Favourites through to the main round as beach handball battle continues

Men's competition

Five teams — Spain, Italy, Türkiye, Poland and France — took the last chance to secure a ticket to the main round by winning the deciding matches, and joined Denmark, Croatia, Sweden, Germany, Portugal, Hungary and Norway who had already booked their place in the next stage. 

The hosts were delighted when Türkiye defeated Czechia 2:1 in the shootout (19:14, 20:28, 9:6), pushing the Czechs into the consolation round. Italy also had to put in a lot of effort to overcome Ukraine in an even crazier shootout, before celebrating 2:1 victory (27:22, 20:22, 13:12). Meanwhile, Poland knocked out Malta in two sets, and Spain and France confirmed their strong positions in group C, leaving Bulgaria behind. 

Two of the favourites, Croatia and Denmark delivered some magic when they met in the last match of the preliminary round. The game, which featured star-studded teams, was decided by a golden goal in both sets. Croatia simply failed to deliver in the crucial moments and were beaten 2:0 (21:20, 25:24) by the Danes.

Main round:

• Denmark, the 2019 and 2021 European champions, and 2023 silver medallists Germany finished the day as the only unbeaten teams
• In their first main round game, Denmark staged a comeback to defeat another favourites, Portugal, while Germany took the lead in group I, after outsmarting Poland
• The defending champions Hungary stumbled at the last hurdle of the day as France kept their cool and overturned the result, winning the match in a shootout; Horace Quintin emerged as their most noteworthy player, amassing 16 points
• Group II turned out to be full of surprises; Hungary, Spain and France are in the lead with four points, followed by Sweden, Norway and Italy with two
• With an impressive 60 points, Hungary's Norbert Gyene is the current competition's top scorer

Women's competition 

In the women's competition, there was no room for error in the crucial match of the preliminary round. Poland easily defeated Bulgaria, while Sweden outsmarted Croatia and Ukraine overcame Slovakia in the matches that saw the three teams continue the competition. 

Unpredictable group B had most of the questions opened after the first day of the competition. In a tight match full of twists and turns, Norway narrowly beat Portugal 2:0 (23:20, 19:18), but both teams eventually powered through, as Türkiye failed to surprise France. Consequently, Poland, Norway, Portugal, Sweden and Ukraine joined the seven teams who had already qualified for the main round: Denmark, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Greece, Hungary and Spain.

The Hungarians put in a superb performance, shocking Spain at the end of the morning session. Spain, who have participated in all 14 editions of the EHF Beach Handball EURO so far, lost in a close finish and had to congratulate Zoltán Pinizsi's team.

Main round:

• With a world-class line-up, the clash between the Netherlands and Spain was everything fans could have dreamed of; the Netherlands were once again superior to the Spanish side and remained unbeaten after two days of competition
• The Netherlands and Hungary lead group II with four points, followed by Spain and Greece with two, and Ukraine and Sweden with zero
• Strong title contenders Denmark slipped two points against fantastic Norway; Marte Siren Figenschau was the hero for the Norwegians, saving the last shot in the shootout (23:20, 28:20, 10:8)
• France keeps on impressing, and it is no longer a surprise; they opened the main round just where they had finished the preliminary round, collecting 2:0 win against Poland
• The defending champions Germany returned to the winning track by beating Portugal 2:0; the Portuguese have yet to show their true colours and find themselves in a difficult position
• The French are top of group I with four points, followed by Germany, Denmark and Norway with two, and Portugal and Poland with zero
• Anna Buter is in great form for the Netherlands, having scored 63 points that put her at the top of competition scoreboard

The EHF Beach Handball EURO continues tomorrow, on Thursday 10 July. No matches are being played in the morning. The second main round matches are on the schedule from 16:00 CEST, together with the start of the consolation round. Fans worldwide can follow every step of the exciting EHF Beach Handball EURO 2025. More information on how to follow is available here.


Photos © kolektiff