All three Youth Club Throphy 2025 medallist made it to Cologne again

• Defending champions GOG were in goal-mood, scoring 89 goals in Bucharest, including 42 in the final against Sporting
• Berlin even topped this record by scoring 50 and 51 goals in their matches against Porec, including a 30-goal advantage in the final against Eurofarm Pelister
• Barça had a tougher nut to crack in the semi against hosts Szeged compared to their 40:17 win against Kolstad in the final
• The last shot decided the final at Veszprém, where the hosts beat Magdeburg 39:38 – and became the only hosts of a qualification tournament to make it to Cologne
• Emil Bak (GOG) is the top scorer of the qualification tournaments with 26 goals in two matches

QUALIFICATION TOURNAMENT 1: 28-29 March, Bucharest (ROU)

1. GOG (DEN), 2. SPORTING CLUB DE PORTUGAL (POR), 3. DINAMO BUCURESTI (ROU), 4. HBC NANTES (FRA) WINNERS GOG (DEN)

Defending champions GOG have made it again to the final tournament in Cologne, the Danish side scored 89 goals in their two matches in Bucharest, first beating the hosts CS Dinamo Bucuresti 47:30 in the semi-final, then winning the final against Sporting Clube de Portugal 42:31. Both duels had already been decided at the break (21:13 against Bucuresti and 24:11 against Sporting), thanks to GOG’s outstanding attacking performance. Emil Bak was GOG’s best scorer in both matches, netting 12 goals from 15 attempts in the semi and 14 from 14 in the final.

Sporting had made it to the final with a 27:23 (12:8) win against HBC Nantes, with 12 saves from goalkeeper Gonzalo Almeida and eight goals from Antoio Rosa Pirata, who netted seven times in the final. After closely losing the 2025 final on home ground, Dinamo took third place this year by a 30:27 (12:11) against Nantes.

QUALIFICATION TOURNAMENT 2: 30-31 March, Porec (CRO) 

1. FÜCHSE BERLIN (GER), 2. HC EUROFARM PELISTER (MKD), 3. HC ZAGREB (CRO), 4. AALBORG HÅNDBOLD (DEN) 

After failing in the final of the 2025 qualification tournament on home ground against eventual winners GOG, Füchse Berlin left no doubt about making it to Cologne this year. The German side scored 101 goals, 50 in the semi-final against Zagreb (50:29) and even 51 in the final against HC Eurofarm Pelister (51:21). In both matches, the half-time advance was already decisive (25:13 against Zagreb and 28:10 against Eurofarm Pelister).  Eight Füchse players scored four or more goals in the semi-final, topped by Leo Nowak with seven strikes. The overall top scorer of this match was Zagreb’s Vito Raguž with 12 goals. In the final, Nowak was the top scorer again with 12 goals.

12 goals of Andrej Georgiev against Aalborg Håndbold send HC Eurofarm Pelister to their second final of a qualification tournament after 2025. In contrast to Füchse’s match against Zagreb, this semi-final was a true thriller, which was decided only in the last minute. The Macedonian side was constantly ahead in the second half; the biggest gap was four goals, but in crunch time, Aalborg reduced the margin. Jovan Simonovski’s fifth strike for the 24:22 secured Eurofarm Pelister’s spot in the final. Finally, the Danish side left the tournament empty-handed after losing the placement match 3-4 26:39 (14:23) against Zagreb, backed by eight goals of Vito Raguž and seven of Jakov Anic.

QUALIFICATION TOURNAMENT 3: 31 March - 1 April, Szeged (HUN)

1. BARÇA (ESP), 2. KOLSTAD HÅNDBALL, 3. ORLEN WISLA PLOCK, 4. OTP BANK - PICK SZEGED

For the second time after 2025, the U18 team of the EHF Champions League record winners Barça qualified for the final tournament in Cologne. 11 goals of Adrian Sola Basterra and seven strikes of Yoel Vázquez Garrido were crucial in the semi-final against hosts OTP Bank - PICK Szeged. After a 15:11 lead at the break, Barça won 32:23; Szeged’s best scorer was David Csurko with goals.

The second semi was completely different: Ten seconds before the end, Hermann Nilsen netted for the winners’ strike for Kolstad Håndball to beat Orlen Wisla Plock 30:29. The match was fully equal with the lead changing several times, Plock’s last advantage was at 26:25, top scorer was Johannes Willmann (Kolstad) with 12 goals.

After Plock won the placement match against Szeged 28:21 (15:10), Barça decided the final with an incredible first half: after leading 10:3, the Spanish side even pulled ahead to 22:9 at the break, Kolstad were without a chance, losing 17:40. Top scorers were Ian Viladiu Peré (eight goals) and Ïu Carballar Foixench (seven). Oskar Remseth netted four times for the Norwegian side.

QUALIFICATION TOURNAMENT 4: 2-3 April, Veszprem (HUN) 

1. VESZPRÉM HANDBALL ACADEMY (HUN), 2. SC MAGDEBURG (GER), 3. PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN HB (FRA), 4. KSS ISKRA KIELCE (POL) 

Three clear wins and a thrilling final of two amazing teams highlighted the last qualification tournament. Veszprém Handball Academy and SC Magdeburg showed an incredible level for 60 minutes, and finally, the host jumped for joy. When Elvis Ernesto Kretzschmar, son of Stefan Kretzschmar, had failed with a direct free-throw at the final whistle, the 39:38 (21:20) win of last year’s ECT finalists and their ticket to Cologne had been confirmed. Despite two red cards against their defence specialists, Barnabás Tóth and Dominik Fehér, and after being down 29:32 with 10 minutes left, the Hungarian side took the victory. Even 15 goals of Tim Bennet Thielicke were not enough for Magdeburg in an intense and close final. 

Before, Veszprém and KSS Iskra Kielce from Poland had played their semi-final in express mode – full focus on attack, rare focus on defence. Finally, the fans saw 81 goals and a clear 48:33 Veszprém win – a kind of revenge for the defeat of their senior team in the EHF Champions League group phase. Three Veszprém players – Máté Iváncsik, Hunor Vers and Botond Korösi – each scored seven times; the top scorer of the match was Kielce’s Bartosz Sobczyk with 11 goals. After a 26:20 advantage at the break, the hosts extended the gap to 15 goals until the final buzzer.

SC Magdeburg’s way to the final was clearer: after 30 minutes, the youth team of the current EHF Champions League winners were ahead 21:9 against Paris Saint-Germain Handball. Despite 15 saves of their goalkeeper Alexandre Duhais, PSG were chanceless against the attacking power of SCM, which took a 42:20 win. Mats Brigzinsky and Tim Bennet Thielicke topped the scorer list by nine goals apiece. And the goal fests continued in the 3-4 placement match, when PSG took a 45:28 win against Kielce, after scoring already 27 goals in the first half. Damian Nikolic (11 for Paris) and Jakub Grden (nine for Kielce) were the top scorers.

Main image: Eliza Sólya / OTP Bank - PICK Szeged