2008 European Men's Handball Championship

2008 EHF European Men's Handball Championship

Håndball-EM 2008. (in Norwegian)
Tournament details
Host country	Norway
Venues	5 (in 5 host cities)
Dates	17–27 January
Teams	16 (from 1 confederation)
Final positions
Champions	Denmark (1st title)
Runners-up	Croatia
Third place	France
Fourth place	Germany
Tournament statistics
Matches played	47
Goals scored	2,643 (56.23 per match)
Attendance	165,150 (3,514 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Ivano Balić Lars Christiansen Nikola Karabatić (44 goals)
Awards
Best player	Nikola Karabatić
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The 2008 EHF European Men's Handball Championship (8th tournament) was held in Norway from 17 to 27 January, in the cities of Bergen, Drammen, Lillehammer, Stavanger and Trondheim. Denmark won the tournament with Croatia second and France third. This was the first time Denmark won a major international tournament. ^[1]

Venues

Drammen	Stavanger	Drammen Stavanger Bergen Trondheim Lillehammer
Drammenshallen Capacity: 4,000	Stavanger Idrettshall Capacity: 7,000
Bergen	Trondheim
Haukelandshallen Capacity: 4,000	Trondheim Spektrum Capacity: 4,000
Lillehammer
Håkons Hall Capacity: 10,500

Qualification

Main article: 2008 European Men's Handball Championship qualification

Qualification matches took place in 2007. According to the EHF rules, the host (Norway) and the top six nations from the 2006 European Championship (France, Croatia, Spain, Denmark, Germany, Russia) were automatically qualified. The other nine places were determined after the play-off matches, held in June; nine teams were seeded, after qualifying for the 2006 Championship, while their opponents qualified through the preliminary group stages.

Qualified teams

Country	Qualified as	Previous appearances in tournament
Norway	Host	2 (2000, 2006)
Croatia	Semifinalist of 2006 European Championship	7 (1994, 1996, 1998, 2000 , 2002, 2004, 2006)
Denmark	Semifinalist of 2006 European Championship	6 (1994, 1996, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006)
France	Semifinalist of 2006 European Championship	7 (1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006 )
Spain	Semifinalist of 2006 European Championship	7 (1994, 1996 , 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006)
Germany	Fifth place of 2006 European Championship	7 (1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004 , 2006)
Russia	Sixth place of 2006 European Championship	7 (1994, 1996 , 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006)
Belarus	Playoff winner	1 (1994)
Czech Republic	Playoff winner	4 (1996, 1998, 2002, 2004)
Hungary	Playoff winner	5 (1994, 1996, 1998, 2004, 2006)
Iceland	Playoff winner	4 (2000, 2002, 2004, 2006)
Montenegro	Playoff winner	0 (Debut)
Poland	Playoff winner	3 (2002, 2004, 2006)
Slovakia	Playoff winner	1 (2006)
Slovenia	Playoff winner	6 (1994, 1996, 2000, 2002, 2004 , 2006)
Sweden	Playoff winner	6 ( 1994 , 1996, 1998 , 2000 , 2002 , 2004)

Note: Bold indicates champion for that year. Italic indicates host for that year.

Draw

The draw was held on 22 June 2007 in the TV2 Studio in Oslo. ^[2]

Seeding

The seedings were announced on 19 June 2007. ^[3]

Pot 1	Pot 2	Pot 3	Pot 4
France   Spain   Denmark   Croatia	Germany   Russia   Iceland   Slovenia	Poland   Norway   Slovakia   Hungary	Belarus   Montenegro   Sweden   Czech Republic

Preliminary round

All times are local (UTC+1).

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Croatia	3	3	0	0	91	77	+14	6	Main round
2	Poland	3	2	0	1	93	89	+4	4
3	Slovenia	3	1	0	2	85	94	−9	2
4	Czech Republic	3	0	0	3	88	97	−9	0

Source: EHF
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) goal difference.

