France complete the double over Denmark, Sweden take the Nordic derby again
European champions moved closer to clinching the trophy in the Men's EHF EURO CUP 2026 after defeating Denmark in the Highlight Match. France are now on top in the standings with four points more than their rivals with two rounds to go. Sweden came off victorious from the Scandinavian derby once again as Norway could not prevent a loss in Trondheim. Jonas Wille's squad remain the only one without points in this competition.
I actually think it was a relatively entertaining game, but our defensive part was lacking too much. It's been a long time since 40 goals were scored against us. Offensively, I think we played a bit unevenly at times in the first half, but we still managed to score 38 goals. So clearly, it's the defensive part that allowed the French team to skillfully win the game.
It was a second match with a different story. Our start was sluggish, and at the same time the Danes were very invested. We quickly found ourselves under pressure and had to fight hard. What is particularly satisfying is the way we gradually came back into the game. It was difficult because the Danes, playing at home, were eager to win this second match. I'm happy with the commitment of the players in this second game, which was anything but easy. The Danes honored the legends of their country and our sport. It’s fantastic to celebrate them in this way. It is always difficult to mix a friendly match with a farewell. It was an unprecedented situation. A big salute to Danish handball, which deserves to celebrate its players in such a manner.
We played a lot better defensively today compared to Wednesday. We felt that we had control in defence, but our challenge are the technical errors leading to their counter attacks. That is our main problem. They built themselves a four goal gap. I think we looked pretty good in the established play both in attack and in defence, and then we had a spell in the second half as well with some technical errors. The last phase of the match was good, and we managed to get in touch with them, but in the end they were that one goal better.
It is for sure a better feeling this time comparing to when we left Norway last time in January. We have done a lot of evaluation since the World Championships and I am happy that we managed to play better and the victory was really important for us. It is of course easier for us when we have good players as Felix Claar and Max Darj back in the team, but we played better as a team even if they came closer at the end thanks to great saves from Torbjørn Bergerud. I am also happy to see the performance from Felix Montebovi who hasn’t played at this level before, but he got on the court and scored two important goals for us.
