12 teams in main round still in race for Men's 20 EHF EURO title

Looking at the preliminary round, six teams are entering the main round with a clean sheet – Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Denmark, Sweden and Hungary have won all three matches of their respective groups and are continuing the competition with high confidence. France, the Faroe Islands, Iceland, Croatia, Slovenia and hosts Romania, who qualified as second-ranked teams, will look to spoil the party for the yet unbeaten nations.

The stakes are high with the European trophy in question and the qualification for the 26th IHF Men's Junior (U21) World Championship in 2027, held in North Macedonia next summer. 15 nations from the Men’s 20 EHF EURO can qualify, with the final ranking of the tournament and the ranking of the hosts, North Macedonia, deciding the spots for the European teams. 

Alongside the race for the trophy, an intermediate round for the teams that haven't booked the main round will be played. 

GROUP I

Switzerland, Germany, France, Faroe Islands 
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• Switzerland has arrived in the main round from group B with three convincing wins against Türkiye, Serbia and the Faroe Islands; they won all three matches with a ten-goal difference or more
• Swiss centre back Tiago Cuenca is the current top scorer with 31 goals, closely followed by Valdis Kalninis from Latvia and Aljuš Anžic from Slovenia, both scoring 30 goals
• Germany snatched a one-goal win (31:30) against France in group A, and went on to win against Portugal and Greece, entering the main round undefeated 

GROUP II

Denmark, Spain, Iceland, Croatia
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• Spain, the current M20 titleholders, are led by their rising star Marcos Fis, who had his debut with the senior team on the biggest European stage, Men’s EHF EURO 2026, earlier this year in Denmark; at the Men’s 18 EHF EURO two years ago, he was the team’s top scorer with 53 goals
• Denmark’s under-20 team is looking to improve their 2024 campaign, when they finished third, winning against Germany in the bronze medal match; the clash against Spain in the main round will be a sweet treat for handball fans when they meet on Monday in Turda at 18:30 CEST
• Croatia, which lost against Denmark with a seven-goal difference (30:37) in the preliminary round, but won against Norway and North Macedonia, are led by a former Croatian national team player and world and Olympic champion Denis Špoljarić

GROUP III 

Sweden, Hungary, Slovenia, Romania 
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• The Men's 18 EHF EURO 2024 champions, Sweden, are on a winning track, despite missing their 2024 top scorer, Nikola Roganovic; head coach Toni Johansson has left Roganovic, who was a part of the senior national team at the EURO in January, out of the final squad to rest after an exhausting season and to focus on the club duties
• Hosts Romania have booked their main round ticket, despite losing to Sweden and Bosnia and Herzegovina in group E, but have then secured a 39:30 win against Israel to stay in the medal race
• Hungary's closest clash in the preliminary round was with Slovenia; even though Slovenia went to lead the match at the beginning of both halves, Hungary kept their cool and managed to win the tight match with 28:26 
• Marko Eklemovic, the son of a former national team player for Serbia and Montenegro and later on Hungary, Nikola Eklemovic, is Hungary's top scorer; the centre back has scored 23 goals and will lead the team's attack when they meet with Sweden and Romania in the main round 

Main image: Mihaela Bobar / FRH