Stephen Neilson, the Chair of British Handball joins the podcast to discuss the Great Britain – Kosovo Euro 2026 Qualification match played in Derby, England on 13 January.
We take a deep dive into what was probably the best ever handball match atmosphere and presentation in a “non-traditional” handball nation. We discuss the crowd, venue, organization, logistics, finances and British Handball’s future plans to stage matches like that again.
Watch on YouTube or listen/download the mp3 file at the top of the page
If you have any suggestions for future topics, a title for our podcast or have some intro music you would like us to consider please let us know on social media.
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On this week’s episode we discuss two handball miracles: The remarkable showing of the Faroe Islands (population 52K) at the European Championships and the great handball atmosphere at the Great Britain-Kosovo Euro 2026 qualification match in Derby, England. Here’s a rundown of the show and some links to the topics we discussed.
Faroe Island’s Men’s National Team (Wikipedia): Link
John’s “Iceland Strategy” commentaries: (Part 1; Part 2)
(Un)Informed Handball Hour podcast on the Faroe Islands: Link
John’s commentary that compares the Faroe Island’s challenges with the current US team (which is sort of like a geographically dispersed Faroe Islands): Link
The Final Season (a movie about Norway, Iowa’s baseball team): Link
Jóhan Hansen: Right Wing from the the Faroe Islands that now plays Denmark: Link
ehfTV video of the Great Britain – Kosovo match: Link
Daily Oklahoman article about Chris Havlicek trying out for handball mentions the USA – Brazil match and the USA women playing Iceland in 1996: Link
Article on the USA – Drammen match that was part of the USA Men’s training camp in Norway: Link
Watch on YouTube or listen/download the mp3 file at the top of the page
If you have any suggestions for future topics, a title for our podcast or have some intro music you would like us to consider please let us know on social media.
Don’t miss an episode:
Subscribe on YouTube: Link (Earliest Availability)
The 2024 EHF Men’s European Handball Championship will start this Wednesday, 10 January and will conclude on Sunday, 28 January. Here is some information on streaming, how to follow the tournament, and who the sports betting sites have favored to win the tournament and premliminary groups.
Streaming / TV
Your options for watching the 2024 EHF Euro will vary depending on where you live. Some nations will be able to watch all the matches on ehfTV while other nations will have all or some of the matches available on a TV Channel and/or streaming service to which the rights have been sold. This EHF article outlines how to watch in each nation: Link
Register with ehfTV: Link (ehfTV is a free platform, but does require a simple one-time registration)
USA: This EHF article indicates that matches in the U.S. will be on beIN Sport US. However, the beIN Sports channel guide currently doesn’t list any handball matches on its schedule. Additionally, for the 2022 Euro, the contract was also with beIN Sport, but ehfTV was not geo-blocked in the U.S. (We’ll soon find out if that will hold for 2024 as well. Regardless, I will update this post with the latest information.)
Canada: The EHF article indicates that matches in Canada will be on DAZN. I don’t know if ehfTV will be geo-blocked in Canada or not.
VPN: A Virtual Private Network (VPN) may be an aternative option. For more information on how to use VPN check this article out: Link
Spam Sites: You’ve surely seen the multitude of social media postings inviting you to watch the match on their “free” service. (These folks are relentless with their spamming) Don’t even bother with these sites. They typically will ask you to download a video player on your computer. Trust me… you don’t want that app on your computer and in all likelihood they won’t even have the match. Go with the provider in your country or VPN.
How to Follow the Competition
Competition Wikipedia Page: Link (For simple, easy to find schedule, results and standings Wikipedia is the place to go)
EHF Competition Page: Link (Official Stats and match summaries)
Links to social media, Twitch channe and the official EHF App: Link
The European Beach Handball Championship currently taking place in Bulgaria can be seen in the U.S., as usual, on ehfTV, but this this year there’s another option: beIN Sports XTRA. beIN Sports XTRA is a free web streaming channel that can be seen on PlutoTV, Samsung TV, Roku TV and others and this should provide an excellent discovery opportunity for new beach handball fans.
Schedule for Wednesday and Thursday (All Times are US ET)
Wednesday, July 14
3:00 PM: Spain vs Denmark – Women
3:30 PM: Spain vs Norway – Men
4:00 PM: Ukraine vs Bulgaria – Women
4:30 PM: Germany vs Portugal – Men
5:00 PM: Norway vs Denmark – Men
Thursday, July 15:
3:00 PM: Bulgaria vs Spain – Women
3:30 PM: Russia vs Germany – Men
4:00 PM: Bulgaria vs Denmark – Women
4:30 PM: Greece vs France – Men
Matches will also be shown on Friday, Saturday and Sunday and the schedule can be accessed here: Link
How to Watch beIN Sports XTRA on Roku: To watch on your Roku, go to your home screen and look for the “Roku Channel” icon. It’s a streaming channel just like Netflix or Hulu and should be readily available. (If not, you can add it just like you would any other channel.) Click on the Roku Channel icon and then scroll down until you see “beIN Sports XTRA” icon. Click on it and the channel should start playing. It’s live so, there are commercials just like what you would see on a TV channel.
