Iceland not only carried the silver medals back home but also the MVP award for Dagur Árni Heimisson. Croatia took the bronze medals after beating Sweden 33:30. 11 teams, ten from Europe and Egypt, had competed from 30 June to 4 July. While Spain took their second consecutive gold medal, it was the second European Open final for Iceland, after winning the trophy in 2015.
The European Open were again part of the Partille Cup, the world’s biggest youth tournament, with over 1,300 teams from all youth age groups participating in the event. It was the 19th edition of the EHF European Open, which alternates between the men’s and women’s sides every year.
- Spain were dominant in the first half of the final, leading 17:13 at the break and even increased the margin to 29:24, but then Iceland managed to reduce the gap goal by goal
- netting twice after the 31:28, Iceland were close to turning the match around, but a missed pass 10 seconds before the final buzzer ended their hopes of making it to overtime
- before, Croatia turned the bronze final against hosts and record winners Sweden around, from a 10:16 deficit at the break to a 33:30 win, sealed in the final minutes. Josip Tomic was the top scorer by 13 goals, three ahead of the best Swede, Max Pedersen (10) – both were part of the All-star team
- in the semis, Iceland had ended the Croatian dream of reaching the final with a close 32:30 (16:13) win, thanks to 16 saves of goalkeeper Jens Sigurðarson, while Spain’s semi against Sweden had already been decided at the break (22:12), the final result was 36:23
- Spain and Iceland had duelled in the preliminary round already, and the Spaniards had won 19:17 to make it with a clean record to the final; Croatia won the second group
- Poland won the placement round 5-11 thanks to three wins against Finland, the Faroe Islands and the Netherlands. Sixth ranked were Egypt, the hosts of the upcoming U19 World Championship in August
- top scorer of the EHF Men’s 19 European Open was Estonian Kristofer Liedemann, who netted 43 goals in eight matches
All-star team of the European Open 2025:
Goalkeeper: Jens Sigurðarson (ISL)
Left Wing: Bessi Teitsson (ISL)
Left Back: Josip Tomic (CRO)
Playmaker: Quim Rocas Perez (ESP)
Pivot: Guido Bayo Giraudo (ESP)
Right Back: Max Pedersen (SWE)
Right Wing: Jakub Kalata (POL)
Top Scorer: Kristofer Liedemann (EST) – 43 goals
Best Defender: Oriol San Felipe Vilarrasa (ESP)
MVP: Dagur Árni Heimisson (ISL)
