2026 European Women's Handball Championship

For the men's tournament, see 2026 European Men's Handball Championship.

2026 EHF European Women's Handball Championship

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Tournament details
Host countries	Czech Republic   Poland   Romania   Slovakia   Turkey
Venues	6 (in 6 host cities)
Dates	3–20 December
Teams	24 (from 1 confederation)
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The 2026 EHF European Women's Handball Championship, commonly referred to as the EHF Euro 2026, will be the 17th edition of the EHF European Women's Handball Championship, the biennial international women's handball championship of Europe organized by EHF. The tournament will be held from 3 to 20 December 2026.

The championship was originally scheduled to be held in Russia, but due to the invasion of Ukraine, they were stripped of the hosting rights. ^[1] On 8 March 2024, It was announced that all five applicants, Czech Republic, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Turkey will co-host the tournament, marking the first time the event was held by more than three countries. ^[2] The final will be held in Katowice, Poland.

24 teams will participate for the second time. Qualification took place in March 2024 to April 2025 to decide the qualifiers. The five co-hosts qualified automatically, alongside the top three from the 2024, Norway, Denmark and Hungary. Greece will make their debut.

This tournament will act as a qualifier for the 2027 World Women's Handball Championship in Hungary and 2028 edition in Denmark, Norway and Sweden.

Norway are the defending champions, having beaten Denmark in the 2024 final in Vienna.

Bid process

Main article: 2026 European Women's Handball Championship bidding process

Bids

On 11 May 2021 it was announced that the following nations sent in an official expression of interest: ^[3]

•   Russia
•   Denmark,   Norway &   Sweden (withdrew)

On 20 October the final bids were presented. The Scandinavian bid was withdrawn, leaving Russia unopposed. ^{[4] [5]}

•   Russia

As only the Russian bid remained it was unanimously selected at the 14th EHF Extraordinary Congress on 20 November 2021. ^{[6] [7]}

Second bidding process

On 4 July 2023, the EHF confirmed that Russia would not host the event due to the war in Ukraine, ^[8] and thus reopened the bidding process. On 25 October, the EHF announced the official bids.

•   Czech Republic and   Poland
•   Romania and   Slovakia
•   Turkey

The hosts were originally going to be announced on 28 January 2024 in Cologne, but the EHF decided to delay the announcement to April while also inviting every bidding nation to a meeting in mid-February. ^[9]

During the meeting in mid-February, Romanian media reported that a possible five-country co-hosting plan was being negotiated by all five bidding countries and the EHF after it was reported that none of the three bids fulfilled all the requirements. ^[10]

On 8 March 2024, the EHF announced all five countries, Czech Republic, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Turkey, as co-hosts. ^[2] This marks the second time a European championship has been held in more than four countries, after UEFA Euro 2020.

Preparations

• Throughout February and March 2025, site visits took place in every city except Brno took place. As the new arena in Brno hadn't been built yet, a separate site visit, which includes also a meeting with the architect, was held. ^[11]

Venues

Six venues will be used for the tournament. Each country will use one arena with the exception being Romania who will use two in Cluj-Napoca and Oradea. While none of these arenas have hosted the championship, the Spodek in Katowice and Ondrej Nepela Arena in Bratislava have experience organising the men's edition.

