The Faroe Islands fans who arrived in the thousands got true value for money in Oslo premiere. A tight game versus Switzerland ended in a tie as the island nation started its second only Euro campaign.
During the late evening drama, Faroe Islands even had a chance to clinch an historic first win. Switzerland got back in the game from a six goal deficit, still Vilhelm Poulsen´s goal with few seconds to go distributed one point for each team.
Despite setbacks in preparation, Elias á Skipagøtu pulled through with nine goals and his teammate Oli Mittun was not far behind.
Denmark–North Macedonia
The red and white team was the only host nation in action Friday night. With fast break fun and Mathias Gidsel plus Simon Pytlick in prime shape Denmark ran away from North Macedonia and set the scene for another solid tournament, 36–24.
Hungary–Poland
The duel stood out as a low scoring affair, though Hungary could rely on stable own court performance and great goalkeeping from Kristof Palasics to separation in the standings. Richárd Bodó´s five successful shots were enough to become top goal scorer.
Iceland—Italy
Iceland was in control against Italy, 39–26. For the first quarter the aggressive Italian defense caused some trouble for the attacking team but Iceland soon found a way around with Ómar Ingi Magnússon and Gísli Kristjánsson providing solutions. A swift turnaround saw Iceland in a two-digit lead for most of the second half.
Portugal–Romania
Portugal never slowed down and established the command with 23–15 as ruling numbers after the first half. The fast-paced action continued with Francisco Costa (nine goals) in centre position. Romania was left behind and will have a hard time to reach top two to advance from the group stage in Herning.
Slovenia–Montenegro
Goal records were beaten in the 41–40 showdown, not decided until Borut Mačkovšek hit the mark to achieve 41–39 on the board. Domen Novak had no faults behind his nine goals for the winning team while Branko Vujovic upped the game with eleven goals for Montenegro. The earlier record for most goals in a European championship game was 77, now the bar is raised to 81.