How to Watch Over The Air: The Roku channel is also available “Over the Air” on digital channels in several U.S. cities: List of Channels and Cities: Link
KRAS/Volendam vs Aalsmeer (Saturday, 2000 CET): Video Link
Mark Ortega is Volendam’s coach and Alex Binderis (#4) plays circle runner for Volendam
5th place Volendam hosts 2nd place Aalsmeer. This is Voldendam’s last match of the season and a win would enable them to move into 4th place in the 5 team league: Link
Liga ASOBAL (Spain)
Valladolid vs Leon (-1.5) (Sunday, 1900 CET): Video Link
Drew Donlin plays defense and circle runner for Leon.
Donlin had a great game (5 goals) last weekend vs Barcelona.
7th place Leon travels to 9th place Valladolid. This is Leon’s 2nd to last match of the season and will likely be that last match that will be available on Laligasports TV,
The first match was to be played in Sweden, but had to be cancelled due to positive COVID cases. Both matches will now be played in Athens and the winner will be decided by aggregate goals.
There is a U.S. connection: The U.S. national team played a couple friendly matches vs Ystads in 2020: Link
The quarterfinals finish up on Wednesday and Thursday with 2nd leg matches. Below are the times for those matches along with the 1st leg scores. Remember, the aggregate score for both matches determine who advances. If the aggregate is zero, the next tiebreaker is away goals. And, the next tiebreaker after that is a penalty shootout to take place immediately after the match. (And, yes that has happened before: Link)
Barcelona (-9) vs Meshkov Brest (Thursday, 2045 CET)
Barcelona won the first match 33-29
Odds to Advance to the Final Four (Courtesy of Bet 365: Link)
Barcelona is an overwhelming favorite as they have a 4 goal aggregate lead and are an 8.5 goal favorite at home.
Aalborg is a solid favorite since they have a 5 goal aggregate lead and Flensburg is only a 3.5 goal favorite in Flensburg. Additionally, since the first leg in Aalborg was low scoring (26-21) it’s likely that Flensburg will need to win by 6.
Kiel is also favored to hang on to their 2 goal aggregate lead. They won 31-29 in Kiel and Paris is only a 0.5 goal favorite in Paris. It’s debatable as to whether the required Paris margin of victory will be 3 or 2 goals. That will depend on the pace of the game and whether Kiel is on track to score more than 29 goals
Veszprem – Nantes has Veszprem as a slight favorite to advance to the Final Four. Nantes has a 4 goal lead, but Veszprem is favored to win by 4.5 goals. Either 4 or 5 goals will suffice and that will depend on whether Nantes is on track to score 28 goals. (UPDATE: as of Wednesday the odd have shifted to make Nantes a slight favorite to advance: Link)
American Athletes in Action
K&H League (Hungary)
VKKFT Veszprém (-1.5) vs Gyöngyös (Monday, 1800 CET): Video Link
The quarterfinals start on Wednesday and these teams will be playing 2 matches with the aggregate score for both matches deciding who will advance. The 1st leg matches are played at the lower ranked seeds home court so those teams will be looking to try and get a win by as many goals as possible to improve their chances in the 2nd legs next week. For sure, there is no such thing as “garbage time” at the end of these first leg matches. Every goal matters.
5th place Dormagen travels to 11th place Hamm-Westfalen.
Liga ASOBAL (Spain)
Leon (-2.5) vs Granollers (Wednesday, 1930 CET): Video Link**Postponed**
Drew Donlin plays defense and circle runner for Leon.
The season is winding down for Leon and they have 4 more matches remaining in the Liga ASOBAL. Currently in 5th place this match presents an opportunity to gain 2 points on 4th place Granollers.
The projected top four 3rd place teams (If the odds predictions are 100% correct)
For regular updates on when and where handball matches can be streamed online follow Team Handball News on social media: TwitterFacebookInstagram
All times are CET which is 6 hours ahead of US ET. Odds courtesy of Bet MGM and/or OddsPortal.
