Summary: Favourites make statements with big wins

• the Women's EHF EURO 2024 throws off in Basel, Debrecen and Innsbruck on Thursday 28 November
• in group A: Hungary 30:24 Türkiye, Sweden 28:18 North Macedonia
  
• in group C: Spain 30:24 Portugal, France 35:22 Poland
  
• in group E: Austria 37:24 Slovakia, Norway 33:26 Slovenia
  
• read the previews of Thursday's games here
• follow the official social media channels for exclusive clips and behind-the-scenes content: X, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok
• find out more on how to follow the tournament
• all photos © EHF/kolektiff

22:55

That's all from us tonight - join the blog again tomorrow from 12:00 for the second day of the preliminary round!

22:47

The Home of Handball YouTube channel has highlights of all six matches today - bookmark this link for the Women's EHF EURO 2024 playlist. Here are the best bits of Norway vs Slovenia, one of the most exciting matches of the day.

22:38

Whew, what a first night of Women's EHF EURO 2024 action! Several of the favourites made huge statements, while several of the teams with less experience demonstrated they belong in these arenas.

Read the match reviews here for facts, stats and some of the best images and highlight clips of the night.

17:45

We're into the pre-game shows - each involving drums, but all with a local flavour. Make sure you're tuned in on your local broadcaster, or head to EHFTV where all matches are being shown with English commentary. A pass for the entire tournament is only €8.99, a bargain!

17:23

Warm-ups are now well underway in all three venues. A few facts for you before the matches:

• this is the first-ever meeting between Hungary and Türkiye: it's Türkiye's EHF EURO debut, while Hungary have featured in all 16 editions of the tournament
• since taking the silver medal at the EHF EURO 2014, Spain have not ranked higher than ninth at the EURO
• Spain have won all four previous encounters against Portugal, although only two of those results are relevant, with the matches occurring in 2021 and 2022 while the previous two were before 2008
• Austria and Slovakia make their return to the final tournament after long absences – Austria have not featured since 2008, Slovakia last qualified in 2014
• for the first time in their history, Austria are led by a woman: Dutchwoman Monique Tijsterman took over the team in February this year

17:07

Less than an hour until the first games of the Women's EHF EURO 2024 throw off. You have until 15 minutes before each game starts to make your match predictions in the Home of Handball app Game Hub. Simply download for iOS or Android, then open up the app, create an account in seconds, and start predicting. There's prizes to win!

The app is also where you can vote for the Player of the Match, presented by Grundfos, 45 minutes into each game.

16:50

We have arrived in the Olympiahalle in Innsbruck and a handful of Austrian players are coming on court to start their warm-up. It's happening!

16:25

Where were you in 2004, when Katrine Lunde won her first EHF EURO? Her teammates were in school, or not even there yet, but many of them remember being inspired by the legendary goalkeeper. She starts the hunt for her seventh title tonight.

16:00

We're expecting plenty of fans in Debrecen tonight, especially for Hungary's game against Sweden. Swedish captain Jamina Roberts is looking forward to playing in front of the Hungarian fans!

15:30

Our social media channels will be sharing lots of good content throughout the tournament, and keep an eye out for giveaways. Thanks to Hummel, you could be part of the EHF EURO final weekend - see below or visit Instagram for details!

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15:00

Another experienced coach on the bench tonight is Ambros Martin, for Spain. Martin took over the team in 2023 and the EHF EURO will be his third major tournament with the team, but this squad is a new-look group of younger players. EHF journalist Courtney Gahan found out about the rebuilding process when she met Martin earlier this week - read more here.

14:30

Norway are record EHF EURO champions, and their coach, Thorir Hergeirsson, has been in charge for five of those victories. But Hergeirsson is stepping down at the end of this calendar year, to be replaced by Ole Gustav Gjekstad. While his team were having their photoshoot on Tuesday we took the opportunity for a good chat with Hergeirsson, about his coaching philosophy and why he's choosing to step away after 30 years' involvement with the Norwegian national team.

14:10

Want to stay in touch with everything that's going on at the EHF EURO? Make sure you sign up to the newsletter, which will land in your inbox and give you an easy way of following our coverage. 

Click here to register.

13:43

Several teams playing today have not featured at the EHF EURO for a while - or ever. We featured three of them in our build-up features: Portugal, North Macedonia and Türkiye. Portuguese right back Beatriz Sousa and Macedonian left back Andrea Sedloska told us how excited they were to be at the EHF EURO, while Türkiye coach, Costica Buceschi, spoke about his ambitions for the debutants. 

13:00

Spain vs Portugal in Basel is one of the first games to throw off - here's what key players Jennifer Gutiérrez and Bebiana Sabino had to say about being in the EHF EURO when we spoke to them in the last couple of days.

12:30

Back in 2022 we ran a superb series focusing on some amazing women in handball. We're restarting that now, beginning with the one and only Katrine Lunde - six-time EHF EURO champion. Follow EHF Activities on Instagram to find out who else will feature this year!

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12:00

After months of preparation, the Women's EHF EURO 2024 is finally here! The first three games throw off at 18:00 CET in group A in Debrecen, group C in Basel and group E in Innsbruck, with co-hosts Austria and Hungary both in action. 

A month ago, we put together a power ranking of the top eight teams at the tournament. Tonight's games will start to show whether that list is right, or whether someone has come along to upset the status quo.