although there was no official award, Hungarian Agnes Farkas was the top scorer at that first EHF EURO, with 48 goals, and she would go on to hold the title of all-time top scorer of the event for 16 years following her retirement, until 2018.  

4. 1998: Record winners Norway’s first trophy

Bronze in 1994, silver in 1996, gold in 1998 — Norway topped the podium for the first time at the third edition of the EHF EURO. And it would be the first in a record haul, which has seen the Scandinavian powerhouse take nine trophies in 15 editions up to now, including the most recent in 2022.

It would take until 2006 for Norway to equal Denmark’s record of trophy wins in the competition, as Denmark had claimed three by 2002, at which point Norway had celebrated one. In those early years of shared dominance, the two nations met in the final in 1996, 1998, 2002 and 2004. At the last Women’s EHF EURO, in 2022, Norway and Denmark clashed in the final for the first time since 2004. 

By 2006, Norway had equalled Denmark’s record of three titles, and they have since been the sole powerhouse in the EHF EURO, winning another six trophies and also playing the final in 2012. Only three other countries have managed to win it: Hungary in 2000, Montenegro in 2012 and France in 2018.

3. 2004: Bojana Radulovic sets single tournament scoring record

With 72 goals, Hungary back Bojana Radulovic was the top scorer of the EHF EURO 2004 — and those 72 goals made her the record holder for most goals scored in a single EHF EURO tournament, across both the men’s and women’s events.

That record was set by Radulovic in fewer matches played by a team progressing to the finals today — three in the preliminary round, three in the main round, a semi-final and, in this case, the 3/4 placement match. Today, there are four games for each team in the main round.

2. 2022: Cristina Neagu becomes all-time top scorer

Romania left back Cristina Neagu became the all-time top scorer of the Women’s EHF EURO in 2018. Neagu had entered the EHF EURO 2018 on a career tally of 193 goals in the event, which had her third on the all-time list behind Germany’s Grit Jurack (194) and Farkas (205). When she passed the 200-goal mark, in Romania’s round 1 match, she became only the second woman and third player in history to do it.

Since then, Sweden’s Isabelle Gulldén, Spain’s Carmen Martín, Norway's Nora Mørk and Montenegro's Jovanka Radicevic also reached the 200-goal milestone.

Back to 2018, in round 2, Neagu passed Farkas, whose record had stood since 2002, and settled into first place on the all-time top scorer ranking in the women’s event.

Four years later, in 2022, she passed Icelander Gudjon Valur Sigurdsson — the all-time leader on the men’s side, with 288 goals — to become the outright all-time top scorer across both the Men’s and Women’s EHF EURO.

And she did not stop there, going on to smash the 300-goal barrier as well. With the EHF EURO 2022 being Neagu’s last, she ended her career in the competition with a tally of 303 — a record that will undoubtedly stand for many years to come.

Neagu was top scorer of an EHF EURO tournament only once, in 2010, when she netted 53 goals and Romania took the bronze medal — their only medal in the competition to date. Her all-time top scorer record therefore reflects consistency across the EHF EUROs in which she participated, spanning from 2008 to 2022.

1. 2024: First Women’s EHF EURO with 24 teams 

While the men’s event expanded from 16 teams to 24 in 2020, 2024 marks the first time for 24 sides to contest the Women’s EHF EURO.

The expansion allows for increased development of European handball, with more spots available for national teams to reach the final tournament and thus gain experience in a high-level competition.

Two teams have qualified for the Women’s EHF EURO for the first time: Faroe Islands and Türkiye. For both these women’s national teams, it will be the first major championship. For Türkiye, it will be the first major championship across both men’s and women’s events.

Along with the debutants, some teams will be making a return after a long wait, usually following only one or two previous appearances at the EHF EURO: Iceland, Portugal and Slovakia have all qualified for the first time in 10 years at minimum. Co-hosts Austria will also take part after a long absence, as they last played the event in 2008.