Handball European Championships
Croatia beats inefficient Icelanders in small final
Updated February 1, 2026 – 5:08 p.mReading time: 1 min.
Croatia proves to be more efficient offensively than Iceland and secures bronze. An Icelander sees red.
Croatia won the game for third place at the European Handball Championship with 34:33 against Iceland and won the bronze medal. The European Handball Championships have still found a conciliatory conclusion for Croatia’s national coach Dagur Sigurðsson after his angry speech. A year after silver at the World Cup, the team won their next medal at a major tournament. In particular, the Icelanders were never able to get Tin Lučin under control with nine goals.
Ten years ago, Sigurðsson led Germany to European Championship gold. Of all people, Croatia lost in the semi-finals against the DHB team on Friday. Sigurðsson had previously denounced the tight schedule and travel strains for his team in a remarkable angry speech. The European Handball Federation announced adjustments to the future game plans.
The Icelanders, who fought on an equal footing with top favorite Denmark in the semi-finals until the end, have to wait for their second European Championship medal after bronze in 2010. For years, experts have referred to the Northern Europeans around Bundesliga players Omar Ingi Magnusson and Gisli Kristjansson as the “golden generation”. However, the island state has not yet been able to meet the high expectations.
The Icelanders missed numerous top chances against Croatia and started their race to catch up too late. Only a minute before the end of the game they were close to a goal, but were unable to create any more chances.
After just 34 minutes, Iceland’s Viggó Kristjánsson was shown a red card after he hit Ivan Martinovic in the face with full force with his hand.