Today (Sunday, 2 May) at 1800 CET, qualification for the 2022 European Handball Championships will wrap up with a mad dash of 15 simultaneous matches. Here are those 15 matches, the current handicap odds and a top level summary of what each team needs to do to qualify. For a way more detailed summary including all possibilities check out this earlier posting: Link
All matches can be seen on ehfTV. You might want to get multiple devices and laptops today. I will also try and tweet with timely updates as to the current qualification situation and which matches have become pivotal: Team Handball News on Twitter
Group 1
France (-12.5) vs Greece
This match is very unlikely to effect qualification
Group 2
Austria (-0.5) vs Bosnia & Herzegovina
Austria: If Austria win they finish in 2nd place. If they lose they head to the 3rd place table with 0 points and they start the day with a -29 GD. Mathematically, in the running, but it would probably take some ridiculous blow outs to advance with that high of a -GD. Should they draw vs Bosnia they would take 1 point to the table, but they would need to have several of the swing matches go there way.
Bosnia & Herzegovina: If Bosnia beats Austria they will finish in 2nd place. If they lose, they will take 2 points to the 3rd place table and they start the day with a GD of 0. And, that probably is enough to finish 4th or better. To be on the safe side they will be hoping for results in the other groups that send teams to the table with less than 2 points. Those results include:
Ukraine beating the Czech Republic
N. Macedonia beating Switzerland
Montenegro and Romania not ending in a draw
Germany (-11.5) vs Estonia
This match is very unlikely to effect qualification
Group 3
Czech Republic (-1) vs Ukraine
Czech Republic: The Czech Republic is in pretty good shape. If they beat Ukraine they finish 2nd in their group. If they lose to the Ukraine they will finish 3rd, but will have 2 points and will start the day with a +1 GD.
Ukraine: Ukraine’s situation is a little more precarious. If they beat the Czech Republic they qualify, but if they lose they enter the table with just 1 point, meaning they will be looking for results in the other groups that result in teams heading to the 3rd place table with 0 points. Poland will likely need 2 of the 3 results below to happen:
Bosnia & Herzegovina beating Austria
N. Macedonia beating Switzerland
Montenegro and Romania not ending in a draw
Russia (-7.5) vs Faroe Islands
This match has no effect on qualification
Group 4
Portugal (-5.5) vs LithuaniaLithuania might get in with their 2 points from upsetting Iceland. Key word: might. An upset draw or win, however, should put them through
Lithuania: If Lithuania loses to Portugal as expected they will have 2 points, but also a pretty high -GD: -22 plus whatever they lose to Portugal by. This means they will be hoping for results from the other groups that send teams to the 3rd place table with less than 2 points. Lithuania will likely need 2 of the 4 results below to happen:
Ukraine beating the Czech Republic
Bosnia & Herzegovina beating Austria
N. Macedonia beating Switzerland
Montenegro and Romania not ending in a draw
Iceland (-10) vs Israel
This match is unlikely to effect qualification
Group 5
Netherlands vs Poland (-0.5)
Netherlands: They have qualified. There is no possible way for there to be 4 nations with 3 points in the 3rd place table.
Poland: Poland is in pretty good shape as they will head to the table with at least 2 points and will start the day with a -3 GD.
Slovenia (-9.5) vs Turkey
This match has no effect on qualification
Group 6
Belarus (-8.5) vs Latvia
This match is unlikely to effect qualification
Norway (-12.5) vs Italy
This match is unlikely to effect qualification
Group 7
N. Macedonia vs Switzerland (-2)
Switzerland: If Switzerland beat Macedonia they head to the 3rd place table with 2 points and start the day with a -8 GD. 2 points might be enough to qualify and their GD will improve depending on the margin of victory so they might catch up to other teams with 2 points. And, they will also be looking for results in the other groups that send teams to the 3rd place table with less than 2 points. Those results include:
Ukraine beating the Czech Republic
Bosnia & Herzegovina beating Austria
Montenegro and Romania not ending in a draw
Denmark (-13) vs Finland
This match has no effect on qualification
Group 8
Montenegro (-1.5) vs Romania
Montenegro and Romania: Well, this is the wild card situation…
If Montenegro wins they take 2nd in the group. If they lose they head to the table with 0 points and a -24 GD (little chance of finishing in the top 4)
If Romania wins they take 2nd in the group. If they lose they finish in 4th place and Kosovo takes 3rd, but with 0 points and a -26 GD (little chance of finishing in the top 4)
If however, Romania and Montenegro draw Montenegro finishes 2nd and Romania takes 3rd… And, they head to the table with 3 points which will qualify them as well.Will these teams play for a draw? No, that’s tough to manipulate from the first minute of a 60 minute match. And, if either team gets a lead that’s a comfortable way to qualify. That being said, if the match is tied in the waning minutes of the game will there be any incentive to take a risky shot that could turn into an easy fast break for the other team? No… None, whatsoever.
