12.04.2018, 07:56
Qualifiers drawn in Trondheim for Men's EHF EURO 2020

NEWS: Off we are on the road to Men's EHF EURO 2020, with the qualifiers draw in Trondheim on 12 April the first milestone towards the final tournament in Sweden, Austria and Norway

Qualifiers drawn in Trondheim for Men's EHF EURO 2020   

World champions and EHF EURO 2018 bronze medallists France face Portugal, Lithuania and Romania en route to EHF EURO 2020, while 2016 Olympic champions Denmark play Montenegro, Ukraine and the Faroe Islands as the 2020 qualifiers draw took place in Trondheim on Thursday evening.

Qualifiers group overview

With the decision to stage the Men's EHF EURO with 24 teams for the first time in 2020, it means that 32 teams, more than ever before, will participate in the EHF EURO 2020 Qualifiers, which will start in October this year and conclude in June 2019.

The top-two teams of each group as well as the best four third-ranked teams will qualify for Men's EHF EURO 2020 in Sweden, Austria and Norway. Spain as EHF EURO 2018 champions are, besides the three hosts, also directly qualified. At the same time up to four of the lowest ranked fourth-placed teams will be relegated to the first qualification phase of the Men's EHF EURO 2024.

Dates for Men's EHF EURO 2020 Qualifiers

• Round 1 & 2: 24 - 28 October 2018
• Round 3 & 4: 10 - 14 April 2019
• Round 5 & 6: 12 - 16 June 2019

Sweden, Austria and Norway, together with the EHF, have also agreed where certain teams will play in case they qualify.

• EHF EURO 2016 champions Germany, in case they qualify, will play the preliminary round in group B in Trondheim and would play the main round in Vienna in case they advance
• Croatia, if qualified, start in group C in Graz and would also play the main round in Vienna if they advance
• Denmark, if qualified, will be seeded in group D in Malmö where they would also play the main round in case they advance
• Sweden start their EHF EURO 2020 campaign in group F in Gothenburg. Austria are seeded in group A in Vienna and Norway kick off things in group E in Trondheim.

Sweden, Austria, Norway and Spain to play premiere EHF EURO Cup

The European Handball Federation is setting a new milestone on the road to the Men's EHF EURO 2020. Starting the last week of October, the three host nations, Sweden, Austria and Norway, together with 2018 champions Spain will play the first matches of the newly introduced EHF EURO Cup. 

The competition sees the four participating nations facing each other in home and away matches. These matches are always played at the same time as the EHF EURO 2020 Qualifiers and form the participants' - all four are directly qualified to EHF EURO 2020 - very own road to the final tournament.

DREAM, WIN, REMEMBER' is official slogan

‘DREAM. WIN. REMEMBER.’ is EHF EURO 2020’s tagline which will not only serve as the championship’s motto but also as the core for all creative assets produced for the final tournament. The tagline’s long version reads ‘DREAM TODAY, WIN TOMORROW, REMEMBER FOREVER.’

In the lead-up and over the course of the championship the slogan, or parts of it as it is designed for also single elements to be used, will be seen on billboards across the hosting cities. It forms the basis for online and print advertisement and will also be visible across a range of championship merchandise and included in the venue branding.

About Men's EHF EURO 2020

The Men’s EHF EURO 2020 will be played from 10 to 26 January 2020. It is the first to be played with 24 teams and the first to be hosted by three nations. Sweden will organise two preliminary and one main round group plus the final weekend. Venues chosen are Gothenburg’s Scandinavium, the Malmö Arena and the Tele 2 Arena in Stockholm (final weekend only), a 20,000+ capacity stadium. Austria will host two preliminary round groups and one main round group in Wiener Stadthalle and Stadthalle Graz. The 'New Nidarohallen' in Trondheim, which is currently under construction and will seat 8,000 people, is the venue for the two preliminary round groups played in Norway.

TEXT: EHF / ts