2026 European Men's Handball Championship

On 11 May 2021 it was announced that the following nations sent in an official expression of interest:^[1]

•  Denmark,  Norway &  Sweden
•  Switzerland (withdrew) in October 2021. Switzerland merged with the Iberian bid for 2028.^[3]

As only the Scandinavian bid remained it was unanimously selected at the 14th EHF Extraordinary Congress on 20 November 2021.^[4][5] This marks the second time the event is held in three countries, after 2020. This is Denmark's second (after 2014), Norway's third (after 2008 and 2020) and Sweden's third (after 2002 and 2020) time hosting.

• Site visits in Denmark and Sweden took place in September 2024.^[6]
• As of April 2025, the EHF stated that preparations were going smoothly.^[7]
• On 18 September 2025, the three co-hosts were joining forces on common sustainability concept called Pure Promise.^[8]
• On 13 November 2025, Swedish hotel company, Scandic, was announced as a national supplier for Norway.^[9]
• On 21 November 2025, it was announced that Harald V will watch Norway's opening game against Ukraine.^[10]
• On 19 December 2025, Gumpen Gruppen became a car supplier for the championship in Norway.^[11]
• Herning would offer free transport to and from the Jyske Bank Boxen for the tournament.^[12]

• On 5 November 2024, tickets in Sweden were released.^[13]
• Denmark and Norway's were put on sale on 14 February 2025.^[14]
• More tickets were released on 29 October 2025.^[15]
• More tickets in Denmark were available for purchase.^[15]
• On 17 November 2025, the Swedish Handball Federation stated that tickets were selling fast.^[16]

• Evoke plc^[17]
• Gorenje
• Grundfos
• Harting
• Lidl
• Liqui Moly
• Strauss
• Trivago
• Würth

36 teams registered for participation and competed for 20 places at the final tournament. After the qualification round 1, the remaining 32 teams take part in qualification round 2, where each team is drawn into eights groups of four. The top-two placed teams in each group qualified for the final tournament, alongside the four best-ranked third-placed teams, not counting the matches against fourth-placed teams. The draw took place on 21 March 2024 in Copenhagen, Denmark.^[18][19] Round 2 started in November 2025 and ended in May 2026.

Of the 24 qualifiers, 22 return from the previous edition. Italy qualified for only their second appearance, with their first being back in 1998. Ukraine come back having missed out in 2024.

Of the non-qualifiers, Bosnia and Herzegovina miss out for the first time since 2018, while 2024 debutants, Greece also failed to qualify.

The lowest ranked team from the EHF rankings to qualify was Ukraine, ranked 30th. The highest ranked team to not qualify was Greece, ranked 22nd.

Team	Qualification method	Date of qualification	Appearance(s)				Previous best performance[A]	Rank[20]
			Total	First	Last	Streak
Denmark	Host nation	20 November 2021	16th	1994	2024	14	Champions (2008, 2012)	1
Norway			12th	2000		11	Third place (2020)	8
Sweden			16th	1994		10	Champions (1994, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2022)	4
France	Defending champions	26 January 2024	17th			17	Champions (2006, 2010, 2014, 2024)	2
Iceland	Top two in Group 3	15 March 2025	14th	2000		14	Third place (2010)	9
Croatia	Top two in Group 5	15 March 2025	17th	1994		17	Runners-up (2008, 2010, 2020)	5
Slovenia	Top two in Group 1		15th			6	Runners-up (2004)	11
Portugal	Top two in Group 8	16 March 2025	9th			4	Sixth place (2020)	7
Hungary	Top two in Group 2	7 May 2025	15th			12	Fifth place (2024)	6
Czech Republic	Top two in Group 5		13th	1996		5	Sixth place (1996)	17
Germany	Top two in Group 7		16th	1994		6	Champions (2004, 2016)	3
Georgia	Top two in Group 3	8 May 2025	2nd	2024		2	18th place (2024)	26
Montenegro	Top two in Group 2		8th	2008		7	Eleventh place (2022)	14
Spain	Top two in Group 4		17th	1994		17	Champions (2018, 2020)	10
Faroe Islands	Top two in Group 6		2nd	2024		2	20th place (2024)	21
Netherlands			4th	2020		4	Tenth place (2022)	12
Austria	Top two in Group 7	11 May 2025	7th	2010		5	Eighth place (2020, 2024)	13
North Macedonia	Top two in Group 1		9th	1998		8	Fifth place (2012)	19
Poland	Top two in Group 8		12th	2002		4	Fourth place (2010)	16
Serbia	Top two in Group 4		13th	1996		9	Runners-up (2012)	18
Italy	Four best third place teams		2nd	1998		1	Eleventh place (1998)	20
Romania			4th	1994	2024	2	Ninth place (1996)	25
Switzerland			6th	2002		2	Twelfth place (2004)	15
Ukraine			8th	2000	2022	1	Eleventh place (2002)	30

