| top_scorer = Mathias Gidsel(68 goals) | player = Mathias Gidsel | previous = 2024 European Men's Handball Championship | next = 2028 European Men's Handball Championship }} The 2026 EHF European Men's Handball Championship, commonly referred to as the EHF Euro 2026, was the 17th edition of the EHF European Men's Handball Championship, the biennial international men's handball championship of Europe organized by EHF. It was co-hosted by Denmark, Norway and Sweden from 15 January to 1 February 2026, marking the second time the event was held in three countries, after 2020. The final was held in Herning, Denmark.
24 teams participated for the fourth time. Qualification took place in January 2023 to May 2025. The three co-hosts qualified automatically, alongside the defending champions, France. Italy returns after a 28-year absence.
This tournament acts as a qualifier for the 2027 World Men's Handball Championship in Germany and 2028 edition in Portugal, Spain and Switzerland.
France were the defending champions, having beaten Denmark in the 2024 final in Cologne, but they couldn't defend their title after being eliminated in the main round and placed 7th. Co-host Denmark won their third title and first in 14 years after defeating Germany in the final. Croatia captured the bronze medal after defeating Iceland who appeared in the medal race after 16 years. Co-hosts Norway and Sweden finished 9th and 6th. Portugal and Faroe Islands achieved their best results, placing 5th and 13th respectively.
Denmark's Mathias Gidsel won the MVP award, after scoring 68 goals, which is a tournament record at any European Championship.
Bid process
Bids On 11 May 2021 it was announced that the following nations sent in an official expression of interest: , & (withdrew) in October 2021. Switzerland merged with the Iberian bid for 2028.
Host selection As only the Scandinavian bid remained it was unanimously selected at the 14th EHF Extraordinary Congress on 20 November 2021. This marks the second time the event is held in three countries, after 2020. This is Denmark's second (after 2014), Norway's third (after 2008 and 2020) and Sweden's third (after 2002 and 2020) time hosting.
Preparations Site visits in Denmark and Sweden took place in September 2024. As of April 2025, the EHF stated that preparations were going smoothly. On 18 September 2025, the three co-hosts were joining forces on common sustainability concept called Pure Promise. On 13 November 2025, Swedish hotel company, Scandic, was announced as a national supplier for Norway. On 21 November 2025, it was announced that Harald V will watch Norway's opening game against Ukraine. On 19 December 2025, Gumpen Gruppen became a car supplier for the championship in Norway. Herning would offer free transport to and from the Jyske Bank Boxen for the tournament.
Tickets On 5 November 2024, tickets in Sweden were released. Denmark and Norway's were put on sale on 14 February 2025. More tickets were released on 29 October 2025. More tickets in Denmark were available for purchase. On 17 November 2025, the Swedish Handball Federation stated that tickets were selling fast.
Sponsors Official partners Evoke plc Gorenje Grundfos Harting Lidl Liqui Moly Strauss Trivago Würth
Qualification
36 teams registered for participation and competed for 20 places at the final tournament. After the qualification round 1, the remaining 32 teams take part in qualification round 2, where each team is drawn into eights groups of four. The top-two placed teams in each group qualified for the final tournament, alongside the four best-ranked third-placed teams, not counting the matches against fourth-placed teams. The draw took place on 21 March 2024 in Copenhagen, Denmark. Round 2 started in November 2025 and ended in May 2026.
Of the 24 qualifiers, 22 return from the previous edition. Italy qualified for only their second appearance, with their first being back in 1998. Ukraine come back having missed out in 2024.
Of the non-qualifiers, Bosnia and Herzegovina miss out for the first time since 2018, while 2024 debutants, Greece also failed to qualify.
The lowest ranked team from the EHF rankings to qualify was Ukraine, ranked 30th. The highest ranked team to not qualify was Greece, ranked 22nd.
Qualified teams
Venues A first draft of the venues was proposed in August 2023. The tournament will be played across four venues in four cities: one in Denmark (Herning, Groups A and B), one in Norway (Bærum, Groups C and D), and two in Sweden (Malmö and Kristianstad, Groups E and F). The main round will take place in Herning and Malmö, with the former organising the final weekend. The following proposed cities in the bid didn't make the final cut: Aarhus and Copenhagen in Denmark, and Bergen, Stavanger and Trondheim in Norway. In regards to Norway, Oslo was chosen over Trondheim, after negotiations with Trondheim fell through due to financial reasons.
