Reigning champions start main round clashes in Hamburg

Three teams are tied with two points in the standings, while the three other sides will have no room for mistakes as the excitement unfolds. Norway and Portugal will seek their first points in a newly formed group, Denmark eye to extend their winning streak against the Dutch side, while either Slovenia or Sweden will end their unbeaten run.

GROUP II

Norway vs Portugal
Wednesday 17 January, 15:30 CET, live on EHFTV

• Portugal started the tournament with two straight wins, while Norway recorded a win and a draw with the Faroe Islands, but both lost their last group matches – Norway to Slovenia while Portugal suffered a 10-goal defeat against Denmark
• as a result, the two teams start the main round with zero points
• Portugal and Norway have a similar attack with 88 and 85 goals scored in three games respectively, yet the Scandinavian side conceded 13 goals less
• Martim Costa, the elder of the two Costa brothers, is Portugal's top scorer netting 20 times; he will face the second-best goalkeeper in this group, Torbjørn Bergerud, who is cruising on a 34.4 per cent save efficiency
• Sander Sagosen, Harald Reinkind and Christian O'Sullivan will surpass Bjarte Myrhol in the number of Men's EHF EURO matches played for Norway
• the sides have never met in the main round of the Men's EHF EURO, but played two preliminary round matches and one placement match, with Norway winning twice. Norway also won a recent friendly match 38:27

Denmark vs Netherlands
Wednesday 17 January, 18:00 CET, live on EHFTV

• Denmark remained perfect in group F and took an important two points to Hamburg; the Netherlands lost a top-of-the-group match against Sweden in the last moment of the game, leaving them empty-handed
• Danish players were the victorious side in their only EHF EURO mutual encounter so far – main round group I in 2022, ending 25:23 in Denmark's favour
• left wing Rutger ten Velde runs the Dutch top-scorer list after netting 20 times; Mathias Gidsel and Simon Pytlick scored 33 out of Danish 100 goals in the group phase
• Hans Lindberg is expected to appear in his 54th EHF EURO match for Denmark, making him the country's record holder, and he is three goals away from 150 EHF EURO goals
• the Netherlands will most likely have to cope with the injury of Samir Benghanem, a crucial player for their defence

Slovenia vs Sweden
Wednesday 17 January, 20:30 CET, live on EHFTV

• Slovenia celebrated their 30th EHF EURO win after beating Norway in a decisive group D clash; Sweden earned a hard-fought win against the Netherlands in the battle for the group E winners.
• the teams accordingly both bring two points to the main round
• the reigning champions are currently on a nine-game unbeaten streak dating back to the main round of the EHF EURO 2022
• this is the 10th time Slovenia progressed from the preliminary round, after failing in the 2022 edition of the competition
• Aalborg Håndbold centre back Aleks Vlah is currently the Slovenian top scorer after scoring 19 times; Hampus Wanne leads the Swedish attack with 17 goals
• there have been five encounters between the two sides in EHF EURO history. Sweden won three of those encounters but Slovenia came on top in the most recent one, celebrating 21:19 in the 2020 preliminary round

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