Five more teams can qualify as round 4 concludes

EHF / Adrian Costeiu

01 March 2024, 15:00

While Denmark already sealed their spot at the Women's EHF EURO 2024 in the midweek round 3, more teams can book their ticket in round 4 this weekend. After Sweden on Saturday, France, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Romania, and Spain could do so on Sunday.

On paper, Romania face the most difficult challenge, playing an away match in group 1 against Croatia, the bronze medallists from the 2020 tournament. The Netherlands, France, Spain, and Montenegro are all featuring on their home courts Sunday, ready to punch their tickets.

In the EHF EURO Cup, Austria hope to bounce back from their huge 43:22 midweek defeat in Norway when they host the reigning European champions in Sunday's Highlight Match.

GROUP 1

Croatia vs Romania
Sunday 3 March, 17:00 CET, live on EHFTV

Romania can seal an EHF EURO 2024 berth with a draw or a win against Croatia, after starting the group with three wins in a row
Romania have now won 43 of their 63 matches in the EHF EURO Qualifiers, and can tie their best winning run in history, six matches in a row, set between March 2018 and October 2021
in the first match between the two sides in this group, Romania took a convincing 26:24 win last Wednesday, despite not having Cristina Neagu and Crina Pintea in their roster, who both retired from the national team
after three rounds, Romania have the fifth best attack in the EHF EURO Qualifiers, with 107 goals scored
Romania have won six of the nine mutual encounters against Croatia, with the last four matches split between the two teams

Greece vs Bosnia and Herzegovina
Sunday 3 March, 16:00 CET, live on EHFTV

Greece are aiming to cement the third place in the group, after their 24:22 away win against Bosnia and Herzegovina, with another win making them sure of this place
Greece’s centre back Maria Chatziparasidou is the 11th best scorer in the EHF EURO 2024 Qualifiers so far, with 16 goals, eight of which came against Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina could set a record for their largest losing run in the EHF EURO Qualifiers, currently at three matches, if they lose this match
Greece have won two matches in this phase of the EHF EURO Qualifiers only once, in the EHF EURO 2022 Qualifiers, having only 14 wins in 57 matches
Greece have four wins in six matches against Bosnia, but all of the last three matches have been decided by two goals or less

The first game on Wednesday we treated like the first half, and on Sunday we have the second half. We coped well for the most part both in defence and attack, regularly putting out what we worked on. We have to see what went well and what didn't and fix it, so we can make it two wins in a row.

Maria Chatziparasidou

Centre back, Greece

GROUP 2

Germany vs Slovakia
Sunday 3 March, 18:15 CET, live on EHFTV

Germany have won all four matches against Slovakia, with an average of 14 goals per match
in the first leg between this two sides, Germany took a compelling 40:18 win over Slovakia, whose chances for a place at the EHF EURO 2024 look slimmer and slimmer
Germany’s goalkeeper, Sarah Wachter, has one of the best percentages in the competition so far, 41.1 per cent saving efficiency, stopping 14 of the 34 shots she faced
Germany can edge even closer to an EHF EURO 2024 ticket with a win, as they secured two wins in the first two matches, with Slovakia winning only once
Slovakia have lost 12 of their last 13 matches in the EHF EURO Qualifiers and did not qualify for the final tournament since 2014

GROUP 3

Netherlands vs Czechia
Sunday 3 March, 13:30 CET, live on EHFTV

Netherlands are currently on their largest-ever winning streak in the EHF EURO Qualifiers, 12 matches in a row, dating back to 2018
The Dutch side will secure their 40th win in the EHF EURO Qualifiers provided they win this match, boasting now a 64 per cent winning percentage in the competition
in the first leg between the two sides, the Dutch side took a 30:29 win over Czechia, their sixth win in 10 matches
Czechia’s left back Markéta Jeřábková , the top scorer of the 2023 IHF Women’s World Championship, is the team’s top scorer in the EHF EURO 2024 Qualifiers, with 20 goals
the Netherlands will earn safe passage to the final tournament provided they secure their fourth win in the group against Czechia

