Portugal and France make it to EHF EURO 2020

For the first time since 2006 Portugal have clinched a berth for the Men’s EHF EURO final tournament. Also, France - the champions in 2006, 2010, 2014 - booked their ticket for the 2020 event as both sides won their away games in Round 5.

GROUP 6

Romania vs Portugal 19:24 (12:11)

After a stronger start Romania lost their grip on the match in the second half. The visitors were down by four goals at one point, and they needed almost 40 minutes to take their first lead, at 15:14. That broke the Romanian resistance and when Portugal went 22:17 in front, they knew that they had qualified for their fifth EHF EURO - but first since 2006. A key to their success was the sensational victory against France in Round 3. Best scorers were Pedro Portela with seven goals for Portugal and Alexandru Simicu with six for the hosts.

 Lithuania vs France 17:37 (9:19)

Like Portugal, France took their fourth victory as both teams remained in the shared lead of the table. But in contrast to Portugal, France had an easy night in Lithuania and was already 10 goals ahead after the first half of the fully one-sided match. They also ‘won’ the second half by 10 goals. In the end 13 different French players were in the scorers’ list, topped by eight goals from right back Nedim Remili. Lithuania, like Romania, remain on two points.