France, Netherlands, Germany book EHF EURO tickets
Round 4 of the Women’s EHF EURO 2026 Qualifiers concluded on Sunday. A trio of EHF EURO regulars booked their tickets to the final tournament as France, the Netherlands and Germany secured their fourth consecutive wins. Italy ended their long losing streak, while Finland, Ukraine and Portugal claimed dramatic victories.
It was a tough match in a fantastic atmosphere. After the first 15 minutes, we ran out of strength and energy, and the experienced French players took advantage of that. We tried to respond with some changes in the second half, but it didn’t work. As the half went on, a bit of fear also crept into our game, while the French were playing at 200 per cent. It’s never nice to lose by such a big margin.
We still have two matches ahead of us, which I hope will take us to the European Championship, but we have to do better than this.
There were many positive things tonight; everyone had the chance to play and express themselves. It was a very strong collective performance. We conceded very few goals thanks to our excellent goalkeepers, and I also think we defended very well. We managed to apply the instructions we were given, which is very positive.
Qualification is now secured against a strong European nation. I think we train really well and everyone is very focused. We make the most of the time we have together. It’s a great group and we get along very well. Playing in this jersey at the Arènes is amazing. I’m very happy to have experienced that. Singing La Marseillaise here in Metz was truly a special moment.
It took some time to find our rhythm and we missed a lot of chances. Overall, though, we controlled the game and in the end we got the points, which is the most important thing. That’s what you play for — to qualify for the European Championship. The fact that we’ve already secured that with two games to go is just great.
It was much better than the last game. We played more aggressively. They made more changes than they did in the previous match, but I think we can still be proud that we performed better than on Thursday.
I’m very happy — it was a great game. The team was very focused on defence, and as a result we were able to take advantage of our fast-paced attack. We used all the players on the roster and played proactively, with a style that I think should be typical of the Italian team.
Tonight, Italy were great — there’s nothing more to say. At home we played better, but tonight it was a different story. Italy showed more grit, more desire and more determination. They really wanted to win. We came into the game without energy, and in the end Italy deserved the victory.
It was like a déjà vu for us, playing at home three months after the World Championship on home soil, with a great atmosphere and a clear win. Personally, it was my 150th international match and we secured our EHF EURO ticket — what more could you ask for from one game? It was fun to play. Our start was brilliant and our defence was extremely strong. Now we can start preparing for the EURO, already in our last two qualifiers against Belgium and North Macedonia.
It was a really tough match and Germany were the better team. It was nice to play in a sold-out arena, even though we clearly lost. We can still qualify for the EHF EURO if we beat Belgium and North Macedonia.
We knew it wouldn’t be easy and that Iceland are not a team to underestimate. It has been a tough week for us after the unexpected defeat in Iceland, but we showed character in the last 20 minutes, broke our opponent’s resistance and secured an important victory.
It was a good match for us until the 40th minute. Then our performance dropped, and Montenegro went on a great run that ultimately decided the match in their favour.
We were affected by the fact that some of our players have been struggling recently. From a physical standpoint, we also lacked some sharpness — not only in finishing, but also in building defensive combinations. We are not used to playing with this level of intensity, and that is something that weighs heavily.
The most important thing, however, is that we won. We are still in the fight and still depend on ourselves. I also want to highlight the players, who were exceptional. Some of them made an incredible effort just to be fit for today, and that deserves special recognition.
I think it was very chaotic. In the first half, we started very badly. We lost balls, our fast breaks were poor and we weren’t efficient enough. In the second half, we improved in defence and started scoring some goals, but it wasn’t enough to come back.
