Pots announced for draws of beach handball national team events

The draw ceremony starts at 11:00 CET on Thursday 26 February and will be streamed live on the EHF Home of Handball YouTube channel.

All four competitions across the two events are held at the Jarun Sports and Recreation Centre in Zagreb. The YAC EHF EURO 2026 takes place from 1-5 July, followed by the EHF BH Championship 2026 from 9-12 July. The latter also serves as a qualification event for the EHF Beach Handball EURO 2027.

Between the draws for the two events, the EHF Excellence Awards 2025 in beach handball will be presented to MVPs Asun Batista from Spain and Oliver Middell from Germany.

EHF Beach Handball Championship 2026

The women's competition includes 14 nations, who will be drawn into two groups of five and one of four teams. The 11 teams for the men's competition will be split into two groups; one with six teams, and one with five.

The teams have been seeded into pots, according to the EHF Beach Handball National Team Ranking 2025. One team from each pot will be assigned to each group.

Poland in the men's competition and Hungary in the women's are the two defending champions, having taken the titles in 2024.

Women's EHF Beach Handball Championship 2026 pots

Pot 1: Portugal, Hungary, France
Pot 2: Ukraine, Poland, Greece
Pot 3: Sweden, Türkiye, Slovakia
Pot 4: Switzerland, Italy, Czechia
Pot 5: Serbia, Cyprus

Men's EHF Beach Handball Championship 2026 pots

Pot 1: Norway, Poland 
Pot 2: Ukraine, Sweden
Pot 3: Czechia, Türkiye
Pot 4: Netherlands, Switzerland
Pot 5: Serbia
Pot 6: Cyprus, Latvia

YAC 17 EHF EURO 2026

The men's competition features 16 nations, the women's 17, as all teams have been seeded according to the EHF Beach Handball Nations Ranking system.

The Men's 17 EHF EURO will feature four groups of four in the preliminary round. In the Women's 17 EHF EURO, the teams will also be drawn into four groups, though one group will consist of five nations.

Teams seeded in Pot 1 will be drawn last, after host nation Croatia have chosen which groups they would like to participate in.

Men's 17 EHF EURO 2026 pots

Pot 1: Spain, Germany, Hungary, Croatia
Pot 2: France, Sweden, Poland, Norway
Pot 3: Ukraine, Czechia, Italy, Bulgaria
Pot 4: Serbia, Romania, Switzerland, Türkiye

Women's 17 EHF EURO 2026 pots

Pot 1: Germany, Spain, Norway, Croatia
Pot 2: Ukraine, Poland, France, Hungary
Pot 3: Sweden, Bulgaria, Türkiye, Slovakia
Pot 4: Switzerland, Italy, Romania, Czechia
Pot 5: Serbia

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