The 2010 EHF European Men's Handball Championship (9th tournament) was held in Austria from 19 to 31 January, in the cities of Vienna, Graz, Innsbruck, Linz and Wiener Neustadt.
France won the title after defeating Croatia in the final. Iceland captured the bronze medal, their first ever medal at the European Championship after defeating Poland. Defending champions Denmark finished 5th while the hosts Austria finished 9th.
The two bids were as follows:
Outside of the two bids, the following bids were withdrawn:
On the 5 May 2006, in Vilamoura, Portugal, Austria was given the hosting rights for the first time ever. They were the first country since 1998 to host the tournament despite never qualifying on merit.
5 Austrian cities have been selected to host the 2010 Championship. The venues in Linz, Graz and Wiener Neustadt were only used during the preliminary round. The fourth venue to be used in this round was located in Innsbruck, and was also one of the two venues in the main round. The other being Wiener Stadthalle in Vienna, which was the only venue to be used in the final round.
Qualification matches were played in 2008 and in 2009. For the first time, in qualification round all teams are included, except host Austria and defending champion Denmark. Teams were divided in 7 groups and top two teams from each group qualified to European Championship.
The draw for the final tournament took place 19:00 CET on 24 June 2009 at the Liechtenstein Museum in Vienna.
In the following tables:
The teams placed first, second and third (shaded in green) qualified to the main round.
Venue: Stadthalle, Graz
<small>All times are Central European Time (UTC+1)</small>
Venue: Intersport Arena, Linz
<small>All times are Central European Time (UTC+1)</small>
Venue: Olympiaworld, Innsbruck
<small>All times are Central European Time (UTC+1)</small>
Venue: Arena Nova, Wiener Neustadt
<small>All times are Central European Time (UTC+1)</small>
Venue: Stadthalle, Vienna
Venue: Olympiaworld, Innsbruck
Venue: Stadthalle, Vienna
<small>Source: ehf-euro.com</small>
<small>Source: EHF </small>
<small>Source: EHF </small>