The race for the W17 EHF EURO 2025 trophy is down to eight nations, as Montenegro, France, Denmark, Slovakia, Switzerland, Spain, Croatia, and Hungary have all booked their places in the quarter-finals.
Switzerland are entering new territory after reaching the W17 EURO quarter-finals for the first time ever. The Swiss team carried their perfect preliminary round form into the main round, defeating both Hungary and Slovenia to top Group H. They now face a tough test against Spain later today.
Despite a heavy 39–30 loss to Switzerland, Hungary secured their spot in the quarters thanks to a narrow 30–28 win over the Netherlands, along with their earlier victory against Slovenia.
Host nation Montenegro impressed in Group I, taking wins over both Poland (30–27) and Croatia (31–20) to finish top of the group. They now face France in the opening quarter-final.
Croatia, who defeated France and carried important points from the preliminary round, also advanced and will meet Hungary later today.
France, meanwhile, scraped through as one of the best third-placed teams. After an unbeaten preliminary round, they lost narrowly to Croatia (27–25) and drew against Poland (26–26), finishing third in the group but still earning a place in the knockout stage.
In Group G, all four teams – Denmark, Spain, Slovakia, and Germany – entered the main round with identical records. Denmark and Germany played out a 28–28 draw, while Slovakia beat Spain 25–22. In the final round, Spain edged Germany 27–26 and Denmark narrowly defeated Slovakia 22–21.
Denmark emerged top of the group and will take on Slovakia again today, while Spain progressed as one of the best third-placed teams and will look to upset Switzerland. Germany, despite strong performances, missed out.
The winners will advance to the semi-finals on Friday, with a shot at the gold medal match on Sunday. Meanwhile, teams no longer in the title race will continue to play placement matches to determine final rankings from 9th to 24th place.
Quarter-finals:
(17.00 CEST) Denmark–Slovakia
(17.00) Montenegro–France
(19.30) Croatia–Hungary
(19.30) Switzerland–Spain