Overview of venues

• In Czech Republic, Arena Brno is a newly built arena that will host the Czech's portion of the tournament. The venue broke ground in September 2023. This will be the first major tournament held in this arena. ^[12]
• In Poland, the Spodek will be the Poles' venue. Built in 1971 but renovated in 2011, the facility has hosted numerous high-profile championships: 2009 and EuroBasket 2025, 2014 and 2022 FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship. Handball-wise, the 2016 European Men's Handball Championship and 2023 World Men's Handball Championship was hosted at the arena. ^[13]
• The BTarena in Cluj-Napoca will organise matches. The venue was built in 2014 but expanded in preparation for EuroBasket 2017. Romania's largest arena would later host the 2021 Women's European Volleyball Championship and 2026 Men's European Volleyball Championship. Basketball team, U-BT Cluj-Napoca, plays their home games here. ^[14]
• The Oradea Arena is Romania's second arena for the tournament. With 5,300 seats, it is the smallest arena for the competition. Opened in 2022, this will be the arena's first major tournament hosting. ^[15]
• In Slovakia, the nation's biggest arena, Ondrej Nepela Arena, in the country's capital, Bratislava, will hold the games. Since its construction in 1940, the following sports have held major championships at this arena: Basketball, Figure skating, Floorball, Ice hockey, Volleyball. The 2022 European Men's Handball Championship is the only previous time a handball tournament has been in Slovakia. ^[16]
• In Turkey, the Antalya Arena was used for matches at this tournament. This will be the first major national team tournament held in the arena in any sport, but the venue hosted the 2022 FIVB Women's Volleyball Club World Championship, alongside rounds of the Men's and FIVB Women's Volleyball Nations League in 2023 and 2024. ^[17]

Brno	Katowice Brno Bratislava Oradea Cluj-Napoca Antalya	Katowice
Arena Brno  [ cs; de ]		Spodek
Capacity: 13,300		Capacity: 11,036
Bratislava		Antalya
Ondrej Nepela Arena		Antalya Arena
Capacity: 10,055		Capacity: 10,000
Cluj-Napoca		Oradea
BTarena		Oradea Arena
Capacity: 10,000		Capacity: 5,300
	Katowice will host preliminary round, main round and knockout stage. Cluj-Napoca will host preliminary round and main round. Brno, Bratislava, Oradea and Antalya will host preliminary round only.

Tournament venues information

Venue	Rounds	Games
Spodek	Group E, Main round II, Semifinals and Final	19
BTarena	Group B and Main round Group I	15
Oradea Arena	Group A	6
Antalya Arena	Group C	6
Arena Brno	Group D	6
Ondrej Nepela Arena	Group F	6

Qualification

Main article: 2026 European Women's Handball Championship qualification

Map of qualifiers for the 2026 European Women's Handball Championship:

  Team qualified for Women's EHF Euro 2026

  Team failed to qualify

  Team banned from competition

  Did not enter

30 teams registered for participation and competed for 16 places at the final tournament. After the preliminary round, the teams were drawn into six 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 qualifiers draw took place on 20 March 2025 in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. ^{[18] [19]} Qualification started in March 2024 and ended in April 2025.

Of the 24 qualified teams, 23 were present in the previous edition. Greece will make their debut, replacing Portugal, who failed to qualify after their sporadic appearance in 2024.

North Macedonia made their third consecutive appearance at the Euro for the first time ever.

Qualified teams

Team	Qualification method	Date of qualification	Appearance(s)				Previous best performance [a]	Rank [20]
			Total	First	Last	Streak
Czech Republic	Co-hosts	8 March 2024	9th	1994	2024	2	Eighth place (1994, 2002)	TBD
Poland			10th	1996		7	Fifth place (1998)	TBD
Romania			16th	1994		10	Third place (2010)	TBD
Slovakia			4th			2	Twelfth place (1994, 2014)	TBD
Turkey			2nd	2024			Twentieth place (2024)	TBD
Denmark	Top three at 2024 edition	13 December 2024	17th	1994		17	Champions (1994, 1996 , 2002 )	TBD
Norway			17th				Champions (Ten times) [b]	TBD
Hungary		15 December 2024	17th				Champions (2000)	TBD
Sweden	Group 5 top two	7 March 2026	15th	1994		13	Runners-up (2010)	TBD
Spain	Group 6 top two		15th	1998		13	Runners-up (2008, 2014)	TBD
Netherlands	Group 2 top two	8 March 2026	11th	1994		7	Runners-up (2016)	TBD
Germany	Group 3 top two		17th	1998		17	Runners-up ( 1994 )	TBD
France	Group 1 top two		14th	2000		14	Champions ( 2018 )	TBD
Slovenia	Group 3 top two	8 April 2026	10th	2002		6	Eighth place (2022)	TBD
Croatia	Group 1 top two	9 April 2026	14th	1994		12	Third place (2020)	TBD
Switzerland	Group 2 top two		3rd	2022		3	Twelfth place (2024)	TBD
Montenegro	Group 4 top two		9th	2010		9	Champions ( 2012 )	TBD
Faroe Islands	Group 4 top two		2nd	2024		2	Seventeenth place (2024)	TBD
Austria	Group 6 top two	12 April 2026	10th	1994		2	Third place (1996)	TBD
Serbia	Group 5 top two		11th	2006		11	Fourth place ( 2012 )	TBD
Greece	Four best third place teams		1st	Debut				TBD
Iceland			4th	2010	2024	2	Fiftheenth place (2010, 2012)	TBD
North Macedonia			8th	1998		3	Seventh place ( 2008 )	TBD
Ukraine			12th	1994		2	Runners-up (2000)	TBD

