The 2018 EHF European Men's Handball Championship was the 14th edition of the tournament, hosted for the second time in Croatia from 12 to 28 January 2018. Croatia was awarded hosting the tournament during the EHF congress in Dublin on 20 September 2014. This was the last edition to feature 16 teams, with the 2020 edition expanding to 24 teams and six preliminary groups format.
Spain won their first title after defeating Sweden 29–23 in the final. France captured the bronze medal after defeating Denmark 32–29. Defending champions Germany finished 9th while the hosts Croatia broke the streak of playing 7 semifinals in a row by finishing 5th.
Bidding process The interested nations were as follows: Croatia Norway Sweden
In December 2013, these were announced as the bids:
Croatia Norway and Sweden
Croatia was recommended as the preferred bid. Croatia was confirmed as the host on 20 September 2014.
Venues Each venue hosted one group, while Zagreb and Varaždin (which replaced Split as a main round venue) hosted the main round. The final weekend was in Zagreb. Zagreb Split Arena ZagrebCapacity: 15,200 Spaladium ArenaCapacity: 10,941 Varaždin Poreč Varaždin ArenaCapacity: 5,200 Žatika Sport CentreCapacity: 3,700
Qualification
Qualified teams Country Qualified as Qualified on Previous appearances in tournament (1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016) winner (1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016) winner (1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2016) winner (1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016) (1994, 1996, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016) (1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016) (1994, 1996, 1998, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016) ( 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016) (1994, 2008, 2014, 2016) (2008, 2014, 2016) (2000, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016) (1994, 1996, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2016) (2010, 2014) (1996, 1998, 2002, 2004, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014) (1998, 2012, 2014, 2016) (2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016)
Note: Bold indicates champion for that year. Italic indicates host for that year.
Draw The draw was held on 23 June 2017.
Seeding The seedings were announced on 19 June 2017.
Pot 1Pot 2Pot 3Pot 4
(assigned to A1)
(assigned to B3)
(assigned to D4) (assigned to C4)
Squads
Match officials On 26 October 2017, 12 couples were announced.
Country Referees Andrei GouskoSiarhei Repkin Matija GubicaBoris Milošević Václav HoráčekJiří Novotný Martin GjedingMads Hansen Stevann PichonLaurent Reveret Lars GeipelMarcus Helbig
Country Referees Vaidas MažeikaMindaugas Gatelis Gjorgi NachevskiSlave Nikolov Duarte SantosRicardo Fonseca Sorin-Laurențiu DinuConstantin Din Óscar RaluyÁngel Sabroso Evgeny ZotinNikolay Volodkov
Preliminary round All times are local (UTC+1).
Group A
Group B
Group C
Group D
Main round Points and goals gained in the preliminary group against teams that advanced, were taken over.
Group I
Group II
Knockout stage Bracket
Semifinals
Fifth place game
Third place game
Final
Ranking and statistics Final ranking
RankTeam45678910111213141516 Qualified for 2019 World Men's Handball Championship as: winner of this tournament co-host
2018 Men's European Champions SpainFirst title
Team roster: Eduardo Gurbindo, Ángel Fernández Pérez, Valero Rivera Folch, Raúl Entrerríos, Alex Dujshebaev, Daniel Sarmiento Melián, Julen Aguinagalde, Arpad Šterbik, Joan Cañellas, Viran Morros, Aitor Ariño, Gedeón Guardiola, Iosu Goñi Leoz, Gonzalo Pérez de Vargas, Rodrigo Corrales, Ferrán Solé, David Balaguer, Adrià Figueras, Daniel DujshebaevHead coach: Jordi Ribera.
All-Star Team The all-star team and awards were announced on 28 January 2018.
Position Player Goalkeeper Right wing Right back Centre back Left back Left wing Pivot
Awards Award Player Most Valuable Player Best Defence Player Topscorer (55 goals)
Statistics
Top goalscorers +RankNameGoalsShots 1 Ondřej Zdráhala 56 96 57 2 Mikkel Hansen 43 79 54 3 Rasmus Lauge Schmidt 40 63 63 4 Kristian Bjørnsen 37 50 74 5 Ferrán Solé 36 47 77 6 Kentin Mahé 34 49 69 7 Stanislav Kašpárek 33 66 50 8 Sander Sagosen 32 54 599 Nikola Karabatić30 46 65 Hans Lindberg 37 81 Petar Nenadić 53 57 Source: Sportresult
Top goalkeepers RankName%SavesShots 1 Urh Kastelic 41 22 54 2 Vincent Gérard 37 68 1843 Jannick Green36 49 136 Andreas Palicka 50 1385 Mikael Appelgren35 69 195 Nikola Mitrevski 38 108 Viachaslau Saldatsenka 71 2038 Torbjørn Bergerud34 73 212 Silvio Heinevetter 26 76 Tomáš Mrkva 51 151 Gonzalo Pérez de Vargas 52 151 Andreas Wolff 43 126 Source: Sportresult
References
External links Official website