Summary: Iceland book EHF EURO 2026 ticket; Germany beat Austria

• round 4 of the Men's EHF EURO 2026 Qualifiers, with two games on Saturday
• Saturday's results: Iceland booked their place at the EURO with a 33:21 win over Greece; Germany continued unbeaten, defeating Austria 31:26 
• both EHF EURO Cup 2026 matches for this round took place on Saturday: Norway vs Sweden 30:31; Denmark vs France 38:40
• see the qualifiers group standings
• Courtney Gahan reported; all photos courtesy of the home teams

Saturday 15 March

18:55

That's it for today's Men's EHF EURO 2026 Qualifiers! But the big day awaits, with another 14 games coming up on Sunday. 

Another three teams have the chance to follow Iceland to the final tournament on Sunday: Paris 2024 semi-finalists Slovenia, Hungary and World Championship runners-up Croatia. All three have a perfect record of victories behind them and will qualify with victories in round 4. 

With that in mind, I leave you with the preview for tomorrow's games below, as well as a feature on Croatia coach Dagur Sigurdsson. 

See the full schedule for tomorrow here. Until then, goodnight! 

18:48

Before we wrap up, let’s take a quick look at the EHF EURO Cup 2026, where two matches were played today.

A very high scoring Highlight Match between the world and Olympic champions Denmark and EURO title holders France saw a 40:38 (16:17) win for France. France were driven by a great game from the back court, with Elohim Prandi, Dika Mem and Melvyn Richardson standing out, combining for 21 goals.

Prandi’s eight goals were not enough to make him the top scorer of the game, or even second top scorer, however: Denmark right back Mathias Gidsel netted 10 goals and left wing Emil Jakobsen scored nine.

The result means France are the only unbeaten team in the Cup now, as they handed Denmark their first defeats in the competition this week.

Meanwhile, Sweden backed up their win over Norway on Wednesday with a second victory, 31:30. The wins over Norway this week were Sweden’s first in the Cup, while Norway have yet to taste victory.

18:40

Summarising the results of the day in the qualifiers, Germany extended an unbeaten record while Iceland extended a perfect one, with both taking wins at home.

Iceland are the big news of the day, as they have joined the line-up for the final tournament in Denmark, Norway and Sweden.

Germany are on the cusp of qualifying but are not safe yet. However, should Türkiye beat Switzerland on Sunday, Germany’s place at the EHF EURO 2026 will be secured.

See the group standings here.

16:25

Germany and Austria are entering the court in Hannover and we are just minutes from the starting whistle on Saturday's qualifiers. 

The history is on Germany's side here, as they have taken 33 wins in 40 previous matches against Austria. Four matches, including Thursday's round 3 clash and the game in the EHF EURO 2024 Main Round, ended in draws, and Austria beat Germany three times before. 

Tune in now on EHFTV to watch live.

16:13

Looking ahead to the second qualifier of the day, we could see the first ticket to the final tournament booked, as Iceland host Greece. 

Iceland have a perfect record of wins behind them, and beat Greece 34:25 away on Wednesday. Today, playing at home in Reykjavik, Iceland will qualify for the EHF EURO 2026 with a second victory, regardless of the other results in the group this round. 

16:02

Turning now to the big focus of the day — the qualifiers! Germany have the chance to book their place at the final tournament this weekend, but they must beat Austria in order to do so, and hope that Switzerland lose to Türkiye on Sunday. 

As Switzerland won the reverse fixture against Türkiye on Wednesday 38:34, playing on Türkiye's notoriously powerful home court, it seems the group might remain quite open even if Germany take the victory against Austria. 

Thursday's match between Austria and Germany saw a thrilling draw, with Austria securing the result in the dying seconds. Watch the highlights below!

15:54

As Denmark and France prepare for throw-off, check out a feature with Denmark coach Nikolaj Jacobsen below. 

Jacobsen has led Denmark to an incredible record of 37 unbeaten matches at the World Championship, stretching back to 2019. 

"I think it's because of a common goal we have to constantly improve ourselves and never be satisfied. It starts with me as the boss, to lead by example and live by the principle of always striving to perform even better," Jacobsen shared.

15:43

The live blog concentrates on the EHF EURO 2026 Qualifiers, but let's take a quick look at the EHF EURO Cup 2026, where the first of today's matches is currently live. 

The EHF EURO Cup features the already qualified teams — in this case, the three co-hosts of the tournament that will take place next January, Denmark, Norway and Sweden, along with the current title holders France. 

Norway and Sweden are currently on court in Trondheim, with Sweden holding a narrow lead in the early minutes of the second half. Sweden took their first win of the Cup on Wednesday, while Norway have lost all three previous games. 

Denmark and France are soon to enter the court, and five players will be honoured with the presentation of their EHF Excellence Awards for the 2023/24 season: France line player Ludovic Fabregas; France left back Elohim Prandi; Denmark left wing Emil Jakobsen; Denmark line player Magnus Saugstrup, who was in the Team of the Season as best defender; and Denmark right back Mathias Gidsel, who received the newly introducted European Olympic Excellence Award. 

Gidsel was named MVP of the Olympic Games, taking his first gold in the competition and second Olympic medal overall, and was also MVP of the World Championship in January, where Denmark won their fourth title in a row. 

France right back Dika Mem was present at the ceremony in December to receive his award as part of the Team of the Season, as was Denmark goalkeeper Emil Nielsen.

15:30

Good afternoon and welcome to the opening day of round 4 of the Men's EHF EURO 2026 Qualifiers! Today we have a light schedule, with two games coming up as the race to the final tournament in Denmark, Norway and Sweden continues. 

• Germany vs Austria 16:30 CET
• Iceland vs Greece 17:00 CET

Round 3 will conclude on Sunday with 14 matches. 

Let's get started with some reading — below, find the live blogs from round 3, recapping all the action from earlier in the week, along with the preview for today's games.