Sweden (-11.5) vs Kosovo
This match is unlikely to effect qualification
The Possible Outcomes (Just the Likely Ones)
Here are the most likely 3rd place teams and the results that would head to the best 3rd place table. (For every single possible outcome: Link)
Possible 3rd Place Results (The Likely Ones)
Projected Results (Based Strictly on the Odds)
Taking the odds above as to which teams would win and by how many goals (the handicap was rounded up) these are the teams that would qualify
Teams that qualify by finishing 2nd in their group: Poland, Czech Republic, Austria, Montenegro
Teams that will finish in 3rd place and the resulting top 4 teams: Netherlands, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Lithuania
The projected top four 3rd place teams (If the odds predictions are 100% correct)
Teams currently in contention that would finish in 4th place: Romania
Of course, this is just one possible outcome of many. And, with 5 matches projected to be close it’s pretty unlikely that this is what will occur. Switzerland could lose to Macedonia, Bosnia could be Austria, etc, etc.
Halftime Projection (To be filled at halftime)
As fast as I can possibly do it, I will update the table at halftime. And, I will try to post updates on Twitter as the matches head to the finish. Key word… Try. It can be very hard to post and watch 5 matches at the same time. And, it goes without saying I’m not infallible. Hopefully, there won’t be any mistakes.
NOTE: This is a work in progress. Check back for updates.
Euro 2022 Qualification Format
The qualification picture for the Men’s 2022 European Championships is starting to become clearer, but there is still quite a bit yet to be resolved this Sunday when 15 qualification matches will be simultaneously played at 1800 CET. Yes, you read that right: 15 matches will be played simultaneously. Although, I haven’t seen it stated anywhere, I’m guessing this is being done to make it tougher (if not impossible) for any manipulation of the results to favor one over another possible. And, to avoid the possibility of a situation where a draw might be advantageous for both nations and this is clearly known before the start of a match.
All, well in good, but this results in quite a bit of a headache for teams trying to figure out what they need to do in order to qualify. And, this is especially true when trying to determine which teams will qualify as the 4 best 3rd place teams. The 3rd place teams from all 8 groups will be ranked based on the points and goal differential they’ve obtained in Group Play vs the 1st and 2nd place teams in their group. (Results against the 4th place team are thrown out.) As you might expect this means picking off 2 points for a win or 1 point for a draw against the top two teams in your group are likely to be critical for qualification.
Current 3rd Place Standings (A Little Bit Misleading)
Euro 2022 Qualification (3rd Place Standings after matches played on April 30)
These standings, however, can be a bit misleading because the teams that are currently in 3rd place might not end up in 3rd place. No group demonstrates this more clearly than Group 8. Right now Romania is in 3rd place and thanks to a 36-27 win over 2nd place Montenegro they have 2 points and a GD of -2. Unfortunately, for Romania, however, is the reality that they also have a loss and a draw vs 4th place Kosovo and should they end up tied with Kosovo they will slip into 4th place on head to head tiebreakers. And, then Kosovo would make this table, but they would have 0 points and a GD of -26 or even worse depending on their last match with Sweden.
Euro 2022 Group Scenarios
Below for each group are the current standings, potential final standings (if necessary) and the potential 3rd place points and goal differential that will go to the overal 3rd place standings. Also, highlighted in light blue is what I think the more likely outcomes are.
Group 1
Standings after matches played on April 29
Group 1 is pretty straightforward. Serbia and France have already qualified and Greece is guaranteed to finish in 3rd place. In order to qualify, Greece will likely need an upset win over France on Sunday. And, even that win might not be enough with the -21 GD they will start with. In blue, is what I project to be the most likely scenario.
Group 1 (3rd Place Scenarios)
Group 2
Standings after matches played on April 29
Group 2 is a bit complicated. Germany is guaranteed to finish in first place while Austria will host Bosnia & Herzegovina in a match that will likely determine 2nd and 3rd place. Likely, but not guaranteed as there is one scenario where Estonia can sneak into 3rd place.
Group 2 Scenarios
Barring Estonia pulling an epic upset over Germany, the Austria – Bosnia match will determine who gets 2nd place. As can be seen in the table below Austria probably needs a win as their 3rd place table will be 0 points and a GD worse than -29. Whereas Bosnia would probably be in pretty good shape with 2 points from their victory against Austria earlier in qualification.
Group 2 (3rd Place Scenarios)
Group 3
Standings after matches played on April 30
Russia has won the group and qualified and the Faroe Islands has been eliminated. The Czech Republic – Ukraine match will decide 2nd and 3rd place. Ukraine needs to win the match to finish 2nd while the Czech Republic will finish 2nd with either a win or a draw. The Czech Republic is also in a good position to qualify as a 3rd place team since they will take 3 points with them into the 3rd place table. The Ukraine might also qualify, but 1 point (for their draw with Russia) might not be enough.
