Hungary lead YAC summer ranking

Hungary’s lead follows the achievements of their women’s teams, as they finish on top in their gender after reaching at least the semi-finals of all three events: the W16 European Open in Sweden (third place), the Junior World Championship in North Macedonia (runners-up), and the Youth World Championship in China (third).

Hungary’s men added a bronze medal from the M18 EHF EURO in Montenegro as their best result, and a 12th place at the M20 EHF EURO in Slovenia, for a shared seventh place in the men’s ranking, enough to secure their nation the No. 1 spot overall with 328 points.

Germany (third in the men’s ranking, third in the women’s) place second with 320 points, while Sweden (men second, women sixth) claim the third place with 302 points.

The leading nation from last year, Denmark, finish sixth (men first, women eight) this time, as a busy summer schedule for handball players under 21 has come to an end.

The ranking, first introduced by the EHF in 2019, summarises all YAC events in one summer. The ranking system is based on the performance of each national team at the respective event, following the same pattern applied for the official senior national team rankings.

For instance, there are 80 points for winning an EHF EURO event, 76 for becoming runners-up, 72 for finishing third; and 34 points for winning an EHF Championship.

Overall YAC summer ranking 2024:

1. Hungary – 328 points
2. Germany – 320
3. Sweden – 302
4. Spain – 298
5. France – 296
6. Denmark – 292
7. Iceland – 254
8. Norway – 252
9. Switzerland – 230
10. Portugal – 228

Hungary and France lead the way

In the women's competitions, Hungary have returned to the top of the ranking. They had already done so in 2019 and 2021 but were overtaken by Denmark last year. The Scandinavians couldn’t replicate their strong results and finish eighth in 2024.

Even though they haven't lifted a trophy, three semi-final appearances are proof of Hungary’s consistency.

France, as the winners of the junior world title, came very close, but their fourth places in the other two women’s events see them come up just short to Hungary: 220 vs 216 points.

Those two are the clearly dominating nations on the women’s side, as third-placed Germany trail the leaders by 32 points.

Spain, who won the youth world title, end up in fourth place with 166 points, edging out Switzerland, winners of the W16 European Open at the start of the YAC summer.

Women's YAC summer ranking 2024:

1. Hungary – 220 points
2. France – 216
3. Germany – 188
4. Spain – 166
5. Switzerland – 164
6. Sweden – 158
7. Netherlands – 148
8. Denmark – 144
     Norway – 144
10. Iceland – 130

Denmark and Sweden ahead of the rest

Denmark’s men have delivered again, one year after the nation topped the overall ranking. They took silver at the M18 EHF EURO, after the M20 generation had taken bronze at their European championship.

Maybe no trophy has gone to Denmark, but those strong results earn them 148 points in total and the first place in the men’s ranking.

Neighbours Sweden have come agonisingly close thanks to winning the M18 EHF EURO title. Sweden’s fifth place in the M20 event, however, sees them finish a mere four points behind Denmark, on 144 points.

Spain (M20 EHF EURO champions), who topped the men’s ranking last year, and Germany (fourth at M20, fifth at M18 EHF EURO) share the third place with 132 points each.

Iceland have done well to maintain the fifth place they also occupied in 2023. Reaching the semi-finals of the M18 EHF EURO and the quarter-finals of the M20 event see them finish on 124 points.

Men's YAC summer ranking 2024:

1. Denmark – 148 points
2. Sweden – 144
3. Spain – 132
     Germany – 132
5. Iceland – 124
6. Portugal – 120
7. Hungary – 108
     Norway – 108
9. Serbia – 94
10. Austria – 88

photos © 2024 EHF archive

The full ranking is available for download below.