The European Men's Handball Championship starts today: Key dates and all 24 teams

These are all the teams participating in the European Men's Handball Championship starting today.
Text: Javier Escribano
Published 2026-01-15

The European Men's Handball Championship is one of the first major sporting events of 2026, and starts today, Thursday, January 15, held in Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, lasting until February 1.

In this edition, 24 teams participate to try and claim the crown currently owned by France, following their victory at the 2024 edition, where they defeated Denmark.

All teams and groups of the European Men's Handball Championship

Group A - Herning

Germany
Spain
Austria
Serbia


Group B - Herning

Denmark
Portugal
North Macedonia
Romania


Group C - Baerum

France
Norway
Czech Republic
Ukraine


Group D - Baerum

Slovenia
Faroe Islands
Montenegro
Switzerland


Group E - Malmo

Sweden
Croatia
Netherlands
Georgia


Group F Kristianstad

Hungary
Iceland
Poland
Italy


Key dates for the European Men's Handball Championship


Preliminary Round Matchday 1 - 15-17 January
Preliminary Round Matchday 2 - 17-19 January
Preliminary Round Matchday 3 - 19-21 January

Main Round matchday 4 - 22-23 January
Main Round matchday 5 - 24-25 January
Main Round matchday 6 - 26-27 January
Main Round matchday 7 - 28 January

Semi-finals - 30 January
Final - 1 February


This competition takes place only months after the Women's Handball World Championship 2025, in which Norway defeated Germany 23-20 in a thrilling final, and more than 330,000 people attended the arenas, a new World Championship record, showing the increased appeal of handball around the world and particularly in European countries.

Will you be following the European Men's Handball Championship 2026?

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