Group 2 (3rd Place Scenarios)
Group 4
Standings after matches played on April 29
Group 4 is relatively straight forward. Portugal and Island will finish in the top 2 places while Lithuania will finish in 3rd place in 8 of the 9 scenarios. If Israel were to upset Iceland and Portugal were to beat Lithuania Israel would finish ahead of Lithuania due to a better goal differential in their two meetings.
Group 4 Scenarios
Lithuania thanks to the 2 points earned for their upset win over Iceland have good chances to secure one of the best 3rd places. Israel’s chances are a real long shot as it would require an upset victory over Iceland in Iceland. The most like scenario will be for both Portugal and Iceland to earn victories on Sunday.
Group 4 (3rd Place Scenarios)
Group 5
Standings after matches played on April 29
Group 5 appears to have 3 qualifiers. Slovenia due to tiebreaker advantages is guaranteed to finish either 1st or 2nd. The result of the Poland – Netherlands match will determine which of those teams will finish in 3rd place. If Poland beats the Netherlands, the Netherlands will finish in 3rd place. If the Netherlands wins or if the match is a draw Poland will finish in 3rd place. Winless Turkey is guaranteed to finish 4th.
Group 5 Scenarios
Should the Netherlands finish in 3rd place they will take 3 points with them into the third place table, so it’s hard to see them not finishing in the top four. Poland should they finish in 3rd place will take 2 point with them so they should also have good chances. In blue are the two most like outcomes on Sunday.
Group 5 (3rd Place Scenarios)
Group 6
Standings after matches played on April 29
Norway and Belarus have qualified and either Italy or Latvia will finish in 3rd place. Italy has the tiebreaker advantage over Latvia,
Group 6 Scenarios
Both Italy and Latvia need a big upset win in order to have a chance in the 3rd place table. And, even that might not be enough as they have a big GD deficit. Both teams are big underdogs in their last match and the most likely outcome is that they will both lose.
Group 6 (3rd Place Scenarios)
Group 7
Standings after matches played on April 29
Group 7 is all about Switzerland as they are guaranteed to finish in 3rd place. The only question is whether they can beat N. Macedonia in N. Macedonia to head to the 3rd place table with 2 points.
Group 7 (3rd Place Scenarios)
Group 8
Standings after matches played on April 30
Sweden is guaranteed to finish 1st, but Montenegro, Romania and Kosovo are duking it out for 2nd and 3rd. Montenegro has a tiebreaker advantage over Kosovo while Kosovo has a tiebreaker advantage over Romania
Group 8 Scenarios
Here’s where it really gets interesting… If undefeated Sweden beats Kosovo as expected the Montenegro – Romania will decide who gets 2nd and it’s essentially a winner take all situation.
If Montenegro wins, Romania is eliminated as Kosovo is the 3rd place team due to to their victory and draw vs Romania
If Romania wins, Montenegro is the 3rd place team, but they take 0 points and a (-24 + the amount of their loss) as a GD. Barring a bizarre turn of events Montenegro is eliminated.
Winner take all, except there are also draws in handball. And should that happen, both teams will qualify. Montenegro as the 2nd place team and Romania as a 3rd place team taking 3 points into the table which is surely enough to qualify as a best place 3rd team.
Group 8 (3rd Place Scenarios)
Putting it All Together
Here are the “likely results” from each of the 8 groups roughly in order from strongest to weakest
Definitely will result in 2 or 3 pointsDefinitely will result in at least 1 pointSwing groups that could result in 0 points or 2 pointsThe wild card group where a drawn match could really shake things upTwo groups that are unlikely to matter
Here’s a rough summary of what each nation needs to happen in order to qualify
Netherlands: They have qualified. There is no possible way for there to be 4 nations with 3 points in the 3rd place table.
Poland: Poland is in pretty good shape as they will head to the table with at least 2 points and will start the day with a -3 GD.
Lithuania: If Lithuania loses to Portugal as expected they will have 2 points, but also a pretty high -GD: -22 plus whatever they lose to Portugal by. This means they will be hoping for results from the other groups that send teams to the 3rd place table with less than 2 points. Lithuania will likely need 2 of the 4 results below to happen:
Ukraine beating the Czech Republic
Bosnia & Herzegovina beating Austria
N. Macedonia beating Switzerland
Montenegro and Romania not ending in a draw
Czech Republic: The Czech Republic is in pretty good shape. If they beat Ukraine they finish 2nd in their group. If they lose to the Ukraine they will finish 3rd, but will have 2 points and will start the day with a +1 GD.
