Live blog: France race into early lead; Spain with advantage

• day 1 of the Men's EHF EURO 2026 preliminary round
• at 18:00 CET, Spain vs Serbia, France vs Czechia
• at 20:30 CET, Germany vs Austria, Norway vs Ukraine
• read the day preview
• find out how to follow the men's EHF EURO online, on TV and on social media
• vote for the Player of the Match on the Home of Handball app, 15 minutes before each game's final whistle
  
  

Thursday 15 January

17:40

The 16-man squads for all four teams in this first timeslot are now available - just click through to the match pages: Spain vs Serbia, and France vs Czechia to see who's been selected.

There are plenty of EURO debutants. Spain have several, including Ian Barrufet, the EHF European League 2024/25 top scorer. Serbia also have a few debutants. 

For France, Aymeric Zaepfel, the late replacement for Nédim Rémili, and Wallem-Konrad Peleka earn their first EURO jerseys. None of Czechia's players have a huge amount of EURO experience save for 36-year-old goalkeeper Tomáš Mrkva, who is playing his 24th EHF EURO match.

17:15

Just 45 minutes now until throw-off!

Some stats for you on the first games: the match between Spain and Serbia is their first meeting at an EHF EURO. Aleix Gómez needs just four goals to get to 100 EURO goals in his career, and Spain's third goal will be their 3,200th EURO goal ever. 

For France versus Czechia, the defending champions are the favourites - but Czechia have won two of their three EHF EURO meetings in history. That said, the last victory for Czechia against France at a EURO was in 2004, and their last victory over France in any competition was in 2008 in an EHF EURO qualifying match.

16:55

Serbia are now starting their warm-up too in Herning, while the group of Spaniards who were idly kicking a ball around have disappeared again.

Football has definitely been a thing on teams' social media channels this week ...

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by TeamNL Handbalheren (@teamnlhandbalheren)

16:35

Spain are first on court to start their warm-ups in Herning, a few players emerging to start passing the ball around.

16:15

Less than two hours remain before the Men's EHF EURO throws off. The Jyske Bank Boxen is looking great and we can't wait to welcome the teams for the first game at 18:00 CET.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by EHF EURO (@ehfeuro)

15:15

We are about to head over to the Jyske Bank Boxen, where we'll be covering tonight's action in both Herning and Oslo with the help of the team on the ground in both venues. 

For those of you at home, don't forget that the EHF EURO is being shown live by EHFTV, with English commentary of all matches (geo-restrictions and subscriptions apply) as well as by broadcasters around the world. Click here for all the information you need on where to watch.

14:30

Here's the stat of the day - discipline. Spain were one of the most disciplined teams at the EHF EURO 2024, incurring only 4.7 penalty minutes on average per game, while Serbia had an average of 10 penalty minutes per game. The Balkan side will have to watch out and not give their opponents tonight those easy chances.

14:00

There's lots of fun and games going on in each team camp before the serious stuff starts later. 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by HandballAustria (@handballaustria)

13:35

Before the tournament, we profiled five young players we expect to make a splash during the tournament. Two of them - Germany's Marko Grgić, and Spain's Ian Barrufet - are likely to take the court tonight. Grgić is 22, and Barrufet only 21, but they could well play important roles in their teams' chances. 

Find out more about Barrufet, Grgić and the other young stars - Portugal's Francisco Costa, Sweden's Nikola Roganović and the Faroe Islands' Óli Mittún - here.

13:10

Make sure you've downloaded the official Home of Handball app before the games start - the app is your one-stop shop to follow the EHF EURO and take part through the Game Hub. There, you can play the match predictor, powered by Gorenje, with the chance of some very nice prizes including tickets for the EHF EURO 2028!

If you win 'The Spin' league, you can even win a signed jersey. Click here to join the league.

The app is available on iOS and Android. Click here for more.

12:45

A match that we are definitely looking forward to tonight is Germany vs Austria. It's become a classic clash in the last few years. The two sides have met at least once in the last three EHF EURO tournaments, with Austria snatching a 22:22 draw in Cologne in the main round two years ago. Since then, they have played three more times, in the Olympic Games and EHF EURO qualifying tournaments, with Germany winning twice and one draw in Austria.

Will tonight be the night Austria finally beat Germany? EHF journalist Björn Pazen caught up with goalkeeper Constantin Möstl and centre back Lukas Hutecek to find out how they are feeling ahead of the game (with bonus adorable pictures thanks to our photographer Eva Manhart).

12:20

A couple of injury updates from yesterday: Hungary will miss their line player Bence Bánhidi due to a foot injury. Bánhidi was unable to travel with his team to Kristianstad. Adrián Sipos assumes the captaincy and his deputy will be Patrik Ligetvári.

Meanwhile Germany play without Nils Lichtlein; the centre back injured his left foot in training on Monday. However, Renārs Uščins, who injured his ankle in the test match against Croatia, is able to play.

The Faroe Islands could be without their star Elias á Skipagøtu, who had a shoulder injury in December. Latest reports suggest á Skipagøtu will not play a full role in the opening games, putting pressure on the rest of what is still a pretty inexperienced, albeit talented, side.

12:00

The EHF EURO 2026 is finally here! It's a tournament which has got a lot of people excited, with co-hosts Denmark riding Olympic and World Championship success but in a 14-year drought for EURO gold; several teams looking to show that their new generations can match the achievements of the past; and up-and-coming nations planning shocks and surprises. 

 To start off, take a look at the day preview.