A first draft of the venues was proposed in August 2023.^[21] The tournament will be played across four venues in four cities: one in Denmark (Herning, Groups A and B), one in Norway (Bærum, Groups C and D), and two in Sweden (Malmö and Kristianstad, Groups E and F).^[22] The main round will take place in Herning and Malmö, with the former organising the final weekend.^[23] The following proposed cities in the bid didn't make the final cut: Aarhus and Copenhagen in Denmark, and Bergen, Stavanger and Trondheim in Norway. In regards to Norway, Oslo was chosen over Trondheim, after negotiations with Trondheim fell through due to financial reasons.^[24]

In September 2024, one team per venue was selected. Denmark will play in Herning (Group B), Norway in Bærum (Group C) and Sweden in Malmö (Group E). If they qualify, Germany will play in Herning (Group A), the Faroe Islands in Bærum (Group D) and Iceland in Kristianstad (Group F).^[25] The arena in Kristianstad is renovated with new seats being put in by June 2025.^[26]

• The Jyske Bank Boxen in Herning is the biggest arena in Denmark, seating 15,000. The venue has hosted several handball championships, including: the European Men's Handball Championship in 2014, European Women's Handball Championship in 2010 and 2020, World Men's Handball Championship in 2019 and 2025 and World Women's Handball Championship in 2015 and 2023. It has also held the IIHF World Championship in 2018 and 2025.^[27]

• The Malmö Arena and Malmö was built in 2008. The venue has experience in hosting handball tournaments, previously hosting two World Men's Handball Championships, in 2011 and 2023. In addition to handball, the arena has hosted the Eurovision Song Contest twice in 2013 and 2024, as well as the 2024 Men's World Floorball Championships.^[28][29]

• The Unity Arena in Bærum will host Norway's games for the tournament. It has recently organised the 2025 World Men's Handball Championship as the main host. Outside of sport, it hosted Eurovision in 2010 and the various concerts.^[30][31]

• The Kristianstad Arena in Kristianstad is the smallest arena used for the tournament with a capacity of 4,500. The 2011 World Men's Handball Championship and 2023 World Men's Handball Championship have taken place here.^[32]

Distribution of tournament

Herning will host preliminary, main and knockout round games.[33] Malmö will host preliminary and main round games. Bærum and Kristianstad will host preliminary round games.

Herning, Denmark	Herning Malmö Kristianstad Bærum	Malmö, Sweden
Jyske Bank Boxen		Malmö Arena
Capacity: 15,000		Capacity: 11,800
Bærum, Norway		Kristianstad, Sweden
Unity Arena		Kristianstad Arena
Capacity: 9,000		Capacity: 4,500

Tournament venues information

Venue	Rounds	Games
Jyske Bank Boxen	Group A and B, Main round Group I, Semifinals and Final	29
Malmö Arena	Group E and Main round Group II	18
Unity Arena	Group C and D	12
Kristianstad Arena	Group F	6

The draw took place on 15 May 2025 at 18:00 CEST at the Teatersaalen in Herning, Denmark.^[34][35][36] The draw was hosted by Danish journalist, Mette Cornelius [dk]. Danish international, Simon Pytlick, French national team player, Hugo Descat, Swedish player Andreas Nilsson and former Norwegian left back Kristian Kjelling were the guests and assisted with the draw. The draw started with, in order, pots 1, 2, 3 and 4 being drawn, with each team selected then allocated into the first available group alphabetically.

On 2 September 2024, the three co-hosts were allowed to choose a nation to be drawn in their country if they qualified. Denmark chose Germany, Norway picked Faroe Islands while Sweden selected Iceland.^[37][38][25]

2026 European Men's Handball Championship – Draw

Draw Live Stream

Team	Group
Germany	A
Denmark	B
Norway	C
Faroe Islands	D
Sweden	E
Iceland	F

The seedings were announced on 12 May 2025.^[39]

Group A in Herning

Pos	Team
A1	Germany
A2	Spain
A3	Austria
A4	Serbia

Group B in Herning

Pos	Team
B1	Denmark (H)
B2	Portugal
B3	North Macedonia
B4	Romania

Group C in Bærum

Pos	Team
C1	France
C2	Norway (H)
C3	Czech Republic
C4	Ukraine

Group D in Bærum

Pos	Team
D1	Slovenia
D2	Faroe Islands
D3	Montenegro
D4	Switzerland

Group E in Malmö

Pos	Team
E1	Sweden (H)
E2	Croatia
E3	Netherlands
E4	Georgia

Group F in Kristianstad

Pos	Team
F1	Hungary
F2	Iceland
F3	Poland
F4	Italy

The 18 referee pairs were selected on 8 October 2025.^[40][41] However, on 22 December 2025, the Czech referee pair Václav Horáček [de] and Jiří Novotný [de] withdrew their nomination due to recent injury, getting replaced by the Serbian pair Marko Boričić and Dejan Marković. On 10 January 2026, the EHF withdrew the nomination of the pair from North Macedonia Slave Nikolov [de] and Gjorgji Načevski [de], due to suspected manipulation of a video recording of their Multistage Fitness Test, no other pair was nominated instead, leaving the tournament with only 17 pairs.