Ukraine: Ukraine’s situation is a little more precarious. If they beat the Czech Republic they qualify, but if they lose they enter the table with just 1 point, meaning they will be looking for results in the other groups that result in teams heading to the 3rd place table with 0 points. Poland will likely need 2 of the 3 results below to happen:
Bosnia & Herzegovina beating Austria
N. Macedonia beating Switzerland
Montenegro and Romania not ending in a draw
Bosnia & Herzegovina: If Bosnia beats Austria they will finish in 2nd place. If they lose, they will take 2 points to the 3rd place table and they start the day with a GD of 0. And, that probably is enough to finish 4th or better. To be on the safe side they will be hoping for results in the other groups that send teams to the table with less than 2 points. Those results include:
Ukraine beating the Czech Republic
N. Macedonia beating Switzerland
Montenegro and Romania not ending in a draw
Austria: If Austria win they finish in 2nd place. If they lose they head to the 3rd place table with 0 points and they start the day with a -29 GD. Mathematically, in the running, but it would probably take some ridiculous blow outs to advance with that high of a -GD. Should they draw vs Bosnia they would take 1 point to the table, but they would need to have several of the swing matches go there way.
Switzerland: If Switzerland beat Macedonia they head to the 3rd place table with 2 points and start the day with a -8 GD. 2 points might be enough to qualify and their GD will improve depending on the margin of victory so they might catch up to other teams with 2 points. And, they will also be looking for results in the other groups that send teams to the 3rd place table with less than 2 points. Those results include:
Ukraine beating the Czech Republic
Bosnia & Herzegovina beating Austria
Montenegro and Romania not ending in a draw
Montenegro and Romania: Well, this is the wild card situation…
If Montenegro wins they take 2nd in the group. If they lose they head to the table with 0 points and a -24 GD (little chance of finishing in the top 4)
If Romania wins they take 2nd in the group. If they lose they finish in 4th place and Kosovo takes 3rd, but with 0 points and a -26 GD (little chance of finishing in the top 4)
If however, Romania and Montenegro draw Montenegro finishes 2nd and Romania takes 3rd… And, they head to the table with 3 points which will qualify them as well.
Will these teams play for a draw? No, that’s tough to manipulate from the first minute of a 60 minute match. And, if either team gets a lead that’s a comfortable way to qualify. That being said, if the match is tied in the waning minutes of the game will there be any incentive to take a risky shot that could turn into an easy fast break for the other team? No… None, whatsoever.
Italy, Greece, Latvia and Israel: These sides could pull off big upsets and get 2 points, but it’s hard to see that happening. Should it occur, though, their situation would be essentially the same as Lithuania’s above.
For regular updates on when and where handball matches can be streamed online follow Team Handball News on social media: TwitterFacebookInstagram
All times are CET which is 6 hours ahead of US ET. Odds courtesy of Bet MGM and/or OddsPortal.
Euro 2022 Qualification
Qualification for the Men’s 2022 European Championships will be the focus this week so all the major club leagues are taking the week off. All told, over the course of the next 7 days (26 April to 2 May) there will be 37 qualification matches on ehfTV. 37 matches!
There are 8 qualification groups with 4 teams each and the top 2 nations will qualify from each of these groups. Further, with the European Championships expansion to 24 nations, the 4 best 3rd place nations will also qualify. These 4 teams will be determined by ranking the 3rd place teams from all 8 groups based on the points and goal differential they’ve obtained in Group Play vs the 1st and 2nd place teams in their group. (Results against the 4th place team are thrown out.) As you might expect this means picking off 2 points for a win or 1 point for a draw against the top two teams in your group are likely to be critical for qualification.
2020 Qualification as a Reference Point
The 2020 Championships also had the same qualification format and for reference here’s the 3rd place table that decided the final 4 qualifying teams:
For Reference: The Last 4 Nations that Qualified for the 2020 Euro
For 2020 qualification just 1 win vs the top two teams in your group was necessary to be in contention and then Israel was pipped by Ukraine on goal differential. That doesn’t mean this will also be the case in 2022, but it’s a good reference point.
2022 Euro Qualification (Best 3rd Place Standings- Prior to Matches on 27 April)
As it stands, however, this table is somewhat meaningless because there are several matches to be played and it’s not very clear which teams are even actually likely to finish in 3rd place. Currently, no team in these standings even has a victory against the top 2 teams in their group. This means that just 1 upset victory against a top team might be enough for qualification so almost every team still has a chance to qualify. It also means that it’s way too early to break down all the possible scenarios, but I will be updating this post throughout the week. And, then on Friday, I’ll go through all the scenarios… which could be a challenging mess heading into the final match day on Sunday
Euro 2022 Qualification Matches (All matches can be seen on ehfTV)
Monday
2000 CET: Israel (-3) vs Lithuania
Israel won 34-28
Tuesday
1800 CET: Turkey vs Slovenia (-7.5)
Slovenia won 30-22.
