The ultimate prize for the eight teams entering the qualifiers at this stage is a place in the final tournament held entirely in Hungary for the first time since 1982, which will be played from 30 November to 19 December 2027. But for now, the aim is to secure an aggregate victory and progress to the next phase of qualification, where many of the most successful women's national teams will enter the process.
Three teams in Qualification Europe Phase 1 have played at the women's world championship before, albeit not in recent years. Bulgaria have qualified twice before: in 1982 and 1990, while Lithuania and Italy are both looking to return to the final tournament since their only appearances to date in 1993 and 2001, respectively.
Italy narrowly missed out on a place at the Women's EHF EURO 2026 and will be eager to show further recent improvement. They face Bulgaria, with the first leg to be played in Kranevo on Thursday 22 October, before Italy host the return leg in Follonica on Sunday 25 October.
Lithuania and Belgium both reached Qualification Phase 2 for EHF EURO 2026 and look set to have an evenly-matched contest on 21 and 25 October. Also reaching that stage were Kosovo, and they will be hoping home advantage will take them past Estonia, with both legs being played in Pristina on 23 and 24 October — the only double-header of the round.
Neither Luxembourg nor Great Britain picked up a win when they exited EHF EURO 2026 qualification in Phase 1, but a place in the next phase is guaranteed for one of them after they meet in Derby and Luxembourg City.
The four victorious teams will advance to the decisive phase in April 2027, where they will join Portugal, the highest-ranked side not qualified for EHF EURO 2026, plus the 21 teams from the EHF EURO who do not take one of the world championship qualification places on offer.
For the full list of matches and more information about the qualifiers, click here.