17 January 2008 18:15	Slovenia	34–32	Czech Republic	Stavanger Idrettshall, Stavanger Attendance: 1,000 Referees: Lemme, Ullrich (GER)
	Kavtičnik 12	(16–14)	Filip 10
	3× 8× 1×	Report	3× 8×

17 January 2008 20:15	Croatia	32–27	Poland	Stavanger Idrettshall, Stavanger Attendance: 1,000 Referees: Breto, Huelin (ESP)
	Balić, Horvat 7	(14–14)	Jurasik 11
	2× 3×	Report	3× 7× 1×

---

18 January 2008 18:15	Czech Republic	26–30	Croatia	Stavanger Idrettshall, Stavanger Attendance: 1,200 Referees: Vakula, Ljudovik (UKR)
	Vítek 7	(13–13)	Balić 6
	3× 10× 1×	Report	3× 4×

18 January 2008 20:15	Poland	33–27	Slovenia	Stavanger Idrettshall, Stavanger Attendance: 2,655 Referees: Breto, Huelin (ESP)
	Bielecki 9	(23–14)	Pajovič 7
	3× 7× 1×	Report	2× 6×

---

20 January 2008 15:15	Poland	33–30	Czech Republic	Stavanger Idrettshall, Stavanger Attendance: 2,000 Referees: Bejenariu, Cirligeanu (ROU)
	Bielecki 9	(13–14)	Nocar 7
	3× 5×	Report	3× 10×

20 January 2008 17:15	Croatia	29–24	Slovenia	Stavanger Idrettshall, Stavanger Attendance: 2,500 Referees: Bord, Buy (FRA)
	Balić 7	(16–15)	Pajovič 7
	2× 4×	Report	4× 3×

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Norway (H)	3	3	0	0	86	69	+17	6	Main round
2	Denmark	3	2	0	1	89	79	+10	4
3	Montenegro	3	0	1	2	71	84	−13	1 [a]
4	Russia	3	0	1	2	74	88	−14	1 [a]

Source: EHF
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) goal difference.
(H) Hosts
Notes:

1. Russia 25–25 Montenegro

17 January 2008 17:00	Russia	25–25	Montenegro	Drammenshallen, Drammen Attendance: 4,000 Referees: Canbro, Claesson (SWE)
	Koksharov 8	(15–16)	Mrvaljević, Muratović 7
	2× 6×	Report	3× 6×

17 January 2008 19:15	Denmark	26–27	Norway	Drammenshallen, Drammen Attendance: 4,700 Referees: Vakula, Ljudovik (UKR)
	Boesen 9	(10–14)	Tvedten 8
	3× 5×	Report	3× 6×

---

18 January 2008 18:15	Norway	32–21	Russia	Drammenshallen, Drammen Attendance: 4,650 Referees: Bord, Buy (FRA)
	Hagen 9	(15–10)	Starykh 5
	3× 2×	Report	3× 5×

18 January 2008 20:15	Montenegro	24–32	Denmark	Drammenshallen, Drammen Attendance: 2,100 Referees: Bejenariu, Cirligeanu (ROU)
	Muratović 9	(9–18)	three players 5
	2× 5×	Report	3× 5×

---

20 January 2008 17:15	Denmark	31–28	Russia	Drammenshallen, Drammen Attendance: 4,500 Referees: Lemme, Ullrich (GER)
	Christiansen 13	(18–11)	Koksharov 6
	3× 4×	Report	3× 6× 1×

20 January 2008 19:15	Norway	27–22	Montenegro	Drammenshallen, Drammen Attendance: 4,700 Referees: Breto, Huelin (ESP)
	Tvedten 5	(16–11)	Muratović 8
	3× 5× 1×	Report	3× 7× 1×

Group C

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Hungary	3	2	0	1	90	82	+8	4 [a]	Main round
2	Spain	3	2	0	1	94	88	+6	4 [a]
3	Germany	3	2	0	1	84	80	+4	4 [a]
4	Belarus	3	0	0	3	83	101	−18	0

Source: EHF
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) goal difference.
Notes:

1. Hungary 2 Pts, +3 GD; Spain 2 Pts, +1 GD; Germany 2 Pts, –4 GD

17 January 2008 17:15	Germany	34–26	Belarus	Haukelandshallen, Bergen Attendance: 2,110 Referees: Abrahamsen, Kristiansen (NOR)
	Baur 7	(16–13)	Pukhouski 10
	3× 4×	Report	3× 6×

17 January 2008 19:15	Spain	28–35	Hungary	Haukelandshallen, Bergen Attendance: 2,130 Referees: Baum, Góralczyk (POL)
	Garabaya 8	(12–14)	Ilyés, Nagy 7
	3× 1×	Report	3× 3×

---

19 January 2008 18:10	Hungary	24–28	Germany	Haukelandshallen, Bergen Attendance: 2,340 Referees: Višekruna, Stanojević (SRB)
	three players 4	(12–13)	Baur, Jansen 5
	3× 3×	Report	3× 2×

19 January 2008 20:15	Belarus	31–36	Spain	Haukelandshallen, Bergen Attendance: 2,340 Referees: Olesen, Pedersen (DEN)
	Pukhouski 8	(15–18)	Rocas 11
	3× 4× 1×	Report	3× 5×

