EHF EURO 2022
The 15th European Men’s Handball Championship will be co-organized by Hungary and Slovakia from 13 to 30 January 2022.
Both nations will host the best handball players in Europe for the first time, this will be the second time the continent tournament will be held in a shared order.
The first European Championships were held in 1994 in Portugal – with 12 teams – and until 2018, the tournament was always hosted by a different country. In 2020, however, three nations, Sweden, Austria and Norway, hosted the European Championship, the first event, which was no longer attended by 16 but 24 teams.
Both nations will host the best handball players in Europe for the first time, this will be the second time the continent tournament will be held in a shared order.
The first European Championships were held in 1994 in Portugal – with 12 teams – and until 2018, the tournament was always hosted by a different country. In 2020, however, three nations, Sweden, Austria and Norway, hosted the European Championship, the first event, which was no longer attended by 16 but 24 teams.
Qualification for the European Championship
The qualification series for the tournament lasted from January 2019 to May 2021. The two organizers, Hungary and Slovakia, as well as the two finalists from the previous European Championships, the gold medalist Spain and the silver medalist Croatia, are individual participants of the tournament; so teams from 44 nations fighted for the remaining 20 places.
In the last stage of the qualification system the 32 teams were split into eight groups of four (the group drawn was held on 20 of June 2020), with the winners and runners-up qualifyied for the EC, together with the four best third-placed teams.
(The four individual participants of the tournament played matches in the Euro Cup, a new series announced by the European Federation before the previous Championships).
Groups of the European Championship
The official draw of the European Championship was held on May 6 in Budapest.European Championship groups:
The group (Location: Főnix Arena, Debrecen):
Slovenia, Denmark, North Macedonia, Montenegro
Group B (Venue: budapest handball arena ):
Portugal, Hungary, Iceland, the Netherlands
Group C (Location: PICK Arena):
Croatia, Serbia, France, Ukraine
Group D (Location: Ondrej Nepela Arena, Bratislava):
Germany, Austria, Belarus, Poland
This group (Location: Ondrej Nepela Arena, Bratislava):
Spain, Sweden, Czech Republic, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Group F (Location: Steel Arena, Kosice):
Norway, Russia, Slovakia, Lithuania
Schedule
During the 17 playing days of the EHF EURO 2022 the fans can experience 65 of the best games in handball.
The 24 teams from Europe will play the group matches starting in January 13 in six groups, in the five organizing cities of the tournament, Budapest, Szeged, Debrecen, Košice and Bratislava. The Slovak capital will host the fights of two groups until January 18. The two best seeded teams from each group (a total of 12 teams) will elevate into the main round starting on January 20, in two groups, in Budapest and Bratislava from where the top six will participate in the final weekend (28-30 January 2022) in Budapest.
The first two places in the group will advance to the semi-finals and fight for medals, the third place will play for 5th place. The final of the European Championship will be held on January 30 at the budapest handball arena.
Medal history
So far, six nations boast European Championship titles, Sweden leads the table with four gold medals (and one silver), France three times, Denmark, Spain and Germany two each, and Russia once won the European Championship. The Spanish national team has the most medals yet, in addition to the two golds, four silver and two bronze. Croatia is seventh on the medal table with three silver and three bronze medals.
A total of 12 countries won at least one medal (including Yugoslavia).
Two nations were able to defend their title, plus Sweden could do so twice (both in the final after overtime!), after winning a gold medal in 2000 and 2002 after 1998. Spain has the other doubling, even the last two European Championships (2018, 2020).
Hungary and Slovakia have not won a medal either, their first best position was a 6th place, back in 1998, most recently on 9th place, while the Slovak team qualified for the tournament in 2006, 2008 and 2012, each time finished on 16th place.