In September 2024, one team per venue was selected. Denmark will play in Herning (Group B), Norway in Bærum (Group C) and Sweden in Malmö (Group E). If they qualify, Germany will play in Herning (Group A), the Faroe Islands in Bærum (Group D) and Iceland in Kristianstad (Group F). The arena in Kristianstad is renovated with new seats being put in by June 2025.
Overview of venues The Jyske Bank Boxen in Herning is the biggest arena in Denmark, seating 15,000. The venue has hosted several handball championships, including: the European Men's Handball Championship in 2014, European Women's Handball Championship in 2010 and 2020, World Men's Handball Championship in 2019 and 2025 and World Women's Handball Championship in 2015 and 2023. It has also held the IIHF World Championship in 2018 and 2025.
The Malmö Arena and Malmö was built in 2008. The venue has experience in hosting handball tournaments, previously hosting two World Men's Handball Championships, in 2011 and 2023. In addition to handball, the arena has hosted the Eurovision Song Contest twice in 2013 and 2024, as well as the 2024 Men's World Floorball Championships.
The Unity Arena in Bærum will host Norway's games for the tournament. It has recently organised the 2025 World Men's Handball Championship as the main host. Outside of sport, it hosted Eurovision in 2010 and the various concerts.
The Kristianstad Arena in Kristianstad is the smallest arena used for the tournament with a capacity of 4,500. The 2011 World Men's Handball Championship and 2023 World Men's Handball Championship have taken place here.
+Distribution of tournament Herning will host preliminary, main and knockout round games. Malmö will host preliminary and main round games. Bærum and Kristianstad will host preliminary round games.
Herning, Denmark Malmö, Sweden Jyske Bank Boxen Malmö Arena Capacity: 15,000 Capacity: 11,800 Bærum, Norway Kristianstad, Sweden Unity Arena Kristianstad Arena Capacity: 9,000 Capacity: 4,500
+Tournament venues information Venue Jyske Bank Boxen Group A and B, Main round Group I, Semifinals and Final 29 Malmö Arena Group E and Main round Group II 18 Unity Arena Group C and D 12 Kristianstad Arena Group F 6
Draw
The draw took place on 15 May 2025 at 18:00 CEST at the Teatersaalen in Herning, Denmark. The draw was hosted by Danish journalist, . Danish international, Simon Pytlick, French national team player, Hugo Descat, Swedish player Andreas Nilsson and former Norwegian left back Kristian Kjelling were the guests and assisted with the draw. The draw started with, in order, pots 1, 2, 3 and 4 being drawn, with each team selected then allocated into the first available group alphabetically.
Chosen teams On 2 September 2024, the three co-hosts were allowed to choose a nation to be drawn in their country if they qualified. Denmark chose Germany, Norway picked Faroe Islands while Sweden selected Iceland.
Team Group A B C D E F
Seeding The seedings were announced on 12 May 2025.
Pot 1 Pot 2 Pot 3 Pot 4
Draw results + Group A in Herning Team A1 A2 A3 A4 + Group B in Herning Team B1 (H) B2 B3 B4 + Group C in Bærum Team C1 C2 (H) C3 C4
+ Group D in Bærum Team D1 D2 D3 D4 + Group E in Malmö Team E1 (H) E2 E3 E4 + Group F in Kristianstad Team F1 F2 F3 F4
Schedule
ScheduleRoundMatchdayDatePreliminary roundMatchday 1 15–17 January 2026Matchday 2 17–19 January 2026Matchday 3 19–21 January 2026Main roundMatchday 4 22–23 January 2026Matchday 5 24–25 January 2026Matchday 6 26–27 January 2026Matchday 7 28 January 2026Knockout stageSemi-finals 30 January 2026Final 1 February 2026
Referees The 18 referee pairs were selected on 8 October 2025. However, on 22 December 2025, the Czech referee pair and withdrew their nomination due to recent injury, getting replaced by the Serbian pair Marko Boričić and Dejan Marković. On 10 January 2026, the EHF withdrew the nomination of the pair from North Macedonia and , due to suspected manipulation of a video recording of their Multistage Fitness Test, no other pair was nominated instead, leaving the tournament with only 17 pairs.