Portugal vs Finland
Sunday 3 March, 20:30 CET, live on EHFTV

Portugal’s aim to return to the EHF EURO needs to be fueled by a second win against Finland, as they stopped a four-match losing streak in the first leg against the Scandinavian side
Portugal’s goalkeeper, Isabel Góis, has the largest number of saves so far in the competition, with 33, and a 28.7 per cent saving efficiency
right back Beatriz Fabiana Souza has been Portugal’s top scorer in the firs three matches, with 17 goals, the ninth best scorer in the EHF EURO 2024 Qualifiers
only two sides which played three matches so far – Luxembourg and Latvia – have scored less goals than Finland’s 55 goals in the first three matches
Finland have only three wins in the EHF EURO Qualifiers in their history and have won only once in the past 16 matches

GROUP 4

France vs Slovenia
Sunday 3 March, 17:00 CET, live on EHFTV

France can secure a berth for the EHF EURO 2024 with a win against Slovenia, which would be their fourth in a row in this group
the reigning Olympic and world champions are by far the team with the largest number of goals scored in the EHF EURO 2024 Qualifiers, 140, 26 more than any other side
left wing Chloé Valentini is the joint top scorer of the competition so far, with 23 goals and a 76.7 per cent shooting efficiency
Slovenia’s goalkeepers have made the largest number of saves so far in the EHF EURO 2024 Qualifiers, 59, one more than France, whose goalkeepers saved 58 shots
France have an overwhelming head-to-head advantage, having won 15 of the 16 mutual matches against Slovenia, including a clear 35:20 win on Wednesday

The qualification is assured if we win, and the first place too. Now, we don't want to waste any moments of work, we want to show authority in all games. Slovenia will have nothing to lose on Sunday, and it will be a new challenge for us, but we will be ready.

Olivier Krumbholz

Head coach, France

Italy are a very young team, but with a great desire to emerge. Our goal, in a group with two very strong teams like France and Slovenia, is to gain the third place and remain in the running for qualification, but also to take advantage of every international match to grow and improve.

Sofia Ghilardi

Left back, Italy

GROUP 6

Türkiye vs Bulgaria
Sunday 3 March, 15:00 CET, live on EHFTV

Türkiye are one of the dark horses of the competition, having won 30:24 against Bulgaria after a 29:29 draw with Serbia
they can get closer to tying their largest unbeaten run, four matches, with another win against Bulgaria, which would see them edge closer to the maiden berth for the EHF EURO
this would be Türkiye’s 25th win in history in the EHF EURO Qualifiers, sealed after 77 matches
Türkiye’s left back Asli Iskit-Caliksan is the joint top scorer of the EHF EURO 2024 Qualifiers, with 23 goals
Bulgaria have lost their ninth match in a row and have tied both the worst losing run and their largest run without a win in the EHF EURO Qualifiers

Montenegro vs Serbia
Sunday 3 March, 18:00 CET, live on EHFTV

another win, doubling down on Wednesday’s 31:30 win in Serbia, would see Montenegro power their way to the EHF EURO 2024
Serbia’s right wing Sanja Radosavljevic is the sixth best scorer in the EHF EURO Qualifiers, with 19 goals scored so far
Montenegro are currently on their longest-ever winning run in the EHF EURO Qualifiers, 14 matches in a row, dating back to March 2016
were they to fail to win this match, Serbia will tie their worst-ever winless run in the EHF EURO Qualifiers, three matches in a row
Serbia have won only once in eight tries against Montenegro, but this will be the first match between the two sides played in Podgorica

GROUP 7

Faroe Islands vs Luxembourg
Sunday 3 March, 18:00 CET, live on EHFTV

aiming for their maiden EHF EURO spot, like the men’s team, the Faroe Islands won the first match comfortably, 34:16, their largest win in history in the EHF EURO Qualifiers
Faroe’s centre back Jana Mittún is the team’s top scorer, with 18 goals, being the seventh best scorer in the EHF EURO 2024 Qualifiers
between the teams which have played three matches so far, only Latvia (35 goals) have scored less than Luxembourg’s 47 goals
Luxembourg have won only one match from the nine played so far in the EHF EURO Qualifiers and are on an eight-match losing streak
a loss would see Luxembourg out of contention for a berth at the EHF EURO 2024

We always look forward to playing home games in the good atmosphere in Tórshavn. From the first game against Luxembourg, we will look to develop our game further as the competition enters its decisive last rounds and hopefully we can still be in the race for a place at the EHF EURO in the last upcoming rounds in April.

Claus Mogensen

Head coach, Faroe Islands