Spain take men's title, Hungary win women's trophy in Zagreb

Men's 17 EHF Beach Handball EURO 2026

• Spain finally got the gold again, having won it before in 2017 but finishing runners-up in the last three editions — including last year, when they lost the final to Germany
• the defending champions arrived with a clean sheet in the final as they had not lost a single set so far, but that changed in the opening set, which was dominated by Spain, 28:22
• guided by eventual MVP of the tournament Dave Biyah, Germany recovered well and were in command of the second set (24:20) to carry the final into a shootout
• Spain stayed flawless on their four attempts in the shootout and could start celebrating when Tade Freymuth hit the post and became the second German player to miss
• tournament top scorer Pau Fernandez was Spain's leading shooter in the final with 22 points to raise his total to 181, while Nikolas Knipping led for Germany with 16 points 
• the result made Spain the first nation to win the M17 EHF Beach Handball EURO twice; the five previous editions since 2017 had five different winners
• the bronze medal went to Hungary after they narrowly defeated Norway 2:1 (22:26, 23:20, 12:10) in the 3/4 placement
• Lucas Jørgensen was the best scorer this match with 16 points for Norway, which still celebrated their best ever result in the competition
• in the semi-finals earlier Sunday, Spain proved too strong for Hungary and defeated the 2023 champions 2:0 (28:16, 36:28)
• Germany overcame a shaky start in their duel with first-time semi-finalists Norway before taking a 2:0 (17:16, 34:16) win
• the defending champions only took the up-and-down first set on a Nikolas Knipping's buzzer beater, but then completely dominated the second

Women's 17 EHF Beach Handball EURO 2026

• Hungary came out on top of a tense final against Spain, claiming their second title after 2021
• the defending champions let a 13:10 lead slip after six minutes of the opening set, but bounced back convincingly in the second to take the final into a shootout
• both teams had missed once when Csenge Gerzanics saved the fifth attempt for Spain from Berta Buded, meaning Hungary needed only one more point for the victory
• Dorka Borbás held her nerves and easily scored the goal that brought Hungary the gold medal
• Hungary are the third nation to win the W17 EHF Beach Handball EURO twice, after Spain (2019, 2015) and the Netherlands (2017, 2023); the latter did not take part in this championship
• Germany took bronze for a second time after 2019, following a tight 2:0 (20:19, 22:20) win over Croatia in the 3/4 placement match
• Croatia could not hold on to substantial leads in both sets, even by up to eight points in the second
• in the semi-finals earlier Sunday, Spain came from behind to win a thriller against Croatia, 2:1 (14:20, 21:20, 13:12)
• all shooters were flawless in a nail-biting shootout until Croatia first missed at 12:12; however, Spain then missed as well, before Iris Santana converted the team's next chance needing just a one-pointer
• Hungary outscored Germany 2:0 (27:14, 26:20) in the other semi-final, just two days after Germany had won their duel in the main round 2:1 last Friday
• Csenge Gerzanics, later named the MVP of the tournament, led for Hungary with 15 points; Luisa Paul had 14 for Germany

main image © Uros Hocevar / kolektiff