Hosts Bulgaria will welcome Cyprus, Great Britain and Malta for a pulsating round-robin tournament held over three days, with the winner moving onto the promotion round, due to be held in January 2026.
The winner will be joined in the promotion round by the four lowest-ranked teams from Men's EHF EURO 2024 qualification (Latvia, Luxembourg, Kosovo and Belgium), plus the best-ranked European team from the 2023 IHF Emerging Nations Championship.
Cyprus finished as runners-up to Cuba in the 2023 event, meaning they are guaranteed a promotion round place. Should Cyprus win the qualifiers phase 1 tournament, that place goes to Bulgaria, who finished third at the IHF Emerging Nations.
Great Britain and Malta, therefore, must finish first this weekend in Varna to keep their EHF EURO 2028 dreams alive.
The British will be confident following their first-place finish at this stage of Men's EHF EURO 2026 qualification, ahead of Cyprus and Malta, before succumbing to Kosovo in the promotion round. Malta, meanwhile, impressed on their last visit to Varna, beating Azerbaijan 31:20 in 2023.
The action begins on Friday 11 January at 15:00 CET, with Great Britain taking on Malta, before the host nation take to the court for the first time at 17:30 CET against Cyprus.
Bulgaria will play Malta on Saturday, after the meeting between Great Britain and Cyprus, before the climax on Sunday with Malta playing Cyprus before Bulgaria take on Great Britain.
The Men's EHF EURO 2028, featuring 24 teams, is due to begin on 13 January 2028 and be played in seven host cities across Portugal, Spain and Switzerland
Men's EHF EURO 2028
QUALIFIERS PHASE 1
(All times CET)
Friday 10 January 2025
15:00 - Great Britain vs Malta
17:30 - Cyprus vs Bulgaria
Saturday 11 January 2025
15:00 - Cyprus vs Great Britain
17:30 - Bulgaria vs Malta
Sunday 12 January 2025
13:00 - Malta vs Cyprus
15:30 - Bulgaria vs Great Britain
Every match will be shown live on EHFTV.
Photo © Nikolle QUNI
