Great Britain and Cyprus cleared first hurdle in Euro 2028 qualification

While World Cup 2025 receives high interest with the premiere Tuesday night, a couple of countries was recently involved in activities focusing on championship in years to come. Great Britain and Cyprus advanced from the first qualification with a distant aim to reach Euro 2028.

Four nations, Bulgaria and Malta plus the successful duo started in the group action last weekend.

Malta stood no chance with an average loss of plus 20 goals, but Bulgaria came close enough as host nation with 21–22 versus Cyprus and a last round tie against Great Britain.

Still the line was drawn ahead of Bulgaria, while Cyprus and the unbeaten Great Britain proceeds to the promotion round.

As the qualifying continues, the four lowest-ranked fourth-ranked teams in the 2026 European Men’s Handball Championship qualification and the top European team of the 2025 IHF Emerging Nations Championship duel in January 2026.

After that, Qualification Phase 2 involves 32 countries in eight groups of four to distribute 20 spots in the final tournament. Hosts Portugal, Spain and Switzerland plus the gold medalist in Euro 2026 are already qualified.