Familiar opponents face off as remaining teams start EHF EURO

The opening games for Group B of the Women’s EHF EURO 2024 are incredibly balanced, with familiar faces in Romania and Czechia, on one side, and Montenegro and Serbia on the other side, facing off in the Fönix Arena in Debrecen.

Group D of the Women's EHF EURO 2024 throws off with thrilling encounters in the St. Jakobshalle in Basel. Co-host Switzerland aim to secure their first-ever EURO win as they face the debutants of the competition, the Faroe Islands. The evening's second clash features 2022 runners-up Denmark and 2020 bronze medallists Croatia, in their 13th mutual encounter and a rematch of the 2020 third place game won by Croatia.

The Netherlands and Iceland start group F in Innsbruck, followed by a re-match of the EHF EURO 2024 qualifiers, Germany and Ukraine. The joint hosts of the 2025 IHF Women’s World Championship, Germany and the Netherlands, are favourites to progress from this group.

GROUP B

Romania vs Czechia
Friday, 29 November, 18:00 CET, live on EHFTV

• Romania will bring one of their youngest-ever teams in history at the EHF EURO, with an average age of 23.9 years old, while only six teams played more matches than Romania’s 93 in the competition
• Czechia’s coach, Bent Dahl, was Romania’s assistant and spent three years in Romania at club level, coaching SCM Ramnicu Valcea, leaving this position two weeks ago
• Czechia are currently on a 11-match losing streak at the EHF EURO, dating back to 2016
• Romania lost five of the last six friendly matches played last month, conceding at least 30 goals in all five matches against Switzerland, Brazil, Norway, Denmark and the Netherlands
• all four matches played at the EHF EURO between the two sides were won by Romania, but none by a margin larger than three goals, with the record set in the preliminary round in 2018, 31:28

Montenegro vs Serbia
Friday, 29 November, 20:30 CET, live on EHFTV

• Montenegro’s coach, Suzana Lazovic, will make her debut in a major international competition against Serbia, after being appointed in September to replace Bojana Popovic
• the two sides also met in the EHF EURO Qualifiers, with Montenegro taking each time a one-goal win, 31:30 and 26:25
• Serbia are in the middle of a five-match losing run, dating back to 2020, five games short of their largest-ever losing run at the EHF EURO
• Serbia have won only once in nine matches against Montenegro, but none of the mutual matches have ended by a gap larger than three goals
• Serbia need only 29 goals to become the 15th team to hit the 1,000-goal milestone in the EHF EURO

GROUP D

Switzerland vs Faroe Islands
Friday 29 November, 18:00 CET, live on EHFTV

• co-hosts Switzerland are making their second appearance at the Women's EHF EURO following the debut in 2022
• they finished 14th in 202 after one draw and two defeats, so Switzerland's maiden EURO win could happen in front of their fans
• the Faroe Islands one of two debutants in the competition alongside Türkiye, finally breaking through after four previous unsuccessful qualification attempts
• the two sides have met twice before – in qualification for the 2018 and 2021 IHF Women's World Championship with Switzerland claiming both victories (23:19 and 26:18)
• at the last European championship, Mia Emmeneger and Tabea Schimd were Switzerland's' top scorers, netting 17 and 13 goals respectively
• key Faroe Islands player Jana Mittún comes from a handball family: her older brother Pauli and younger brother Óli are both handball players and they are cousins to star centre back Elias Ellefsen á Skipagøtu

Denmark vs Croatia
Friday 29 November 20:30 CET, live on EHFTV

• Croatia enter their 11th consecutive Women's EHF EURO, with their biggest success being the 2020 bronze medal
• seven players of that medal-winning squad  are still in the Croatia team: Paula Posavec, Kristina Prkacin, Stela Posavec, Josipa Mamic, Katarina Ježic, Dejana Milosavljevic and Lucija Bešen
• Denmark are coming into the competition as the reigning runners-up, having earned their first European medal in 18 years with silver in 2022
• a win in this match would mark Denmark's 70th victory at the Women's EHF EURO since their first appearance in 1994
• Danish left back Anne Mette Hansen is just three goals away from becoming Denmark's all-time top scorer at the European Championship – she is currently at 97 goals, chasing Stine Jørgensen's record of 99
• this is the seventh encounter between Denmark and Croatia at the EHF EURO. Croatia claimed victory only twice – once in the main round in 2006 and again in the bronze medal match in 2020

GROUP F

Netherlands vs Iceland
Friday 29 November, 18:00 CET, live on EHFTV

• the Netherlands are participating in their tenth EHF EURO, including the last six in a row; their best result was silver in 2016, followed by a bronze medal two years later
• for Iceland it is the third EHF EURO participation after 2010 and 2012; the “Vikings” still wait for their first point at a European championships after six defeats in the same number of matches
• the Netherlands won all three previous games against Iceland, but this is their first meeting at an EHF EURO
• the Netherlands’ new coach, Swede Hendrik Signell surprised with his EHF EURO 2024 squad, leaving out experienced stars Estavana Polman and Laura van der Heijden among others
• the Dutch side won all six qualifiers on the way to the EHF EURO, against Czechia, Portugal and Finland, while Iceland finished second below Sweden beating Luxembourg and the Faroe Islands twice each
• Sandra Erlingsdottir, Iceland’s top scorer in the qualifiers with 34 goals, will miss the EHF EURO 2024 due to maternity leave

Germany vs Ukraine
Friday 29 November, 20:30 CET, live on EHFTV

• alongside Hungary, Norway and Denmark, Germany have qualified for all 16 Women’s EHF EUROs since the premiere in 1994
• Ukraine are playing their 11th final tournament, but their first since 2014, when they finished 16th and last
• the two sides met in the EHF EURO 2024 qualifiers; Germany won both matches (31:24 and 43:21) to finish with the maximum of 12 points in their group ahead of Ukraine
• in total, Germany and Ukraine have met 20 times before, including four times at EHF EURO final tournaments – their last EHF EURO match was in 2010, when the 23:33 defeat meant the first and only elimination of a German team after the preliminary round
• both sides have rejuvenated their squads: Ukraine only have four players older then 30 nominated for the EHF EURO, while three German players made their national team debut at the end of October
• both sides have won one EHF EURO medal in history, silver: Germany in 1994, Ukraine in 2000

Photos © Kolektiff Images, Marco Wolf