Sweden take first victory; France win 2024 final rematch
The Men's EHF EURO Cup 2026 continued with the three co-hosts of the upcoming event and current EURO title holders France back on court for their third clashes in the series on Wednesday night. Sweden opened the evening of action with their first victory in the Cup, as they recorded an emphatic win over Norway, 38:29. The second game of the night, a rematch of the EHF EURO 2024 Final between France and Denmark, saw France beat Denmark 33:22.
It was amazing to play in front of 11,000 fans in my home town, in front of my family. It was really important for us to get a win after the tough World Championship, and hopefully we continue to look forward and perform as good as I know we can perform.
If we look at the first 20, 25 minutes, we played pretty good. We had an OK defence and a good attack, then we started to make mistakes and Sweden got the momentum. They kept going and we didn’t have answers to that. They had a good defence and were better at almost everything in front of a their fans. It was the first time for me playing in the Globe (Avicii Arena) and it was a great atmosphere.
Tonight, we had a real game, with everything we love. There were no stakes, but symbolically, it meant a lot. I really appreciated the way the players committed themselves to this match, which was not an easy one. Even though the performance was far from perfect, we had a great evening with the Lyon crowd.
Of course, it's disappointing that we didn't win today, but it's also a tough atmosphere where we actually played some good handball. We made some silly mistakes towards the end, which allowed them to quickly come back and take the lead in the match. Overall it was a fine effort, as we tried many new formations, but of course, we would like to get revenge on Saturday.
