2024 European Championship guide: Crash course in group D-F

The 2024 European Championship starts in less than two weeks and it’s time to introduce the groups here at Gohandball.

Here is Gohandballs guide for groups D-F. We go through each group and the different nation’s stars and expectations.

Group D

Norway

Number of ECs (including 2024): 11
Result last EC: 5 (2022)
Greatest merits: 2 WC silver (2017, 2019), 1 EC bronze (2020)
Stars: Sander Sagosen (Kolstad), Magnus Röd (Kolstad), Harald Reinkind (THW Kiel)

Slovenia

Number of ECs (including 2024): 14
Result last EC: 16 (2022)
Greatest merits: 1 WC bronze (2017), 1 EC silver (2004)
Stars: Dean Bombac (Pick Szeged), Aleks Vlah (Aalborg Håndbold)

Poland

Number of ECs (including 2024): 11
Result last EC: 12 (2022)
Greatest merits: 1 Olympic bronze (1976), 1 WC silver (2007)
Stars: Szymon Sicko (Kielce), Kamil Sypzrak (PSG)

Faroe Islands

Number of ECs (including 2024): 1
Result last EC:
Greatest merits: 1st place IHF Emerging Nations (2015, 2017)
Stars: Elias Ellefsen á Skipagötu (THW Kiel), Hakun West av Teigum (Füchse Berlin), Óli Mittún (IK Sävehof)

Group E

Sweden

Number of ECs (including 2024): 15
Result last EC: 1 (2022)
Greatest merits: 4 Olympic silver (1992, 1996, 2000, 2012) 4 WC gold (1954, 1958, 1990, 1999), 5 EC gold (1994, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2022)
Stars: Jim Gottfridsson (SG Flensburg-Handewitt), Felix Claar (SC Magdeburg), Andreas Palicka (PSG)

Netherlands

Number of ECs (including 2024): 3
Result last EC: 10 (2022)
Greatest merits: 10th place EC (2022)
Stars: Luc Steins (PSG), Dani Baijens (Hamburg)

Bosnia & Herzegovina

Number of ECs (including 2024): 3
Result last EC: 23 (2022)
Greatest merits: 20th place WC (2015)
Stars: Benjamin Buric (SG Flensburg-Handewitt), Senjamin Buric (Skjern Håndbold)

Georgia

Number of ECs (including 2024): 1
Result last EC:
Greatest merits: 1st place IHF Emerging Nations (2019, 2021)
Stars: Giorgi Tskhovrebadze (Gummersbach), Nikoloz Kalandadze (Chambery Savoie), Zurab Tsintsadze (Azoty-Pulawy)

Group F

Denmark

Number of ECs (including 2024): 15
Result last EC: 3 (2022)
Greatest merits: 1 Olympic gold (2016), 3 WC gold (2019, 2021, 2023), 2 EC gold (2008, 2012)
Stars: Niklas Landin (Aalborg Håndbold), Mikkel Hansen (Aalborg Håndbold), Mathias Gidsel (Füchse Berlin)

Portugal

Number of ECs (including 2024): 8
Result last EC: 19 (2022)
Greatest merits: 6th place EC (2020)
Stars: Rui Silva (FC Porto), Alexandre Calvacanti (Nantes), Francisco Costa (Sporting Lissabon)

Czechia

Number of ECs (including 2024): 12
Result last EC: 13 (2022)
Greatest merits: 6th place EC (1996, 2018)
Stars: Tomas Mrkva (THW Kiel), Stanislav Kasparek (Pick Szeged), Tomas Babak (Bergischer)

Greece

Number of ECs (including 2024): 1
Result last EC:
Greatest merits: 6th place Olympics (2004)
Stars: Savvas Savvas (Olympiakos)