Croatia and France with best chances to reach semis at Men's 18 EHF EURO

Matches resumed at the Men's 18 EHF EURO 2016 in Croatia on Tuesday after one rest day, and Croatia and France got best out of the starting blocks, securing themselves a top position in the fight for the semi-final spots.

In Group M1 France beat Slovenia 39:33 to bring their tally to four points. They now need just one point in their match against Denmark on Wednesday (17:00 hrs CET) to make it to the last four.

All 16 teams will take to the court in either the main round or the intermediate round today, and all matches are streamed live on the Croatian federation's Youtube channel.

In the group's second game at 19:00 hrs, Slovenia face Spain and both will watch closely what happens between France and Denmark as the game's result will have an impact on their chances to qualify.

Denmark and Slovenia have two points, Spain are on zero, and should, for example, Denmark beat France, Spain would have no chance anymore to reach the semis.

In Group M2 Croatia beat Germany 32:21 on Tuesday to top the group with four points. In the second game Iceland lost to Serbia 36:31. Just like in Group M1, Croatia need one more point in their game against Serbia at 19:00 hrs today to qualify for the semis.

In the group's first game at 17:00 hrs, Iceland have to beat Germany to hang on to their last chance to make it to the last four.

Premiere for the EHF

For the European Handball Federation the Men's 18 EHF EURO is the first tournament that is played since a new system for the younger age categories was introduced.

This means that at the end of the Men's 18 EHF EURO 2016 the three lowest ranked teams will be downgraded to the Men's 20 EHF Championships 2018, while the three winners of the Men's 18 EHF Championships in Georgia, Lithuania and Bulgaria will be promoted to the Men's 20 EHF EURO 2018.

The semi-finals are played on 19 August, the final will take place on 21 August. For more information also see the event's official website.

In the history of Men's 18 EHF EURO events since 1992, Croatia and Germany are the two most successful nations. They both have won two gold and one silver medal. In this ranking Spain are third with one gold, two silver and two bronze medals.

At the Men's 18 EHF EURO 2014 in Poland, France came first ahead of Hungary and Spain.