Notes

1. Bold text indicates they hosted that edition.
2. Norway have won in 1998, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010 , 2014, 2016, 2020, 2022 and 2024.

References

1. Mackay, Duncan (4 July 2023). "Russia stripped of 2026 European Women's Handball Championships". Inside the Games. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
2. "Organisers for Women's EHF EURO 2026 confirmed". EHF. European Handball Federation. 8 March 2024. Archived from the original on 7 September 2025. Retrieved 8 March 2024.
3. "Seven nations bid for EHF Euros in 2026 and 2028". European Handball Federation. 11 May 2021. Archived from the original on 13 May 2021. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
4. "Россия – единственный кандидат на проведение женского Евро-2026". Handball Federation of Russia. 20 October 2021. Archived from the original on 12 December 2023. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
5. "Schweiz bündelt Kräfte mit Spanien und Portugal: Ausrichter für Handball-Europameisterschaften zeichnen sich ab". handball world (in German). 20 October 2021. Archived from the original on 20 October 2021. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
6. "EHF EURO hosts for 2026 & 2028 confirmed". European Handball Federation. 20 November 2021. Archived from the original on 21 November 2021. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
7. "The 14th EHF Extraordinary Congress". European Handball Federation. 20 November 2021. Archived from the original on 21 November 2021. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
8. "EHF seeks alternative host for Women's EHF EURO 2026". EHF. 4 July 2023. Archived from the original on 19 December 2024. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
9. Popovici, Marian (27 January 2024). "România, în pole position pentru a organiza Euro 2026 la handbal feminin! Ce decizie a luat EHF". Fanatik.ro. Archived from the original on 22 February 2025. Retrieved 8 March 2024.
10. "Campionatul European din 2026 la handbal feminin ar putea fi organizat în cinci țări". GSP.ro. 12 February 2024. Archived from the original on 19 December 2024. Retrieved 8 March 2024.
11. Competitions and EURO Department, Competitions and EURO Department (12 March 2025). "COMPETITIONS COMMISSION MEETING" (PDF). www.handball.no. Archived (PDF) from the original on 29 August 2025. Retrieved 25 February 2026.
12. "Brno". ehfeuro.eurohandball.com. Retrieved 2026-02-25.
13. "Katowice". ehfeuro.eurohandball.com. Archived from the original on 2025-07-07. Retrieved 2026-02-25.
14. "Cluj-Napoca". ehfeuro.eurohandball.com. Archived from the original on 2026-02-21. Retrieved 2026-02-25.
15. "Oradea". ehfeuro.eurohandball.com. Archived from the original on 2026-01-09. Retrieved 2026-02-25.
16. "Bratislava". ehfeuro.eurohandball.com. Archived from the original on 2026-02-14. Retrieved 2026-02-25.
17. "Antalya". ehfeuro.eurohandball.com. Archived from the original on 2026-02-23. Retrieved 2026-02-25.
18. "Draw procedure for 2026 Qualifiers released; new final tournament for EHF EURO Cup". eurohandball.com. 20 March 2025. Archived from the original on 19 March 2025. Retrieved 20 March 2025.
19. "Groups determined for Women's EHF EURO 2026 Qualifiers". eurohandball.com. 20 March 2025. Archived from the original on 21 March 2025. Retrieved 20 March 2025.
20. "EHF women's four-year national team ranking" (PDF).

External links

• Bid website of the European Handball Federation