Slovenia (SLO)

Slovenia secured a place at what will be their 15th Men’s EHF EURO through a powerful qualifiers phase, in which they won all six games to finish on top of group 1. Slovenia’s qualification for the final tournament came after a 13th-place finish at the 2025 IHF Men’s World Championship and a historic first Olympic semi-final participation, achieved at Paris 2024. 

At the previous EURO, they ranked sixth. Together with their fourth place in 2020, Slovenia’s result in 2024 made it two final weekend appearances in the three last EUROs. However, while several players who were part of the 2020 success remain, one man has represented a revolution in the team since then: Aleks Vlah.

Vlah, Slovenia’s now perennial top scorer, has netted the most goals for the side at the four last major tournaments — the 2023 and 2025 World Championships, the EHF EURO 2024 and the 2024 Olympic Games. He was also the second top scorer overall at the Paris 2024 Olympics, playing a key role as they reached the medal round. At the zenith of his career, Vlah brings an x factor for Slovenia, making them one of the big teams to watch. 

But Vlah is far from alone in being a powerful asset — the side have a few more standouts that take a leadership role in the experienced, little changed and quite evenly spread, in terms of depth, squad. Vlah’s club teammate at Kielce, goalkeeper Klemen Ferlin, has been enjoying exceptional form and can be expected to be an impact player. With Ferlin standing behind a well-honed defensive wall led by Blaz Blagotinsek and Borut Mackovsek, Slovenia will not be easy for offenses to beat. 

The Barça duo of right back and wing Blaz Janc and centre back Domen Makuc were both injured and absent for the 2024 edition, but are back for 2026, ensuring the squad is complete.  

In a group where it appears anything can happen, Slovenia enter as the on-paper frontrunners. 

Competition records:
Number of EHF EURO participations, including 2026: 15
Silver: 2004