European junior men's teams have eyes on the prize

Magdeburg, home of the reigning Machineseeker EHF Champions League winners, will host France who are the top seed and will be joined by Poland and Croatia. Rounding out the group are the North American runners-up the United States of America.

Host nation Germany are in group B whose matches are taking place in Hannover. Accompanying the Germans will be the African trio of Algeria, Tunisia and Libya.

Portugal, last year’s runners-up in the M20 EHF EURO, will play South American champions Brazil, Kuwait and Costa Rica in their group games. Group C matches will also take place at Swiss Life Hall in Hannover.

Group D features current M20 EHF EURO champions Spain. Fellow EURO participant the Faroe Islands will want to continue their progression after a tenth-place finish last year, yet Asian champions Japan and Angola could undermine the small, scrappy nation's ambitions.

Groups E-H are playing in Athens; it is Hungary who have the top seed in group E after finishing fifth last year. Denmark and Norway join them as well as South American silver medallists Argentina.

Sweden narrowly missed out on a medal last year, and they will strive for a better outcome in this competition. Slovenia are also in the group, and the two will play Greenland and Bahrain in the Ano Liosia Olympic Hall.

Group G features bronze medallists Serbia. Iceland will be part of the group as well, and South American bronze medallists Chile and Morocco have tall tasks ahead of them with these two in the group.

In group H perennial African powerhouse Egypt are the top seed, but they will have to contend with playing a Greek team who have home advantage. NorCa champion Cuba and Asian semi-finalists Saudi Arabia complete the group.

After the end of preliminary play, the top two teams in each group will advance to the main round, while the bottom two will play in the President’s Cup. The two host nations will split both events. When all matches in the main round are completed, the top half of each of the four groups go to Berlin to play in the quarterfinals on 29 June, followed by the medal round on 1 and 2 July.