“The result is definitely too high”
This is how Germany reacts to the lost European Championship final
Updated February 1, 2026 – 8:38 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
Germany held its own for a long time in a thrilling European Championship final. But it’s not enough for the third European Championship title. This is how the team reacts.
With bowed heads and disappointed expressions, Germany’s handball players watched their overpowering rivals from Denmark celebrate. Despite a fighting performance, national coach Alfred Gíslason’s team lost the long, dramatic European Championship final against world champions and Olympic champions Denmark 27:34 (16:18) and missed their third triumph after 2004 and 2016.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz provided the first consolation. “What a final, what a strong European Championship. You fought, showed strong nerves and team spirit. We are proud of you,” wrote the CDU politician, who was also cheering in the stands, on X.
In front of 15,000 spectators in the “Hell of Herning” Johannes Golla, Juri Knorr and Marko Grgić were the best throwers with five goals each for the German team, which was unable to take revenge for the clear 26:39 defeat in the 2024 Olympic final. “We definitely want to come back,” promised Captain Golla on ZDF.
He was “proud of the performance, proud of the whole tournament.” And further: “We didn’t give up. We were in the game until the 45th or 50th minute.” The DHB team “said goodbye to the tournament with a reasonable performance. Congratulations to Denmark.”
National coach Gíslason concluded: “It was a very, very good game from our boys. The result is definitely too high.” “Everything has to work out to win against these Danes. We were close. We had hope until four or five minutes before the end.”
Team manager Benjamin Chatton was combative at DYN: “Today we are sad, but from tomorrow we will resolve: If we are allowed to play another final against the Danes, then we want to win it.”
