Handball is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the goal of the opposing team. A standard match consists of two periods of 30 minutes, and the team that scores more goals wins.
The European Women's Handball Championship is the official competition for senior women's national handball teams of Europe, and takes place every two years. In addition to crowning the European champions, the tournament also serves as a qualifying tournament for the Olympic Games and World Championship. As of December 2022, the only teams that have ever won the championship are Norway, Denmark, Hungary, Montenegro and France.
The European Handball Federation (EHF) is the umbrella organisation for European handball. Founded on 17 November 1991, it is made of 50 member federations and two associated federations, and is headquartered in Vienna, Austria.
The Sweden men's national handball team is controlled by the Swedish Handball Association. Its most successful periods were under coaches Curt Wadmark (1948–1967) and Bengt Johansson (1988–2004). The team under Bengt Johansson, nicknamed Bengan Boys in Sweden, is regarded as one of the finest national teams in the history of the sport with players like Tomas Svensson, Staffan Olsson, Magnus Wislander and Stefan Lövgren. From 1990 through 2002 the team reached the medal round in every championship and qualified for a record 8 championship finals in a row 1996–2002.
The France national handball team is supervised by the French Handball Federation, and represents France in international matches. It is the first handball team to have held all three titles twice, and the only national team in its sport to hold six world titles and a total of eleven medals at the World Men's Handball Championship. With a total of five medals, including three gold in 2008, 2012 and 2021, France is also the most successful Handball team at the Summer Olympics. As of January 2024, they are the defending Olympic and European Champions.
Ivano Balić is a Croatian former professional handballer who is currently part of the coaching staff at RK Split. Renowned for his speed, creativity, movement and charisma as a player, Balić won the 2003 World Championship and the Olympic gold medal in 2004 with the Croatian national team, and thirteen titles playing for clubs in Croatia, Spain and Germany. He also received two World Championship silver medals, two silver and one bronze European Championship medal, and one Olympic bronze medal (2012) with the national team.
The Denmark men's national handball team is controlled by the Danish Handball Association and represents Denmark in international matches. They are the team with the fourth most medals won in European Championship history on the men's side behind Sweden, France and Spain, with a total of seven medals. Two of these are gold medals, one silver (2014) and four bronze medals.
The Germany national handball team is the country's national men's handball team and represents Germany in international tournaments in men's handball and is one of the most successful handball teams in the world, having won three World Championships and two European Championship.
The Switzerland national handball team is the national handball team of Switzerland.
The Serbia men's national handball team represents Serbia in international handball competitions. It is governed by the Serbian Handball Federation.
The Austria women's national handball team is the national team of Austria. It is governed by the Austrian Handball Federation and takes part in international team handball competitions.
The 2015 World Men's Handball Championship was the 24th staging of the World Men's Handball Championship, organised by the International Handball Federation (IHF). The final tournament was held for the first time in Qatar, from 15 January to 1 February 2015. The Qatari bid was selected over those of Norway, Poland and France after a vote by the IHF Council on 27 January 2011, in Malmö, Sweden. This was the third time that the World Championship was hosted in the Middle East And North Africa, after Egypt in 1999 and Tunisia in 2005.
The 2024 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2024 or simply Euro 2024, will be the 17th edition of the UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international football championship organised by UEFA for the European men's national teams of its member associations. Germany will host the tournament, which is scheduled to take place from 14 June to 14 July 2024 and the winner will later compete in the 2025 CONMEBOL–UEFA Cup of Champions against the 2024 Copa América winner. The tournament will comprise 24 teams, with Georgia the only team making its European Championship finals debut.
Sander Sagosen is a Norwegian professional handball player for Kolstad Håndball and the Norwegian national team. At club level, he has won major titles in four countries, including league championships in Norway, Denmark, France and Germany. With the national team, Sagosen placed second at the World Championship in 2017 and 2019, and finished third at the 2020 European Championship. Sagosen was included on the All-Star team for five consecutive major international competitions as either best centre back or left back.
The 2020 EHF European Men's Handball Championship was the 14th edition of the tournament and the first to feature 24 national teams. It was co-hosted for the first time in three countries – Austria, Norway and Sweden – from 9 to 26 January 2020.
The 2024 EHF European Men's Handball Championship was the 16th edition of the tournament and the third to feature 24 national teams. It was hosted in Germany from 10 to 28 January 2024.
The 2022 European Women's Handball Championship was held in Slovenia, North Macedonia and Montenegro from 4 to 20 November 2022. The tournament was advanced a month in order not to coincide with the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
Wheelchair handball is handball played by people with varying physical disabilities that disqualify them from playing an able-bodied sport. These include spina bifida, birth defects, cerebral palsy, paralysis due to accident, amputations, and many other disabilities. The IHF Wheelchair Handball World Championship (IHF) is the governing body for this sport. It is recognized by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) as the sole competent authority in wheelchair handball worldwide.
The 2024 European Women's Handball Championship will be held in Austria, Hungary and Switzerland from 28 November to 15 December 2024. This will be the first tournament to feature 24 teams. Norway are the two time defending champions.
The men's qualification for the Olympic handball tournament occurred between January 2023 and March 2024, assigning quota places to the twelve squads for the Games: the hosts, the world champion, four continental events winners, and six teams from the IHF World Olympic qualifying tournaments, respectively.
(1936)
(1938)