Country	Referees	Assigned games
Bosnia and Herzegovina	Amar Konjičanin [de]	Preliminary round: North Macedonia vs Portugal (Group B) Preliminary round: Germany vs Spain (Group A) Main round: France vs Portugal (Group I) Main round: Slovenia vs Croatia (Group II) Main round: Denmark vs Norway (Group I)
	Dino Konjičanin [de]
Denmark	Mads Hansen [de]	Preliminary round: Slovenia vs Montenegro (Group D) Preliminary round: Italy vs Hungary (Group F) Preliminary round: Netherlands vs Georgia (Group E) Main round: Slovenia vs Hungary (Group II) Main round: Spain vs Portugal (Group I)
	Jesper Madsen [de]
Germany	Robert Schulze [de]	Preliminary round: Hungary vs Poland (Group F) Preliminary round: Netherlands vs Croatia (Group E) Main round: Switzerland vs Croatia (Group II) Main round: Sweden vs Hungary (Group E)
	Tobias Tönnies [de]
Hungary	Ádám Bíró	Preliminary round: Norway vs Ukraine (Group C) Preliminary round: Serbia vs Germany (Group A)
	Olivér Kiss
Iceland	Jónas Elíasson [de]	Preliminary round: Spain vs Serbia (Group A) Preliminary round: Czech Republic vs Ukraine (Group C) Main round: Germany vs Norway (Group I) Fifth place game: Portugal vs Sweden
	Anton Pálsson [de]
Lithuania	Tomas Barysas	Preliminary round: France vs Czech Republic (Group C) Preliminary round: Romania vs Denmark (Group B)
	Povilas Petrušis
Moldova	Igor Covalciuc [de]	Preliminary round: Denmark vs North Macedonia (Group B) Preliminary round: France vs Norway (Group C)
	Alexei Covalciuc [de]
Montenegro	Ivan Pavićević [de]	Preliminary round: Germany vs Austria (Group A) Preliminary round: Czech Republic vs Norway (Group C) Preliminary round: Denmark vs Portugal (Group B) Main round: Spain vs Norway (Group I) Main round: Germany vs Denmark (Group I) Final: Denmark vs Germany
	Miloš Ražnatović [de]
North Macedonia	Dimitar Mitrevski	Preliminary round: Sweden vs Netherlands (Group E) Preliminary round: Hungary vs Iceland (Group F)
	Blagojche Todorovski
Norway	Lars Jørum [de]	Preliminary round: Switzerland vs Slovenia (Group D) Preliminary round: Poland vs Italy (Group F) Main round: Iceland vs Sweden (Group II) Main round: Croatia vs Hungary (Group II) Semifinal: Denmark vs Iceland
	Håvard Kleven [de]
Portugal	Daniel Martins [de]	Preliminary round: Montenegro vs Faroe Islands (Group D) Preliminary round: Sweden vs Croatia (Group E) Main round: Switzerland vs Hungary (Group II) Main round: Slovenia vs Iceland (Group II)
	Roberto Martins [de]
Serbia	Marko Boričić	Preliminary round: Poland vs Iceland (Group F) Preliminary round: Georgia vs Sweden (Group E) Main round: Spain vs Denmark (Group I) Main round: Germany vs France (Group I)
	Dejan Marković
Slovenia	Bojan Lah [de]	Preliminary round: Austria vs Spain (Group A) Preliminary round: North Macedonia vs Romania (Group B) Main round: France vs Denmark (Group I) Main round: Portugal vs Norway (Group I) Semifinal: Germany vs Croatia
	David Sok [de]
Spain	Andreú Marin [de]	Preliminary round: Iceland vs Italy (Group F) Preliminary round: Slovenia vs Faroe Islands (Group D) Main round: Slovenia vs Sweden (Group II) Main round: Switzerland vs Iceland (Group II) Third place game: Iceland vs Croatia
	Ignacio García [de]
	Javier Álvarez	Preliminary round: Poland vs Iceland (Group F) Preliminary round: Georgia vs Sweden (Group E) Main round: Spain vs Denmark (Group I) Main round: Germany vs France (Group I)
	Ion Bustamante [de]
Sweden	Mirza Kurtagic [de]	Preliminary round: Portugal vs Romania (Group B) Preliminary round: Austria vs Serbia (Group A) Main round: Germany vs Portugal (Group I) Main round: Spain vs France (Group I)
	Mattias Wetterwik [de]
Turkey	Kürşad Erdoğan	Preliminary round: Faroe Islands vs Switzerland (Group D) Preliminary round: Ukraine vs France (Group C)
	İbrahim Özdeniz

Each team consists of up to 20 players, of whom 16 may be fielded for each match.^[42] If an injury occurred during the tournament, the competing teams would be able to replaced the injured player with someone who was in the provisional squad. A maximum of six replacements would be allowed during the tournament.

