Czechia (CZE)

This will be the eighth Women’s EHF EURO appearance for Czechia and their first since 2020. In their last two final tournaments, Czechia lost all of their matches, and their last victory was a 27:22 win against Hungary in the first preliminary round match back in 2016 – although they did reach the main round that year.

They arguably have a better chance of their first win after an 11-game losing streak in Debrecen, where Bent Dahl’s side takes on Romania, Serbia and Montenegro, in a very well-balanced group.

Dahl, appointed as Czechia’s new coach in 2022, has already led his team to a surprising quarter-final berth in his major international competition debut, at the 2023 IHF Women’s World Championship, when Czechia finished eighth. However, they then failed to qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games after losses to Spain and the Netherlands in the Olympic Qualification Tournament.

The coach also has intimate knowledge of the Romania national team, one of Czechia’s main rivals for a main round berth, as he has been Romania’s assistant and has been plying his trade at club level in the Romanian league for several years. Dahl was SCM Ramnicu Valcea's head coach, where he had one Czech player at his disposal, rising star Charlotte Cholevová.

Nevertheless, the prospects for Dahl’s side are quite good. They have some players who can light up the scoreboard, such as the top scorer of the 2023 IHF Women’s World Championship, Markéta Jeřábková, and a strong left wing, one of the most consistent in the EHF Champions League Women, Veronika Malá.

In the EHF EURO 2024 Qualifiers, Czechia finished second in group 3, with four wins and two losses. Both defeats came against the Netherlands, 29:30 and 25:42. Wins against Portugal and Finland brought Czechia through.