Four teams still in title race ahead of M18 EHF EURO 2026 semi-finals

Men's 18 EHF EURO 2026 semi-final schedule

Friday 7 August (Hala Aleksandar Nikolic); live on EHFTV

• 17:00 CEST — Germany vs Spain
• 19:30 CEST — Denmark vs Slovenia

SEMI-FINALS

Germany vs Spain

Friday 7 August, 17:00 CEST; live on EHFTV

• both Germany and Spain just missed the semi-finals of the M18 EHF EURO two years ago, but have advanced to the last four this time
• in Thursday's quarter-final, Germany ended the perfect run of previously unbeaten Iceland, 33:31 (16:15)
• coming off two straight defeats against Slovenia and France in the main round, Germany found back to winning ways thanks to a nine-goal outing from Julius Eisend
• the left back opened the scoring in the first minute of the match, in which Iceland were never in the lead
• right wing Vincent Faciejew is Germany's top scorer going into the semi-finals, with 32 goals
• Germany have won the M18 EHF EURO three times, most recently in 2021, and next meet two-time winners Spain (1994, 2022)
• meeting France in the quarter-final, Spain relied on their top scorer Adrian Sola once more
• the right wing netted 11 times to raise his tournament total to 52 and help Spain beat France 29:27 (15:13)
• the teams were still level at 16:16 shortly after the break, but Spain's 5:1 run between the 39th and 45th minute to go 24:19 up proved to be decisive
• when Spain won the M18 EHF EURO four years ago in Montenegro, they beat Germany 32:29 in the semi-final

Denmark vs Slovenia

Friday 7 August, 19:30 CEST; live on EHFTV

• Denmark remain on course for what would be their first ever M18 EHF EURO title, having finished runners-up four times so far, including in 2024
• Slovenia enter their fourth M18 EHF EURO semi-final, but are still aiming for their first medal after ranking fourth on each of the three previous occasions
• on Thursday, Denmark extended their winning streak this tournament with a 38:30 (18:13) quarter-final victory over Croatia
• Croatia enjoyed their only lead this match in the opening minutes (2:0) but kept in touch with their opponents going into the final quarter, trailing by just one goal: 25:24
• between minutes 46 and 51, Denmark gained full control by scoring six unanswered goals and opening a commanding 31:24 lead
• Denmark were led by Emil Bak and Hjalte Hoffmann, who each scored nine times, while David Vacek netted six for Croatia
• Bak, top scorer and MVP when GOG won the EHF Youth Club Trophy Men last June, is Denmark's top scorer with 51 goals
• like Denmark, Slovenia have arrived in the semi-finals unbeaten, adding a 32:27 (17:12) win against Hungary in the quarter-final
• when Hungary failed to score for seven straight minutes in the first half, Slovenia opened a 7:3 lead and remained ahead for the rest of the match
• right back Jaka Podvrsic scored 10 times and is Slovenia's most productive shooter so far this tournament, with 47 goals

photos © Dragana Stjepanovic (main); Lucija Begenisic (in-text)