Schedule, locations, times: Everything about the 2026 European Handball Championship

FAQ

As of: December 17, 2025 2:47 p.m

Germany wants to win a medal at the 2026 European Handball Championships. The top favorite is co-host Denmark. Here is an overview of the most important information.

The tournament begins on Thursday, January 15, 2026 and ends with the final on Sunday, February 1, 2026. The hosts are Denmark, Sweden and Norway. The defending champion is France, which defeated the Danes 33:31 after extra time in Cologne in 2024.

Where does the European Handball Championship take place?

The 2026 European Handball Championship has three Scandinavian hosts: Denmark with the Jyske Bank Boxen in Herning (15,000 seats), Norway with the Unity Arena in Oslo (8,000 seats) and Sweden with the arenas in Malmö (12,000 seats) and Kristianstad (5,000 seats). The six preliminary round groups will be played at these four venues, and the two main round groups will be played in Herning and Malmö. The semi-finals, the final and the placement games for fifth and third places take place in Herning. The German team only plays in Herning.

When does Germany play?

The German handball players start the tournament on January 15th against Austria. Two days later they face Serbia, and at the end of the preliminary round Alfred Gislason’s team meets Spain on January 19th. All three games start at 8:30 p.m.

If the DHB team reaches the main round, it will continue after a two-day break on January 22nd, the other games would be on January 24th, January 26th and January 28th. Possible opponents would include the Danes, defending champions France and Portugal, against whom Germany was eliminated in the quarter-finals of the 2025 World Cup. So it would be a tough road to the medal you’re aiming for.

What does the German squad look like?

National coach Gislason has named four players in his 18-man squad who have never played in a major tournament: Gummersbach’s Tom Kiesler, Miro Schluroff (both left back) and Mathis Häseler (right wing) as well as Matthes Langhoff (left back) from Füchse Berlin. There are also three veterans who won European Championship gold in Poland ten years ago. When making the selection, he primarily thought about defensive work, said Gislason.

Changes are possible again during the European Championships, but only with players from the previously named squad of 35 and only a maximum of two in the preliminary round, two in the main round and two on the final weekend. One hour before each game, Gislason must name his matchday squad, which may consist of a maximum of 16 players.

Are there still test games before the European Championship?

Yes, Germany will test twice against Croatia shortly before the start of the tournament. On Thursday, January 8th, the DHB team will play in Zagrab (8:30 p.m.), followed by the second meeting in Hanover on January 11th (6:05 p.m.). Both games can be seen live on sportschau.de.

How do they see it? Preliminary groups out of?

Where can I watch the European Handball Championships live?

All games of the German national handball team are broadcast live on TV by ARD and ZDF, and the games are also available in full audio reportage on sportschau.de and in the ARD audio library. In addition, more than 30 other games can be seen in the live stream on sportschau.de, in the ARD media library and on ZDF.

Who are the favorites?

There is no way around co-host Denmark: The star ensemble around world handball player Mathias Gidsel won the fourth world championship title in a row in 2025 – something that has never happened before. In addition, the team of ex-Bundesliga professional Nikolaj Jacobsen (Bayer Dormagen, THW Kiel) won Olympic gold in Paris in 2024.

But: In 2024 in Cologne, the Danes lost to the French in the European Championship final 31:33 after extra time. In their own country, Gidsel and Co. finally want the longed-for first European Championship title since 2012.

The last German gold medal at a European Handball Championship was exactly ten years ago in January: Back then, the “Bad Boys” coached by Dagur Sigurdsson and goalkeeper Andreas Wolff won the final against Spain. In 2026, Germany is in the extended circle of favorites after Olympic silver in 2024 and sixth place at the World Cup in 2025, but given the impending tough main round group, they can hardly afford any slip-ups in order to reach the semi-finals.

What is the mode?

The 24 teams play in six preliminary round groups, in which the four teams each meet once. The top two in each group move into the main round and their results against each other are taken into account. Groups A, B and C form main round group I, groups D, E and F form main round group II.

Group I will be played in Herning, Group II in Malmö. Once all teams have played against each other once, the teams in first and second place reach the semi-finals, and the two third-placed teams play for fifth place.

What happens if there is a tie?

If two or more teams are tied at the end of the preliminary round or the main round, the following criteria will decide in this order:

*The fair play ranking is based on a points system: for every yellow card against the team there is one point, for every two-minute time penalty there are two points, for every red card there are eight points

Are there still tickets for the European Handball Championship?

Yes. Although the tickets for the semi-finals and the final in Herning are already sold out, there are still enough tickets available for all other games. For the German match days in Herning, the cheapest seats cost the equivalent of around 60 euros. The package for all German preliminary round games starts at around 160 euros. Tickets are always valid for all games scheduled at the venue on the respective day; there are no tickets just for individual games.