The 2023–24 Women's EHF European League is the 43rd edition of EHF's second-tier women's handball competition, running from 23 September 2023 to 12 May 2024.
Ikast Håndbold are the defending champions, but they won't be defending their title due to their involvement in this season's Champions League.
Storhamar Håndball Elite became the first Norwegian team to win the title, defeating Romanian side, CS Gloria Bistrița, in the final. Rankings The rankings are based on the performances of each club from a respective country from a three year period. This season, the EHF decided to make separate rankings for each club competition.
Associations 1–2 can have four clubs qualify. Associations 3–9 can have three clubs qualify. Associations 10–18 can have two clubs qualify. Associations 19–31 can have one club qualify. Associations below the top 31 can't participate in this competition.
RankPlace distribution for 2023/24 eurohandball.comAssociationAverage pointsTeams1 Denmark101.0022 Hungary86.003 Germany80.3344 Romania 74.6735 France72.006 Russia51.3307 Croatia47.0028 Norway 46.0049 Poland37.00110 Turkey32.0011 Czech Republic19.0012 Spain18.00213 Sweden12.6714 Serbia8.00215 Austria4.67116 Belarus4.000
RankAssociationAverage pointsTeams16 Ukraine4.00018 Slovakia3.6719 Greece3.67120 Netherlands2.67021 Finland1.5021 Iceland1.50123 Switzerland1.00223 North Macedonia1.00023 Portugal1.0026 Luxembourg0.5027 Azerbaijan0.3327 Cyprus0.3327 Israel0.3327 Italy0.3327 Kosovo0.3332 Everyone else0.00
Qualified teams
Team allocation
Group stage Nykøbing Falster Håndbold (4th, CR) Thüringer HC (2nd) Motherson Mosonmagyaróvár (4th) CS Gloria Bistrița (3rd)Round 3 RK Lokomotiva Zagreb (1st) Podravka Vegeta (2nd) DHK Baník Most (2nd) København Håndbold (6th) Neptunes de Nantes (3rd) Chambray Touraine HB (4th) Borussia Dortmund (3rd) HSG Bensheim/Auerbach (8th, CR) Praktiker-Vác (5th) Storhamar Håndball Elite (2nd) Sola HK (3rd) MKS FunFloor Perła Lublin (2nd) CSM Târgu Jiu (10th, CR) ŽORK Jagodina (1st) Super Amara Bera Bera (3rd) H65 Höörs HK (2nd) LC Brühl Handball (1st) Kastamonu Bld. GSK (1st)Round 2 Hypo Niederösterreich (1st) JDA Bourgogne Dijon HB (5th) VfL Oldenburg (4th) AC PAOK (1st) Valur (1st) Larvik HK (4th) Molde Elite (5th) HC Dunărea Brăila (4th) ŽRK Železničar (2nd) Costa del Sol Malaga (1st) Önnereds HK (3rd) SPONO Eagles (2nd)
Round and draw dates The schedule of the competition was as follows (all draws were held at the EHF headquarters in Vienna, Austria).
PhaseRoundDraw dateFirst legSecond legQualificationSecond qualifying round18 July 202323 September 202330 September 2023Third qualifying round11–12 November 202318–19 November 2023Group stageMatchday 123 November 20236–7 January 2024Matchday 213–14 January 2024Matchday 320–21 January 2024Matchday 43–4 February 2024Matchday 510–11 February 2024Matchday 617–18 February 2024Knockout phaseQuarter-finals no draw16–17 March 202423–24 March 2024Semi finals26 March 202411 May 2024Finalno draw12 May 2024
Qualification stage Round 2 There were 12 teams participating in round 2. The first legs were played on 23 September and the second legs were played on 30 September–1 October 2023.Qualification Round 2 EHF Seeding Seeded Unseeded Hypo Niederösterreich AC PAOK Valur Molde Elite Costa del Sol Malaga ŽRK Železničar VfL Oldenburg JDA Bourgogne Dijon HB HC Dunărea Brăila Larvik HK Önnereds HK SPONO Eagles
Round 3 There were 24 teams participating in round 3. The first legs were played on 11–12 November and the second legs were played on 18–19 November 2023.Qualification Round 3 EHF
Seeding Seeded Unseeded København Håndbold Praktiker-Vác Borussia Dortmund Neptunes de Nantes CSM Târgu Jiu Storhamar Håndball Elite MKS FunFloor Perła Lublin RK Lokomotiva Zagreb HSG Bensheim-Auerbach Chambray Touraine HB Sola HK Podravka Vegeta Super Amara Bera Bera H65 Höörs HK Kastamonu Bld. GSK DHK Baník Most LC Brühl Handball ŽORK Jagodina Winner of Play off 1 Winner of Play off 2 Winner of Play off 3 Winner of Play off 4 Winner of Play off 5 Winner of Play off 6
Group stage
The draw for the group phase was held on Thursday, 23 November 2023. In each group, teams played against each other in a double round-robin format, with home and away matches.
In the group stage, teams were ranked according to points (2 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). After completion of the group stage, if two or more teams have scored the same number of points, the ranking will be determined as follows:
Highest number of points in matches between the teams directly involved; Superior goal difference in matches between the teams directly involved; Highest number of goals scored in matches between the teams directly involved; Superior goal difference in all matches of the group; Highest number of plus goals in all matches of the group;
This season, nine national associations are present. For the first time since the 2018–19 season, Spain has a qualified team, while Romania has the most teams in the group stage with three.
Group A <onlyinclude>
Group B <onlyinclude>
Group C <onlyinclude>
Group D <onlyinclude>
Quarterfinals
Matches
Final Four The Final Four, (also known as the EHF Finals by the EHF), is held at the Raiffeisen Sportpark in Graz, Austria on 11 and 12 May 2024. The draw took place on 26 March 2024.
Bracket
Semifinals
Third place game
Final
Top goalscorers
Rank Player Club Goals1 Anniken Obaidli Storhamar HE822 Csenge Kuczora Praktiker-Vác593 Tamara Horacek Neptunes de Nantes584 Cristina Laslo CS Gloria Bistrița575 Katarina Ježić HC Dunărea Brăila556 Camilla Herrem Sola HK54 Lucie-Marie Kretzschmar HSG Bensheim-Auerbach8 Kristina Liščević HC Dunărea Brăila51 Oriane Ondono Neptunes de Nantes10 Kristina Novak Sola HK50
See also 2023–24 EHF Champions League 2023–24 EHF European League 2023–24 EHF European Cup 2023–24 Women's EHF Champions League 2023–24 Women's EHF European Cup
References
External links Official website 2022–23 Croatian League Table 2022–23 Czech League Table 2022–23 Icelandic League Table 2022–23 Polish League Table 2022–23 Serbian League Table 2022–23 Turkish League Table