Hungary join Sweden in the final of the Men's 20 EHF EURO 2026

• Hungary will meet Sweden, the only unbeaten team still in the competition, in the final on Sunday, 19 July at 18:30 CEST 
• Slovenia will play the bronze medal match against Denmark, who failed to beat the Men's 18 EHF EURO champions from 2024, Sweden, earlier in the day. The match is scheduled for Sunday, 19 July at 16:00 CEST
• Hungary made a step forward from their Men's 18 EHF EURO campaign in 2024, where they won the bronze medal match, winning against Iceland 36:34 in overtime 
• Slovenia booked their quarter-final appearance at the competition as one of the two best third-ranked teams in the main round, but have now failed to go all the way to the end
• Same as the first semi-final, the clash between Slovenia and Hungary was followed by well-known faces in the handball world: Nikola Eklemović, a former Veszprem player whose son plays for the Hungarian national team, Hungarian legend and two-time EHF Champions League winner with Barça, László Nagy and Portugal senior national team coach Paulo Pereira 

SEMI-FINAL 

Slovenia vs Hungary 24:31 (11:15)

Top scorers: Tjaž Štaleker 13/15 (SLO), Máté Fazekas 7/9 (HUN)
Players of the Match: Tjaž Štaleker (SLO), László Várady-Szabó (HUN)

The opening moments of the match saw a few mistakes resulting in stolen balls on both sides, making the first minutes of the game equal. From the 9th minute onwards, when the scoreboard said 4:4, Hungary went for a 4-0 series and created an early lead which Slovenia had to chase until the end of the half-time. Strong defence on the Hungarian side, and a few mistakes from the Slovenians, created a situation in which 'Fantje's' goal droughts lasted for six minutes, bringing the Hungarians to a seven-goal lead in the 26th minute of the game. Finally, Tjaž Štaleker scored two of the next three goals for Slovenia, going on a break with four goals behind (11:15).  

The break just fueled Hungary's thirst for the final, as they continued building on their advantage from the first half. With a strong defence on the six-metre line, and backed up by their goalkeeper László Várady-Szabó, who started saving shot after a shot, Slovenia looked desperate at times. Hungary went to seal the deal with the seven-goal load and Várady-Szabó added 10 saves and 38.46 per cent save efficiency. 

Main image: Flaviu Buboi / FRH