Montenegro (MNE)

Montenegro travel to the Men’s EHF EURO 2026 on the back of their most successful qualifiers campaign ever. 2014 was the last time they took more than three wins in the stage. The path to the 2026 edition saw them record four victories, one draw and just one defeat, which secured their spot as the second-ranked side from group 2, behind Hungary. 

Although Montenegro did not qualify for the 2025 World Championship, having lost to Italy in the play-offs, the strong EHF EURO 2026 Qualifiers showing is reflective of a steady upward trajectory for the side. They have played every edition of the EURO since 2014, returned to the World Championship in 2023 after a 10-year absence and had notable EHF EURO campaigns in 2022 and 2024.  

After placing 16th out of 16 sides three times in a row from 2014 to 2018, then 18th at the first edition with 24 teams in 2020, Montenegro jumped up to 11th in 2022 and 14th in 2024. That 11th place marked their best final tournament campaign, with two wins in the preliminary phase and one in the main round. 

In 2024, they were extremely unlucky — playing in one of the closest preliminary round groups in the tournament’s history, three goals made the difference, with a defeat of two to Hungary, a one-goal loss to Iceland and a one-goal win over Serbia putting them on two points that could have easily been as many as six. With that, Montenegro were knocked out of the competition in a brutal way. 

Now, led by head coach Didier Dinart in his first tournament with the side, Montenegro hope to return to the main round from a competitive group. 

One blow for Montenegro is the absence of their highly impactful goalkeeper Nebojsa Simic, who is sidelined after surgery. However, the core of the squad remains intact, with key shooters like wing Milos Vujovic and back Branko Vujovic in good form.  

Competition records:
Number of EHF EURO participations, including 2026: 8