---

20 January 2008 16:30	Spain	30–22	Germany	Haukelandshallen, Bergen Attendance: 3,238 Referees: Poladenko, Chernega (RUS)
	García 8	(12–12)	three players 4
	3× 1×	Report	3× 3×

20 January 2008 18:30	Hungary	31–26	Belarus	Haukelandshallen, Bergen Attendance: 3,238 Referees: Reisinger, Kaschütz (AUT)
	G. Iváncsik, Nagy 9	(18–16)	Kurchev 7
	3× 3×	Report	2× 4×

Group D

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	France	3	3	0	0	90	76	+14	6	Main round
2	Sweden	3	2	0	1	89	72	+17	4
3	Iceland	3	1	0	2	68	76	−8	2
4	Slovakia	3	0	0	3	78	101	−23	0

Source: EHF
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) goal difference.

17 January 2008 18:15	France	32–31	Slovakia	Trondheim Spektrum, Trondheim Attendance: 2,585 Referees: Višekruna, Stanojević (SRB)
	Girault 6	(20–18)	Šulc 10
	3× 4×	Report	3× 6×

17 January 2008 20:15	Iceland	19–24	Sweden	Trondheim Spektrum, Trondheim Attendance: 2,930 Referees: Olesen, Pedersen (DEN)
	G. Sigurðsson, Stefánsson 4	(9–11)	Jurasik 11
	3× 2×	Report	3× 7×

---

19 January 2008 18:15	Slovakia	22–28	Iceland	Trondheim Spektrum, Trondheim Attendance: 3,410 Referees: Reisinger, Kaschütz (AUT)
	Kozlov 7	(5–16)	G. Sigurðsson 7
	3× 7×	Report	2× 6×

19 January 2008 20:15	Sweden	24–28	France	Trondheim Spektrum, Trondheim Attendance: 3,640 Referees: Poladenko, Chernega (RUS)
	three players 4	(13–18)	three players 5
	4× 2×	Report	2× 3×

---

20 January 2008 16:15	Slovakia	25–41	Sweden	Trondheim Spektrum, Trondheim Attendance: 1,870 Referees: Abrahamsen, Kristiansen (NOR)
	Dudáš, Mikéci 4	(12–20)	Andersson 8
	3× 4×	Report	3× 3×

20 January 2008 18:15	France	30–21	Iceland	Trondheim Spektrum, Trondheim Attendance: 2,335 Referees: Baum, Góralczyk (POL)
	Karabatić 10	(17–8)	Petersson 5
	3× 4× 1×	Report	3× 2×

Main round

Group I

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Denmark	5	4	0	1	152	120	+32	8	Semifinals
2	Croatia	5	3	1	1	138	130	+8	7
3	Norway (H)	5	2	2	1	130	128	+2	6	Fifth place game
4	Poland	5	2	1	2	149	142	+7	5
5	Slovenia	5	2	0	3	138	148	−10	4
6	Montenegro	5	0	0	5	124	163	−39	0

Source: EHF
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) goal difference.
(H) Hosts

22 January 2008 16:15	Slovenia	31–29	Montenegro	Stavanger Idrettshall, Stavanger Attendance: 2,815 Referees: Canbro, Claesson (SWE)
	Pajovič 9	(16–13)	Mrvaljević 5
	2× 3×	Report	3× 4×

22 January 2008 18:15	Croatia	20–30	Denmark	Stavanger Idrettshall, Stavanger Attendance: 4,601 Referees: Lemme, Ullrich (GER)
	Horvat 5	(9–15)	Lindberg 7
	3× 3×	Report	3× 5× 1×

22 January 2008 20:15	Poland	24–24	Norway	Stavanger Idrettshall, Stavanger Attendance: 7,000 Referees: Bord, Buy (FRA)
	Lijewski 8	(12–13)	Strand 9
	4× 7× 2×	Report	3× 9× 2×

---

23 January 2008 16:15	Croatia	34–26	Montenegro	Stavanger Idrettshall, Stavanger Attendance: 2,745 Referees: Breto, Huelin (ESP)
	Vori 9	(12–13)	Kapisoda 7
	2× 1×	Report	3× 2×

23 January 2008 18:15	Poland	26–36	Denmark	Stavanger Idrettshall, Stavanger Attendance: 4,757 Referees: Vakula, Ljudovik (UKR)
	Jurasik 7	(13–17)	Boesen 8
	3× 5×	Report	3× 5×