1900 CET: Greece vs France (-12.5)
France won 40-31.
1930 CET: Israel vs Iceland (-7.5)
Iceland won 30-20.
Wednesday
1700 CET: Ukraine (-0.5) vs Czech Republic
The Czech Republic won 28-26.
1700 CET: Romania vs Sweden (-6.5)
Sweden won 31-23.
1700 CET: Finland vs N. Macedonia (-5.5)
N. Macedonia won 27-23
1830 CET: Russia (-10.5) vs Faroe Islands
Russia won 31-24.
1830 CET: Switzerland vs Denmark (-5.5)
Denmark won 30-29..
1840 CET: Latvia vs Norway (-12.5)
Norway won 28-23.
1930 CET: Kosovo vs Montenegro (-3.5)
Montenegro won 27-22.
Thursday
1400 CET: Greece vs Serbia (-6.5)
Greece is all but guaranteed to finish in 3rd place and they likely need an upset vs Serbia or France on Sunday to advance. Serbia beat Greece 31-21 in January.
1610 CET: Bosnia & Herzegovina vs Germany (-5)
Germany has already qualified and Bosnia is in a 3 way fight for 2nd/3rd with Austria and Estonia in Group 2. Germany beat Bosnia 25-21 in November.
1800 CET: Turkey vs Netherlands (-3.5)
Turkey has been eliminated and will play for pride. With a win the Netherlands will be a step closer to qualification. The Netherlands beat Turkey 27-26 in November.
1800 CET: Lithuania vs Iceland (-7.5)
Iceland has all but qualified and Lithuania needs an upset for a chance at 3rd place qualification. Iceland destroyed Lithuania 36-20 in November.
1815 CET: Norway (-11) vs Latvia
Norway has all but qualified and Latvia needs an upset for a chance at 3rd place qualification. Yesterday, they put up a gallant effort before falling to Norway, 28-23.
1830 CET: Estonia vs Austria (-2.5)
Estonia and Austria are level on 3 points in Group 2. This match might well be an elimination match. Austria beat Estonia 31-28 in November.
1900 CET: Italy vs Belarus (-5.5)
Belarus has all but qualified and Italy needs an upset for a chance at 3rd place qualification. Belarus beat Italy 32-27 in March.
1900 CET: Israel vs Portugal (-6.5)
Portugal has all but qualified and Israel needs an upset for a chance at 3rd place qualification. Portugal beat Israel 31-22 in November.
2000 CET: Poland vs Slovenia (Picke’em)
So far in Group 5 Poland just has 2 victories over already eliminated Turkey. They really need a win here to stay in contention for 2nd place and for 2 points should they finish in 3rd. With a win Slovenia will qualify an should they lose they will play Turkey on Sunday. Slovenia beat Poland 32-29 in March.
Friday
1800 CET: Montenegro vs Sweden (-3.5)
Sweden has already qualified while Montenegro is still fighting for qualification. An upset win by Montenegro over Sweden would qualify them and make Sunday’s big match vs Romania a friendly for them.
2045 CET: Faroe Islands vs Czech Republic (-4.5)
The Faroe Islands have been eliminated, but surely would like to get a win on home soil. The Czech Republic has a big match vs Ukraine on Sunday, but this match will have no impact to their qualification chances.
Kristianstad (-3.5) vs Leon (Monday, 2045 CET) **Kristianstad won 34-27**
Kristianstad (-2.5) vs Leon (Tuesday, 1845 CET)
Drew Donlin plays defense and circle runner for Leon.
Leon had 5 members of its staff (players and coaches) test positive for COVID-19 and the 1st leg match in Leon had to be postponed. As a consequence, Leon and Kristianstad will play back to back matches on Monday and Tuesday in Kristianstad with the aggregate score deciding who will advance to the quarterfinals.
Leon faces a big challenge. It’s tough enough that both matches have to be played on the road, but it also likely that Leon hasn’t been able to fully practice for the last 10 days or so.
UPDATE: Kristianstad won the first leg 34-27. This means Leon has the difficult task of making up 7 goals in the 2nd leg.
