02.11.2020, 04:00
The road to Hungary and Slovakia starts here

ROUND PREVIEW: EHF EURO 2022 qualifiers starts with 10 mid-week matches, while the EHF EURO Cup also throws off

The battle to reach the Men’s EHF EURO final in Budapest on 30 January 2022 starts now: On Wednesday and Thursday, the first of six rounds of qualifiers for the EHF EURO 2022 in Hungary and Slovakia will take place all over Europe.

In total, 32 teams in eight groups are set to vie for the 20 tickets reserved for each of the eight group winners and runners-ups, as well as the four best third-ranked teams. The second round will be played on Saturday and Sunday, before the qualifiers continue in January, April and May 2021.

Besides the hosts – Hungary and Slovakia – EHF EURO 2020 champions Spain and silver medallists Croatia are directly qualified for the 2022 event. The four teams already qualified will duel in the EHF EURO Cup, which starts this week with the match Hungary vs Spain.

EHF EURO 2022 Qualifiers, round 1
GROUP 2
Austria vs Estonia
Wednesday 4 November, 20:25 CET, live on EHFTV

  • Austria finished eighth at their co-hosted EHF EURO 2020 – their best result ever in this competition
  • Estonia have never qualified for any World or European Championship, and arrive in this phase from the pre-qualification, where they beat Luxembourg
  • Austria have to replace their top star and team captain Nikola Bilyk (torn ACL) for the next months
  • in 1993, Austria lost their only home match so far against Estonia. The overall balance of both in EURO qualifiers is three victories for Austria, one draw and two wins for Estonia

Germany vs Bosnia and Herzegovina
Thursday 5 November, 16:15 CET, live on EHFTV

  • Germany won all their EHF EURO qualifiers on the way to the tournaments in 2018 and 2020. Their last EHF EURO qualification defeat was in May 2015 in Spain
  • the only duels between these sides so far were in the qualification play-offs for the 2013 World Championship. Germany won 36:24 at home but lost 24:33 in Sarajevo
  • Germany have missed only one EHF EURO tournament (2014 in Denmark), while Bosnia and Herzegovina were EHF EURO debutants in January 2020
  • top Bosnian star, goalkeeper Benjamin Buric, plays for German EHF Champions League participants SG Flensburg-Handewitt
  • the match will be the debut for new German coach, Icelander Alfred Gislaosn.

GROUP 3
Ukraine vs Russia
Thursday 5 November, 16:00 CET, live on EHFTV

  • both matches in this double header will be carried out on neutral ground in Minsk, Belarus, as was the case in 2015 in the qualification for the EHF EURO 2016
  • both teams qualified for the EHF EURO 2020, but both missed the main round. Ukraine finished in 19th position, Russia 22nd
  • in the overall balance, Russia won seven of eight duels with Ukraine, losing only one, by one goal
  • both teams changed coaches after the EHF EURO 2020: Velimir Petkovic took the helm of Russia from Eduard Koksharov; Mykola Stepanets is the successor of Sergej Bebeshko with Ukraine
  • six Ukraine players nominated by Stepanets play for Russian clubs

GROUP 4
Portugal vs Israel
Wednesday 4 November, 20:30 CET, live on EHFTV

  • Portugal finished sixth at the EHF EURO 2020 – their best result after a 14-year absence from European championships
  • Portugal caused one of the major surprises in January, beating France in their EURO 2020 opener
  • Israel have previously qualified only for the EHF EURO 2002 final tournament, while Portugal have now made six appearances
  • Portugal have won the last two duels against Israel clearly: 26:15 at the EURO 2002 and 36:21 in the qualification for the 2017 World Championship
  • Israel’s last victory against Portugal dates to 1988

Iceland vs Lithuania
Wednesday 4 November, 20:45 CET, live on EHFTV

  • since 2000, Iceland have not missed any of the 11 EHF EURO final tournaments. Their highlight was the bronze medal in 2010
  • Lithuania’s only EHF EURO appearance dates to 1998
  • in total, Iceland and Lithuania clashed five times: Iceland won three matches, Lithuania one, and one duel ended in a draw
  • the last time these teams met was in the qualification for the 2019 World Championship in Germany/Denmark, when Iceland won the home match 34:31 after a draw in Lithuania
  • Iceland’s record-holding all-time top scorer of the EHF EURO, Gudjon Valur Sigurdsson, quit his active career after the 2020 event and is now coach at German club Gummersbach

