Summary: Germany, Croatia & Iceland join Denmark in semis
The final day of the Men's EHF EURO 2026 main round was one of the most exciting days of the tournament so far. Germany booked their place in the semi-finals after defeating France; Croatia and Iceland won in Malmö to progress; and Portugal and Sweden are set for the 5/6 placement game.
The anticipation for the final weekend is huge, because you’re still involved in the tournament right until the end. Many teams at our hotel have already left; we’re still here, we’re staying until the very end and we still have tasks ahead of us. That’s a very special feeling.
In the crucial moments we were maybe smarter and take the lead in the second half with some saves. I think we deserve this win, I’m so proud. This team, from the first game we came here with big dreams and now we are here, we are living these dreams, we are in the semi-finals and it’s so nice.
I’m just unbelievably happy, of course. I’m proud of the guys, of the team. It’s, of course, a huge moment for us, not often that we are in the semis, so just a big compliment on all the players and the team and the fans. It was a great game.
We had a little time to regenerate, but it’s our last game, our last chance to come to semi-finals. We will do everything we can to win this game and to hope that the Swiss win against Sweden, so we are in the semi-finals.
It was an emotional day for us yesterday, we had really big lows and really big highs. We are just thankful that we still have a chance, and really looking forward to the game today. We need to play better than yesterday, we need to be a little bit more composed and stick together in the defence.
14:55
Just over half an hour until throw-off for the early matches, and here's some of today's facts and stats:
- both Slovenia and Iceland have won 36 EHF EURO matches in their history; on a head-to-head basis, Slovenia have won four to Iceland's one
- victory for Spain over Portugal would be their 80th EHF EURO win
- Martim Costa, Francisco Costa and António Areia have all joined the top five Portuguese scorers of all time at the EHF EURO during this tournament; Francisco Costa is currently level with Mathias Gidsel on 47 goals as the top scorer of the EHF EURO 2026
- Germany are hunting their 60th EHF EURO win and only their second against France at the tournament, although things are more even across all official meetings where Germany have won 14 matches, France 17, and there have been four draws
- it is 30 years since Croatia have beaten Hungary at an EHF EURO - they have met three times at the European championship since then, with Hungary winning every time
- one goal for Sander Sagosen puts him on 225 all-time EHF EURO goals
- in four EHF EURO meetings, Norway have beaten Denmark once, in 2006
- Switzerland's best-ever EHF EURO finish was 12th, in 2004 - they could beat that tonight with a strong performance against Sweden
14:30
Our social media team have been creating so much great content during the tournament. The Home of Handball on Instagram has a particularly strong meme game, make sure you follow them!
14:15
Time is ticking fast towards throw-off for the first games of the day. Here's the stat of the day, focusing on how fast France have been scoring through this tournament. Very few teams have managed to slow them down so far!
13:50
In a series of meetings between neighbours and familiar rivals, tonight's game between France and Germany is perhaps the match between the two teams who know each other best. Although they have both gone through a change in generations lately, you can always guarantee an exciting match when these two giants of handball meet. Kevin Domas and Björn Pazen have picked out the top six previous games for you.
