Portugal (POR)

Making their return to the Women’s EHF EURO for only their second participation following their debut in 2008, Portugal hope to be on the cusp of a new chapter. The EHF EURO 2024 represents not only the second appearance at this championship but any major tournament, as the side have yet to qualify for the Women’s World Championship or Olympic Games. Could 2024 be the start of a new era for Portugal?

Four years ago, the men’s team made their return to the EHF EURO after a long absence and reached the final weekend. Youth age category teams representing Portugal have also enjoyed recent success — most notably and most relevant, a fourth place at the W19 EHF EURO 2023 and fifth at the 2024 U20 Women’s World Championship. The development of handball in Portugal is certainly moving in the right direction, so there is no reason to underestimate the women’s side due to their lesser experience at major championships.

Portugal qualified for the EHF EURO 2024 as one of the best third-ranked teams in the qualifiers, finishing the phase with two wins against Finland and defeats at the hands of the Netherlands and Czechia.

The qualifiers were punctuated by the Women’s World Championship. There, Czechia and the Netherlands reached the quarter-finals and were knocked out by the finalists France and Norway. No other EHF EURO 2024 qualifiers group featured two 2023 World Championship quarter-finalists, and certainly not two that were knocked out by the strongest teams in the competition.

Portugal’s third position is therefore not necessarily indicative of any weakness. Indeed, their losses to Czechia were quite narrow — 26:30 and 22:25. They also scored more goals in the qualifiers than all but one of the third-ranked teams and even some that placed second, hinting at promising attack.

Portugal’s biggest weapons are on the right side of the court, with back Beatriz Sousa and wing Patrícia Rodrigues both passing the 30-goal mark, while no other players contributed more than 16 goals.