Rematch of 2022 final on day one in Vienna

Group II features the defending title holders Norway, who won the last two EHF EURO trophies, as well as two teams that played the semi-finals at the last four editions: the Netherlands (bronze medallists in 2018 and runners-up in 2016) and Denmark (runners-up in 2022 and fourth in 2020).

The group sees the sides that contested preliminary round groups D, E and F cross over. The three winners of the respective groups — Denmark, Norway and the Netherlands — start the main round with two points in their accounts, carried from the preliminary round, while Switzerland, Slovenia and Germany begin on zero.

GROUP II

Switzerland vs Germany
Thursday 5 December, 15:30 CET, live on EHFTV

• both Germany and Switzerland made it into the main round with wins in the last games of the preliminary round, which secured their places in second on their respective tables
• playing in group D in Basel, Switzerland recorded their first EHF EURO wins ever, after making their major tournament debut in 2022; in 2024, they defeated the Faroe Islands in round 1 and Croatia in round 3, but lost to Denmark
• in group F in Innsbruck, Germany beat Ukraine in round 1, lost to the Netherlands in round 2 then won the direct battle for the next stage against Iceland on Tuesday night
• while Switzerland will play their maiden main round campaign, Germany have more experience in this stage, having not missed the EURO main round since 2010 and being regular participants in final tournaments
• this will be the third mutual encounter between Switzerland and Germany, with Germany having won both times before, in the EHF EURO 2016 Qualifiers

Netherlands vs Slovenia
Thursday 5 December, 18:00 CET, live on EHFTV

• the Netherlands finished top of group F with a perfect record of wins while Slovenia came in second in group E behind Norway — the only team against whom they lost
• Slovenia, with an almost completely changed squad following their debut Olympic Games appearance at Paris 2024, only just made it into the main round after a one-goal win against EHF EURO 2024 co-hosts Austria, who were knocked out of the competition with that result
• Slovenia centre back Tjaša Stanko enters the main round as top scorer of the EHF EURO 2024, with 24 goals, and with the second most assists, at 18
• this will be the third official match between the sides, with the teams having taken one win apiece; Slovenia’s victory was in the opening game of the 2019 IHF Women’s World Championship, when the Netherlands went on to secure the title
• aside from the world title, the Netherlands’ best results have been four world and European medals between 2015 and 2018; Slovenia’s top ranking at a major competition was eighth, achieved at the EHF EURO 2022 and 2003 World Championship

Denmark vs Norway
Thursday 5 December, 20:30 CET, live on EHFTV

• this game is a rematch of the EHF EURO 2022 final, won by Norway, after Denmark beat Norway for the first time since 2012 at the end of the main round in the same tournament; Norway also won the 2024 Olympic and 2023 World Championship semi-finals against Denmark
• the Scandinavian neighbours have a long history against each other, with the historic balance showing 22 wins for Norway and nine for Denmark; five of those encounters were EURO finals
• the two sides lead the record for title wins at the Women’s EHF EURO, with nine for Norway and three for Denmark; no other nation has won the trophy more than once
• the last time Norway did not qualify for the semi-finals at a major tournament was at the EHF EURO 2018; the last time Denmark were not among the top four was at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, for which they did not qualify, but they were also semi-finalists at the EHF EURO 2020 before missing the Games
• both teams reached the main round as group winners, having taken three victories in as many games — Denmark topped group D ahead of Switzerland, Faroe Islands and Croatia, while Norway were first in group E ahead of Slovenia, Austria and Slovakia

Photos © EHF/kolektiff