The teams ranked fourth in each group after the completion of the preliminary round matches will be ranked 19 to 24, while teams ranked third in each group after the completion of the preliminary round matches will be ranked 13 to 18 according to the number of points won in the preliminary round. Places seven and eight will be attributed to the two teams ranked fourth in the main round groups, places nine and ten to the two teams ranked fifth in the main round groups, places eleven and twelve to the two teams ranked sixth in the main round groups according to the number of points won by the respective teams after completion of the main round matches. Places one to six will be decided by play–off or knock–out.

Team	Previous	New
Portugal	6th (2020)	5th
Faroe Islands	20th (2024)	13th

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Final result
1	Denmark (H)	9	8	0	1	306	244	+62	16	Champions
2	Germany	9	6	0	3	275	274	+1	12	Runners-up
3	Croatia	9	7	0	2	268	258	+10	14	Third place
4	Iceland	9	5	1	3	296	263	+33	11	Fourth place
5	Portugal	8	4	2	2	274	267	+7	10	Fifth place game
6	Sweden (H)	8	5	1	2	270	240	+30	11
7	France	7	4	0	3	267	232	+35	8	Fourth in main round
8	Slovenia	7	4	0	3	231	237	−6	8
9	Norway (H)	7	3	1	3	224	222	+2	7	Fifth in main round
10	Hungary	7	2	2	3	202	194	+8	6
11	Spain	7	3	0	4	219	224	−5	6	Sixth in main round
12	Switzerland	7	1	3	3	218	221	−3	5
13	Faroe Islands	3	1	1	1	92	82	+10	3	Third in preliminary round
14	North Macedonia	3	1	1	1	77	88	−11	3
15	Netherlands	3	1	0	2	91	97	−6	2
16	Austria	3	1	0	2	78	85	−7	2
17	Czech Republic	3	1	0	2	91	100	−9	2
18	Italy	3	1	0	2	81	99	−18	2
19	Serbia	3	1	0	2	82	82	0	2	Fourth in preliminary round
20	Georgia	3	0	0	3	84	101	−17	0
21	Poland	3	0	0	3	72	89	−17	0
22	Romania	3	0	0	3	81	103	−22	0
23	Montenegro	3	0	0	3	90	121	−31	0
24	Ukraine	3	0	0	3	77	123	−46	0

Rank[45] Team Qualification WC EC  Denmark Q Q  Germany Q q2  Croatia Q 4  Iceland 5  Portugal Q 6  Sweden q2 7  France q3 (S) 8  Slovenia 9  Norway 10  Hungary 11  Spain Q 12   Switzerland 13  Faroe Islands q2 14  North Macedonia 15  Netherlands 16  Austria 17  Czech Republic q3 18  Italy 19  Serbia q2 (S) 20  Georgia 21  Poland 22  Romania 23  Montenegro 24  Ukraine Q Qualified directly to the final tournament q2 Qualification phase 2 q3 Qualification phase 3 (S) Seeded Method of qualification Qualified for the phase indicated based on this tournament Qualified for the final tournament as host Qualified for the final tournament as defending champion

2026 European Men's Handball Championship Denmark Third title Team roster: Niclas Kirkeløkke, Magnus Landin, Emil Jakobsen, Rasmus Lauge, Emil Nielsen, Magnus Saugstrup, Mathias Gidsel, Kevin Møller, Mads Mensah Larsen, Lukas Jørgensen, Jóhan á Plógv Hansen, Lasse Andersson, Emil Bergholt, Simon Hald, Mads Hoxer, Thomas Arnoldsen, Simon Pytlick, Frederik Bo Andersen, Mads Svane Knudsen, Lasse Kjær Møller. Head Coach: Nikolaj Jacobsen All Star Team The all-star team was announced on 1 February 2026.[46] Position Player Most valuable player Mathias Gidsel Best defender Salvador Salvador Best young player Francisco Costa Goalkeeper Andreas Wolff Right wing Mario Šoštarić Right back Francisco Costa Centre back Gísli Þorgeir Kristjánsson Left back Simon Pytlick Left wing August Pedersen Pivot Johannes Golla