12 teams begin journeys to Women's EHF EURO 2026 on Wednesday
The final qualifying phase for the Women's EHF EURO 2026 throws off on Wednesday 15 October, as 12 teams begin their long journey toward Poland, Romania, Czechia, Slovakia and Türkiye.
Qualifiers phase 2 opens in Croatia with the hosts welcoming Finland, while the first day of action wraps up with a Nordic clash between the Icelanders and the Faroe Islands.
It’s going to be a tough match against a very strong team. They play physically and have a good fast break game. For us, it’s important to stop them often and try to reduce our technical errors.
We are going to play against Kosovo and Finland, two teams we are not used to meeting. It is hard to know what to expect, but we will take both games very seriously as they are official games, with an EHF EURO qualification at stake. Our team is still in construction, with a lot of changes within the past few months, and these two games will also be a great opportunity to progress.
The matches against France and Croatia are of a very high level. But they can serve as an important school, as an opportunity to gain experience and for the development of our very young team. We are focused on a dignified and combative performance.
We saw that women's handball in Belgium is developing. This match will be very important for us, just like any other competitive match. I believe that on Wednesday, in front of the home crowd in Koper, we will deliver a quality performance, and we will use the great atmosphere to prepare as well as possible for the next challenge.
We are looking forward to a new and exciting European Championship qualification. We are in a tough group, but we believe we can qualify for yet another EHF EURO. The match against Iceland is without a doubt the team we know best —and vice-versa. Therefore, the game will likely be a tactical battle where both teams will try to exploit each other’s weaknesses and shut down each other’s strengths.
Qualifying for the EHF EURO 2026 is our clear goal. Success in the World Championship play-offs was definitely a huge factor, after that many players retired from the national team. The fact that it worked out straight away in April after just one and a half training camps in this formation brought us closer together.
