All set for decisive day at ebt Finals 2026

The semi-final pairings for Sunday:

Women, 10:30 CEST:

• OVB Beach Girls BHC (HUN) vs Red Velvet BHC Budapest (HUN)
• Fundación Fomento y Deporte CBMP Ciudad de Málaga (ESP) vs GRD Leça - Love Tiles (POR)

Men, 11:15 CEST:

• Niterói Rugby FC (IRE) vs Fundación Fomento Deporte CBMP Ciudad de Málaga (ESP)
• BHC Zagreb (CRO) vs Göteborg Beach Handball Club (SWE)

The finals are scheduled for 16:30 CEST (women) and 17:30 CEST (men), respectively.

Men's competition

• defending champions BHC Zagreb are still in the running for what would be their record-extending eighth ebt Finals title
• the Croatian side started their campaign in the preliminary round with a defeat (against Blue Team) and they qualified only as the fourth-ranked team from their main round group, but then celebrated a straightforward 2:0 (27:20, 27:26) win in the quarter-final against Associacao Desportiva OSN
• next up are Göteborg Beach Handball Club, who defeated BMP Algeciras 2:1 (23:18, 15:20, 9:8) in a nail-biting quarter-final, which was won by the Swedish side in a shoot-out
• leading scorers for Göteborg in that match were Petter Brandt with 17 points and Victor Paldanius with 18, raising his total to a tournament-leading 125 points
• bringing Brazilian flair to the courts, Irish side Niterói Rugby FC entered the semi-finals following a close 2:1 (22:16, 18:20, 12:10) victory over Blue Team from Italy, which had reached the quarter-finals unbeaten
• led by Alvaro Perez Catalo's 120 points so far, Fundación Fomento Deporte CBMP Ciudad de Málaga reached the last four, as they clearly defeated Alba Fehérvár 2:0 (26:20, 20:14)
• remarkably, two teams that reached the semi-finals a year ago saw their medal hopes already dashed in the preliminary round this time: 2025 bronze medallists Aarhus Beach and fourth-placed 12 Monkeys Köln BHC both finished last in their respective groups and didn't advance to the main round

Women's competition

• Hungarian side OVB Beach Girls stopped the run of defending champions CATS Playas de Fuengirola in the quarter-finals, beating the Spanish titleholders in straight sets 2:0 (20:10, 15:10)
• OVB, once winners of the ebt Finals back in 2014, had reached the quarter-finals only as the fourth-ranked team from main round group B
• next up for OVB is an all-Hungarian semi-final against Red Velvet BHC Budapest, who came back from losing the opening set to beat Caipranhas Bartenbach in a shootout, 2:1 (18:24, 21:20, 7:4)
• Red Velvet closely beat OVB 2:1 (17:18, 21:18, 5:4) when the teams met in the main round on Friday
• Fundación Fomento y Deporte CBMP Ciudad de Málaga reached the semi-finals again, two years after they lifted the trophy in 2024
• this time, Málaga rallied to edge out Niterói Rugby FC 2:1 (18:22, 25:22, 5:0); their most productive shooter, Cayetana Martin Lopez, leads the top scorers list with 125 points
• the Spanish side will meet a team from neighbouring Portugal in the semi-finals: GRD Leça - Love Tiles ended the medal hopes of Dutch side Hiekka Hauskaa, the team that scored the most points in the group phase, with a 2:0 (24:20, 25:20) victory

Fans can pick favourite players for All-star Teams

Heading into the final day of the thrilling ebt Finals 2026, it is time to vote for the All-star Teams. Fans are invited to cast their votes for the All-star Teams among six nominees in each of the three categories — MVP, goalkeeper and defender — across both the women's and men's competitions.

All the nominees are listed here.

The All-star Team will also include the top scorers of both competitions, as well as the fair play awards.

all photos © Joe Pappalardo