Romania and Bulgaria secure M18 EHF Championships 2026 crowns

The 14 best teams who did not make it to the Men's 18 EHF EURO 2026 competed in the two M18 EHF Championships, organised in North Macedonia and Georgia.

The M18 EHF Championship I took place in Skopje, North Macedonia, between 3 and 9 August, and featured eight teams who began their journeys in two preliminary round groups that determined the path to the trophy.

Six other nations battled on the court in Telavi, Georgia, between 2 and 9 August for the M18 EHF Championship II, and participated in a round-robin preliminary group before continuing to the matches for the final standings.

M18 EHF Championship I (Skopje, MKD)

• before meeting in the final clash for the title, Romania and Lithuania first locked horns in group A of the preliminary round, when the Romanians took a narrow two-goal win (34:32)
• the Lithuanians had a chance at revenge in the grand final, but could not withstand the Romanian power and were already down by eight at half-time (12:20); despite nine goals by left back Šarunas Vižinis, Lithuania settled for the silver medal following their 23:32 loss against Romania
• the bronze medal match also featured two sides who previously met in the preliminary round — Greece had a flawless start to the tournament with three consecutive victories, including a convincing 41:24 over Luxembourg in group B
• after their defeat in the semi-finals against eventual champions Romania, the Greeks — featuring the competition’s top scorer Evangelos Evgenidis with 38 goals overall — got back to winning ways and clinched bronze with a 35:29 victory against Luxembourg
• with no points under their belt in the preliminary round, Estonia hoped to make a better impression in the following games — and they managed to finish the tournament on a high, with the 28:18 victory over Netherlands, which helped them celebrate fifth place

The full results, final positions and standings of the M18 EHF Championship I can be found here.

M18 EHF Championship II (Telavi, GEO)

• the M18 EHF Championship II in Georgia provided tight clashes from the very beginning, with Bulgaria, Georgia and Belgium all fighting for the first spot in the preliminary round — they managed to end this stage on eight points each
• second-placed in the group, Georgia faced leaders Bulgaria in the battle for the trophy; the hosts were aiming high after the first encounter between the two, when Georgia dealt Bulgaria their only defeat in the preliminary round (32:35)
• but the Bulgarians stepped up their game when it mattered the most, and boosted by Daniel Ivanov’s 13 goals, they went on to celebrate the title following a 35:28 victory over Georgia
• the Bulgarian centre back finished as the top scorer of the competition with 56 goals to his name
• a fantastic performance by Thiebe Fiers, who netted 18 times in the bronze medal match against Kosovo, propelled Belgium to a 37:32 win to clinch the last step of the podium
• failing to secure any points in the preliminary round group, Cyprus hoped to end the tournament on a positive note; they took control of the 5/6 placement match, leading Great Britain by 13:10 at half-time, then sealed the deal with a 27:22 victory

The full results, final positions and standings of the M18 EHF Championship II can be found here.

Main photo © Denis Dukovski