23 January 2008 20:15	Slovenia	33–29	Norway	Stavanger Idrettshall, Stavanger Attendance: 6,869 Referees: Bejenariu, Cirligeanu (ROU)
	Natek 9	(14–13)	Kjelling, Loke 7
	3× 6×	Report	3× 3×

---

24 January 2008 16:15	Poland	39–23	Montenegro	Stavanger Idrettshall, Stavanger Attendance: 2,309 Referees: Canbro, Claesson (SWE)
	Jachlewski 6	(19–13)	Kapisoda 6
	3× 4×	Report	3× 3×

24 January 2008 18:15	Slovenia	23–28	Denmark	Stavanger Idrettshall, Stavanger Attendance: 6,412 Referees: Lemme, Ullrich (GER)
	Natek 5	(11–15)	Christiansen 8
	4× 4×	Report	2× 3×

24 January 2008 20:15	Croatia	23–23	Norway	Stavanger Idrettshall, Stavanger Attendance: 7,000 Referees: Breto, Huelin (ESP)
	Balić 9	(10–11)	three players 5
	4× 5×	Report	4× 2×

Group II

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	France	5	4	0	1	140	126	+14	8	Semifinals
2	Germany	5	3	0	2	139	136	+3	6
3	Sweden	5	2	1	2	131	131	0	5 [a]	Fifth place game
4	Hungary	5	2	1	2	145	147	−2	5 [a]
5	Spain	5	2	0	3	144	138	+6	4
6	Iceland	5	1	0	4	129	150	−21	2

Source: EHF
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) goal difference.
Notes:

1. Sweden 27–27 Hungary

22 January 2008 16:20	Germany	35–27	Iceland	Trondheim Spektrum, Trondheim Attendance: 1,380 Referees: Abrahamsen, Kristiansen (NOR)
	Glandorf 9	(17–12)	Stefánsson 8
	3× 4×	Report	3× 4×

22 January 2008 18:30	Spain	27–28	France	Trondheim Spektrum, Trondheim Attendance: 1,890 Referees: Olesen, Pedersen (DEN)
	three players 5	(15–15)	Narcisse 7
	2× 2×	Report	3× 3×

22 January 2008 20:30	Hungary	27–27	Sweden	Trondheim Spektrum, Trondheim Attendance: 1,103 Referees: Višekruna, Stanojević (SRB)
	G. Iváncsik 8	(16–14)	Ahlm 8
	3× 3×	Report	3× 5×

---

23 January 2008 16:15	Spain	26–27	Sweden	Trondheim Spektrum, Trondheim Attendance: 2,730 Referees: Baum, Góralczyk (POL)
	García 8	(14–13)	Källman 8
	3× 5×	Report	3× 5×

23 January 2008 18:15	Germany	23–26	France	Trondheim Spektrum, Trondheim Attendance: 2,945 Referees: Poladenko, Chernega (RUS)
	Kraus 6	(10–11)	Karabatić 8
	3× 5× 1×	Report	4× 2×

23 January 2008 20:15	Hungary	28–36	Iceland	Trondheim Spektrum, Trondheim Attendance: 1,012 Referees: Reisinger, Kaschütz (AUT)
	Mocsai 6	(16–16)	Guðjónsson 11
	3× 4×	Report	3× 3× 1×

---

24 January 2008 15:20	Spain	33–26	Iceland	Trondheim Spektrum, Trondheim Attendance: 2,280 Referees: Olesen, Pedersen (DEN)
	García 9	(18–15)	Guðjónsson, G. Sigurðsson 7
	3× 4×	Report	2× 4× 1×

24 January 2008 17:20	Hungary	31–28	France	Trondheim Spektrum, Trondheim Attendance: 2,360 Referees: Abrahamsen, Kristiansen (NOR)
	Ilyés 9	(15–11)	Guilbert 6
	3× 5×	Report	3× 3×

24 January 2008 19:20	Germany	31–29	Sweden	Trondheim Spektrum, Trondheim Attendance: 2,915 Referees: Višekruna, Stanojević (SRB)
	Glandorf, Hens 7	(16–18)	Andersson 9
	3× 5×	Report	3× 3×

Final round

Bracket

	Semifinals				Final
	26 January
	Denmark	26
					27 January
	Germany	25
					Denmark	24
	26 January
					Croatia	20
	Croatia	24
	France	23
					Third place
					27 January
					Germany	26
					France	36

