Draw procedure for 2026 Qualifiers released; new final tournament for EHF EURO Cup

European Handball Federation

11 March 2025, 10:30

MEDIA RELEASE: The draw for the Women’s EHF EURO 2026 Qualifiers will take place in Cluj-Napoca, Romania on 20 March; EHF EURO Cup with new format culminates in September 2026.

On Thursday, 20 March 2025, 24 teams will discover the route they must navigate if they are to book one of the 16 remaining places at the Women’s EHF EURO 2026 when the draw for the Qualifiers takes place in Cluj-Napoca, Romania (17:00 CET).

The European Handball Federation will stream the draw live on its ‘Home of Handball’ YouTube channel (geo-blocking applies).

The final tournament of the Women’s EHF EURO 2026 is taking place from 3 to 20
December 2026 in five host nations: Poland, Romania, Czechia, Slovakia and Türkiye.

All five have qualified automatically for the 24-team tournament, as have the three medallists from the Women’s EHF EURO 2024, winners Norway, runners-up Denmark and third-placed Hungary. As they will not take part in qualification, these eight nations will contest the EHF EURO Cup.

Belgium, Bosnia Herzegovina and Lithuania were the three sides to advance from the Qualifiers’ first phase held between 7 and 9 March, and they will join 21 other nations in phase 2 in the hunt for the remaining 16 places.

For the draw, the 24 teams have been split into four pots of six teams and will be drawn into six groups of four. The pots are determined by the current EHF Women’s National Team Ranking.

POT 1: France, Sweden, Netherlands, Germany, Montenegro, Spain
POT 2: Slovenia, Croatia, Austria, Switzerland, Serbia, Iceland
POT 3: North Macedonia, Ukraine, Portugal, Italy, Greece, Kosovo
POT 4: Faroe Islands, Finland, Israel, Bosnia Herzegovina, Lithuania, Belgium

Teams will play the other three sides in their group home and away, totalling six rounds of fixtures, played in three periods of two matches each.

The first period will take place from 15 to 19 October 2025, the second period from 4 to 8 March 2026 and the third one from 8 to 12 April 2026.

The top two teams in each of the six groups will qualify for the Women’s EHF EURO 2026, as will the four best third-placed teams.

New format for EHF EURO Cup

The Women’s EHF EURO Cup 2026 matches will be played on the same dates as the Qualifiers and will see the eight participating teams split into two groups of four:

GROUP 1: Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia
GROUP 2: Denmark, Hungary, Czechia, Türkiye

With eight teams participating instead of the usual four, the EHF EURO Cup will culminate in a final tournament for the first time.

The top two teams in each group will qualify for this tournament which is scheduled to be played in the women’s national team week from 21 to 27 September 2026.