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2026 European Men's Handball Championship qualification

This article describes the qualification process for the 2026 European Men's Handball Championship and EHF Euro Cup.

Format

Prior to the qualification, four teams were automatically qualified:

The remaining eligible teams contested a qualification tournament to determine the teams securing the remaining 20 places in the final tournament. The qualification tournament consisted of three rounds: qualification phase 1, promotion round, and qualification phase 2.

  • Qualification phase 1:
  • Four teams;
  • Round-robin tournament format;
  • Top-ranked team after all matches played advanced to the promotion round.
  • Promotion round:
  • Six teams:
  • Qualification phase 1 winner,
  • Four of the lowest-ranked fourth-placed teams of the previous cycle qualifiers round,
  • Best European team at the 2023 IHF Emerging Nations Championship;
  • Two-legged tie format;
  • Three aggregate winners advanced to the qualification phase 2.
  • Qualification phase 2:
  • Thirty-two teams:
  • Three promotion round winners
  • Remaining eight teams eliminated in the previous cycle qualifiers round
  • Twenty teams that participated in the 2024 European Championship, but did not qualify directly to the 2026 final tournament
  • Round-robin tournament format: eight groups of four teams;
  • Group winners, group runners-up, and the four best third-placed teams qualified for the final tournament.

Qualification Phase 1

Since only four teams participate in this round, no draw was needed, other than the hosting rights. Although Cyprus had the hosting rights, it declined and the rights moved to Azerbaijan.

Standings

Results

All times are local (UTC+4).

Promotion round

Six teams participated in this round: the winner of the Phase 1, the four of the lowest-ranked fourth-ranked teams in the 2024 European Men's Handball Championship qualification and the best European team of the 2023 IHF Emerging Nations Championship. The draw took place on 5 July 2023, in Vienna, Austria.

Participating teams

Seeding

The seeding was announced on 4 July 2023.

Overview

Times from November to March are UTC+1, Times in May are UTC+2.

Matches

Luxembourg won 61–60 on aggregate.

Kosovo won 59–45 on aggregate.

Belgium won 66–40 on aggregate.

Qualification Phase 2

Phase 2 was played between November 2024 and May 2025. Like in previous cycles, 32 teams were divided into eight groups of four, to be played as round-robin tournaments. The eight group winners and runners-up qualified for the final tournament, together with the four best third-placed teams, which were determined taking into account only results against top two teams in each group. The draw took place on 21 March 2024 in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Participating teams

<sup>1</sup> Following another motion, submitted by the competitions department and confirmed by the EXEC, Latvia, as the best-ranked team not yet qualified, received a place in the Men's EHF EURO 2026 Qualifiers Phase 2. This one place was open due to the non-admittance of Russia and Belarus.

Seeding

The seeding was announced on 21 February 2024.

Groups

Times from November to March are UTC+1, Times in May are UTC+2.

Group 1

Group 2

Group 3

Group 4

Group 5

Group 6

Group 7

Group 8

Ranking of third-placed teams

The results against the fourth-placed team are omitted.

EHF Euro Cup

The EHF Euro Cup is played between the 2026 co-hosts Denmark, Norway and Sweden, plus the champions of the 2024 European Championship, France.

Standings

Results

Times from November to March are UTC+1, Times in May are UTC+2.

Qualified teams

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Notes

References

External links