Semifinals

26 January 2008 15:30	Croatia	24–23	France	Håkons Hall, Lillehammer Attendance: 6,012 Referees: Baum, Góralczyk (POL)
	Metličić 6	(11–9)	Abalo, Narcisse 7
	4× 1×	Report	4× 2×

---

26 January 2008 18:00	Denmark	26–25	Germany	Håkons Hall, Lillehammer Attendance: 6,012 Referees: Poladenko, Chernega (RUS)
	Christiansen 6	(10–13)	Kehrmann 6
	3× 2×	Report	3× 4×

Fifth place game

26 January 2008 13:00	Norway	34–36 (ET)	Sweden	Håkons Hall, Lillehammer Attendance: 5,840 Referees: Lemme, Ullrich (GER)
	Strand 10	(13–15)	Boquist, Källman 7
	3× 3×	Report	3× 4×
	FT: 26–26  ET: 4–4, 4–6

Third place game

27 January 2008 13:30	Germany	26–36	France	Håkons Hall, Lillehammer Attendance: 7,940 Referees: Vakula, Liudovyk (UKR)
	Jansen 7	(9–18)	Girault 8
	3× 4×	Report	3× 3×

Final

27 January 2008 16:00	Denmark	24–20	Croatia	Håkons Hall, Lillehammer Attendance: 9,052 Referees: Breto, Huelin (ESP)
	Boesen, Christiansen 7	(13–10)	Metličić 5
	2× 5×	Report	4× 6× 1×

Ranking and statistics

Final ranking   Denmark   Croatia   France 4   Germany 5   Sweden 6   Norway 7   Poland 8   Hungary 9   Spain 10   Slovenia 11   Iceland 12   Montenegro 13   Russia 14   Czech Republic 15   Belarus 16   Slovakia

2008 Men's European Champions Denmark First Title Team roster Kasper Hvidt, Mikkel Holm Aagaard, Lasse Boesen, Lars T. Jørgensen, Jesper Jensen, Lars Rasmussen, Lars Christiansen, Lars Møller Madsen, Peter Henriksen, Bo Spellerberg, Michael V. Knudsen, Jesper Nøddesbo, Lars Krogh Jeppesen, Kasper Søndergaard, Joachim Boldsen, Hans Lindberg and Kasper Nielsen. Head coach: Ulrik Wilbek. All-Star Team Goalkeeper:  Kasper Hvidt  (DEN) Left wing:  Lars Christiansen  (DEN) Left back:  Daniel Narcisse  (FRA) Pivot:  Frank Løke  (NOR) Centre back:  Ivano Balić  (CRO) Right back:  Kim Andersson  (SWE) Right wing:  Florian Kehrmann  (GER) Source: EHF Other awards Most valuable player:  Nikola Karabatić  (FRA) Best Defence Player:  Igor Vori  (CRO)

Top goalscorers Rank Name Team Goals Shots % 1 Ivano Balić   Croatia 44 84 52 Lars Christiansen   Denmark 58 76 Nikola Karabatić   France 89 49 4 Daniel Narcisse   France 43 72 60 5 Kim Andersson   Sweden 41 78 53 Lasse Boesen   Denmark 76 54 7 Aleš Pajovič   Slovenia 39 70 56 8 Karol Bielecki   Poland 37 62 60 9 Holger Glandorf   Germany 36 72 50 10 Guðjón Valur Sigurðsson   Iceland 34 63 54 Source: EHF

Top goalkeepers (minimum 20% of total shots received by team) Rank Name Team % Saves Shots 1 Kasper Hvidt   Denmark 40 124 307 2 Steinar Ege   Norway 39 104 264 3 Nándor Fazekas   Hungary 38 53 140 4 Beno Lapajne   Slovenia 37 55 148 5 Oleg Grams   Russia 35 9 26 José Javier Hombrados   Spain 71 203 Goran Stojanović   Montenegro 71 201 8 Mirko Alilović   Croatia 34 72 211 Johannes Bitter   Germany 59 176 Thierry Omeyer   France 77 229 Nenad Puljezević   Hungary 44 130 Gorazd Škof   Slovenia 45 132 Tomas Svensson   Sweden 49 143

References

1. "Lars Christiansen husker dén kamp mod Kroatien, der indledte Danmarks guldalder" (in Danish). Danmarks Radio. 2 February 2025. Retrieved 3 December 2025.
2. "2008 Men's European Handball Championship Draw" (PDF). EHF . 22 June 2007. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
3. "22 June: Follow the Draw Live on our Website!". EHF. 19 June 2007. Archived from the original on 20 June 2007. Retrieved 17 September 2020.