Germany qualified with ease, but the celebrations were dampened due to an injury on the back court player Alina Grijseels. Crucial wins for Czechia, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia brought all four countries closer to the championship.
Germany produced a high-effiency-effort and ran away from Ukraine in Heidelberg. Dinah Eckerle and Katharina Filter raised the goalkeeper bar and and all the other 14 players scored at least once in the convincing team performance, 43–20.
A setback occurred in the first half, when the team captain Alina Grijseels was injured.
– It was an amazing match for us, with a clear win and the ticket to the EHF EURO. We were fully focused and we put the pedal to the metal until the end. It was our clear goal to run for 60 minutes and to give playing time to the whole team. Unfortunately, Alina Grijseels was severely injured, and currently we do not know the diagnosis, said Emily Bölk afterwards to eurohandball.com.
Slovakia and Ukraine will duel for the other direct qualifying spot in the last group 2 round. The same fight for top two takes place in group 3 (Czechia versus Portugal), group 4 (Slovenia versus Italy) over the weekend. The goal difference in any of the matches can also play into the qualifying drama as the four best third placed teams also advance.
Euro 2024 qualification
Group 1, Bosnia & Hercegovina–Romania 16–37 (8–17)
Group 2, Israel–Slovakia 24–35 (14-20)
Ukraine–Germany 21–43 (11–23)
Group 3, Finland–Czechia 23–43 (10-25)
Portugal–Netherlands 25–36 (11-19)
Group 4, Latvia–Slovenia 16-34 (5–18)
Group 8, Kosovo–Poland 27–34 (17–17)