33 teams go for glory at YAC 17 EHF Beach Handball EURO 2026

Both competitions start on Wednesday, with the preliminary round consisting of four groups. The top three teams from each group advance to the main round on Friday and Saturday, followed by the quarter-finals later Saturday, and the semi-finals and medal matches on Sunday.

During the five-day event, all matches on all four courts will be shown live on EHFTV; a tournament pass for €4,99 gives viewers access to all the livestreams.

Men’s 17 EHF Beach Handball EURO 2026

• the 2025 champions Germany start their title defence in group D, where last year’s bronze medallists Czechia are the first opponents, followed by Serbia and Sweden
• Germany beat Czechia 2:0 in the semi-finals in Alanya a year ago
• runners-up in each of the last three editions, Spain are up against France in group A, which also includes Ukraine and Türkiye
• Hungary hope to return to the throne, a year after the 2023 champions were beaten in the semi-finals and finished fourth
• in group B, Hungary face Italy, Switzerland and Norway
• Croatia have not returned to the podium in the three events since winning their maiden title at M17 level in 2019
• the hosts meet Bulgaria, Romania and Poland in group C

Women’s 17 EHF Beach Handball EURO 2026

• defending their second title, 2025 champions Spain open their campaign in group C against Slovakia, Romania and Ukraine
• coming off the country’s best result in the competition’s history, last year’s silver medallists Norway are up against 2021 winners Hungary in group B
• the group also includes 2023 bronze medallists Sweden, and Italy
• last year, Hungary missed the semi-finals only for the second time in any women’s YAC EHF Beach Handball EURO (W16, 17, 18, or 19) since those events were first held in 2008
• last year’s bronze medallists France have a preliminary round meeting coming up with Germany, the team they beat 2:0 in the 3/4 placement match in Alanya
• the other contenders in group A — the only group with five teams — are Bulgaria, Switzerland, and Serbia
• Croatia aim for their first medal at W17 level and the hosts throw off their campaign against Türkiye, Czechia and Poland in group D

Photos © Uros Hocevar / kolektiff