GROUP 5
Netherlands vs Turkey
Wednesday 4 November, 20:00 CET, live on EHFTV

  • Netherlands earned their first EHF EURO ticket in history for the 2020 edition, where they finished 17th
  • at the EHF EURO 2020, Netherlands lost to Germany and Spain but defeated Latvia in their preliminary round group
  • Turkey have yet to reach a final EHF EURO tournament
  • the teams have a lengthy history against each other, having met 12 times in qualification matches for European and World Championships. Netherlands won nine of those clashes
  • the last meetings between the two were in 2018 in the first qualification phase on the path to the 2019 World Championship – both sides won their home matches on that occasion
  • Netherlands’ key back-court player Luc Steins is injured and will miss the match

GROUP 7
Denmark vs Switzerland
Thursday 5 November, 20:00 CET, live on EHFTV

  • Danish coach Nikolaj Jacobsen is in self-isolation and will miss the EHF EURO qualifiers this week
  • Swiss top star Andy Schmid will face his former Rhein-Neckar Löwen teammate Mads Mensah Larsen
  • Denmark have qualified for 13 of 14 EHF EURO events, only missing the 1998 edition
  • after a 14-year absence – from 2006 to 2020 – Switzerland booked an EHF EURO ticket, but missed the main round after one victory and two defeats
  • Denmark are two-time EHF EURO champions – 2008 and 2012 – but sensationally missed the main round in January 2020, as defending world and Olympic champions

North Macedonia vs Finland
Wednesday 4 November, 20:00 CET, live on EHFTV

  • North Macedonia have qualified for all EHF EURO tournaments since 2012. Their best result was fifth position in 2012 in Serbia
  • Finland wait for their first appearance at EHF EURO events. They lost all qualifiers for EHF EURO 2020. Two years before, they sensationally won their qualifier in Austria
  • the only previous duels between North Macedonia and Finland were in the qualification for the 2005 World Championship: the Balkan team won 36:30 at home, before a draw in Finland
  • Ola Lindgren, the Swedish-born head coach of Finland, won the EHF EURO four times as a player
  • Macedonian legend Kiril Lazarov will end his career after this season

GROUP 8
Montenegro vs Kosovo
Wednesday 4 November, 20:30 CET, live on EHFTV

  • it is the first ever official match between these neighbouring countries
  • Montenegro have qualified for all four EHF EURO events since 2014, but never made it to the main round
  • Kosovo played their first ever final qualification stage for the EHF EURO 2020, missing a place at the final tournament but taking three points on home ground against Israel (27:24) and Poland (23:23)
  • while Kosovo coach Taip Ramadani has World Championship experience as coach of Australia, Montenegrin coach Zoran Roganovic coaches Swedish club Lund in parallel

Sweden vs Romania
Thursday 5 November, 18:10 CET, live on EHFTV

  • Sweden are the record EHF EURO winners, with four trophies, but have waited for a fifth gold since 2002. In January, they missed the semi-finals on home ground
  • Romania have qualified for two EHF EURO final tournaments, in 1994 and 1996
  • the match will be the debut of new Swedish coach Glenn Solberg (Norway), who took over from Kristjan Andresson after the EHF EURO
  • Sweden will have to replace both goalkeepers – Mikael Appelgren and Andreas Palicka – due to injuries
  • Romania’s last victory against Sweden dates back to 2007, when a 34:33 home win in the EHF EURO play-offs was not enough after a 25:36 defeat in Sweden
  • on their way to the 2015 World Championship in Qatar, Sweden beat Romania in both play-offs

EHF EURO Cup
Hungary vs Spain
Wednesday 4 November, 18:15 CET, live on EHFTV

  • in January, Spain became the first team after Sweden (2002) to defend an EHF EURO trophy, when they beat Croatia in the final
  • Spain are the defending champions of the EHF EURO Cup too, having won this competition prior to the EHF EURO 2020
  • Hungary assistant coach Chema Rodriguez played for the Spanish national team for many years
  • the two top Hungarian clubs – Veszprém (David Davis) and Szeged (Juan Carlos Pastor) – are coached by Spaniards
  • Hungary finished the EHF EURO 2020 in ninth position
  • Hungary will host the Men’s EHF EURO (together with Slovakia) for the first time. In 2004, they hosted the Women’s EHF EURO, and then did so again in 2014 together with Croatia

TEXT: EHF / Björn Pazen
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