Liga ASOBAL (Spain)
Cisne vs Cangas (-0.5) (Wednesday, 1900 CET): Video Link
The Last 16 playoffs finish up on Tuesday with 2nd leg matches. Below are the times for those matches along with the 1st leg scores. Remember, the aggregate score for both matches determine who advances. If the aggregate is zero, the next tiebreaker is away goals. And, the next tiebreaker is a penalty shootout to take place immediately after the match. (And, yes that has happened before: Link)
Abou Fofana faces his former teammates tonight in Nancy
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While the U.S. and Canada have started Daylight Saving Time, Europe doesn’t start it until March 28. Because of this CET is currently just 5 hours ahead of US ET. Odds courtesy of Bet MGM and/or OddsPortal.
American Athletes in Action
Pro Ligue (France)
Nancy (-5.5) vs Angers (Tuesday, 2000 CET): Video Link )
Abou Fofana plays left back and middle defense for Angers.
This is the first month in almost a month for Angers as several matches had to be postponed due to positive COVID cases.
Angers is in last place fighting to avoid relegation while Nancy is in 3rd place and seeking promotion to the LIDL Star Ligue.
Fofana is no doubt looking forward to this match as he played for Nancy last season.
EHF European League
Leon vs Kristianstad ***Postponed***
Drew Donlin plays defense and circle runner for Leon.
Leon has had 5 members of its staff (players and coaches) test positive for COVID-19 and the 1st leg match in Leon had to be postponed. A match has been scheduled for next Tuesday in Kristianstad, but it’s not clear whether the match to have been played in Leon will be made up. If it isn’t the playoff will instead be decided by just the 1 match to be played in Sweden.
The Last 16 playoffs start today and these teams will be playing 2 matches with the aggregate score for both matches deciding who will advance. These 1st leg matches today are being played at the lower ranked seeds home court so those teams will be looking to try and get a win by as many goals as possible to improve their chances in the 2nd leg next Tuesday. EHF Preview: Link
Chekovskie (-0.5) vs Nimes (Tuesday, 1700 CET)
Montpellier (-5.5) vs Kadetten Schaffhausen (Tuesday, 1845 CET)
RK Nexe vs Rhein-Neckar Löwen (-5.5) (Tuesday, 1845 CET)
GOG (-2.5) vs HC CSKA (Tuesday, 1845 CET)
Fivers vs Füchse Berlin (-6.5) (Tuesday, 2045 CET)
Sporting vs Plock (-1.5) (Tuesday, 2045 CET)
HC Eurofarm Pelister vs Magdeburg (-4.5) (Tuesday, 2045 CET)
2020 Men’s Olympic Qualifiers: The West has Won. No Eastern European Nations. No Balkan Nations Either
Christer Ahl has retired from handball journalism and commentary, but I still get the occasional email from him regarding the latest competition. The latest missive sent last night was simply titled: “Remarkable” and started off like this:
“Never thought I would see it happen in my lifetime: all the European men’s team in the Olympics either Nordic or Latin; absolutely nobody from the Eastern part; Of course, many decades ago, Austria was the easternmost team where handball existed; but then the idea of Portugal playing handball, or even Spain…..”
Christer, who was involved with the IHF in one capacity or another from 1977 to 2009 has seen it all and indeed this is the first time there will be no nation from Eastern Europe participating in the Olympics. For that matter it joins 1992 as the only Olympics in which no nation from the former Yugoslavia has qualified. And, prior to that Yugoslavia participated in every Olympics from 1972 to 1988.
A Gradual Shift
Yes, indeed, if one looks at the 1970s and 1980s maps below the 2020 map does look a bit strange. It didn’t happen overnight and if one looks at the maps below, it’s been a gradual shift westward. There surely are a number of reasons this has occurred, but for the most part I think it mirrors the growing professionalism of handball in Western Europe and the corresponding decreasing state support to national team programs in Eastern Europe.
This doesn’t mean that handball isn’t being played in Eastern Europe and the Balkans. One just has to look at the rosters on pro clubs to see that isn’t true. But, what has changed over time has been the ability of Western European nations to develop better home grown talent. Gone are the days of club rosters totally reliant on ringers/jokers from Eastern Europe. For sure those ringers are still on rosters… but, they are more complimentary than dominant. They help bring up the overall quality of play which in turn develops more talent across the board.
Momentary Blip or a Trend for the Future?
So is this just a momentary blip or a trend for the future. I’m thinking it’s a blip, but only because Eastern Europe is looking more and more like Western Europe as the clubs and leagues become more commercialized. Poland and Hungary have decent leagues and top clubs like Szeged are building new arenas. The SEHA league is also enabling some of the clubs in smaller nations to get better competition. More talent will be able to stay home and that will trickle down and support the development of more in country talent.
European Nations Participating in Men’s Olympic Handball Competitions (1972-2020)
