Live blog: Arrivals day for the Raiffeisen Bank EHF FINAL4

• the Raiffeisen Bank EHF FINAL4 takes place at the MVM Dome in Budapest on Saturday and Sunday 6 and 7 June
• Thursday is arrivals day for the three finalist teams; Metz Handball arrived to Budapest on Wednesday afternoon 
• read the semi-finals preview
• find out where to watch the final weekend

THURSDAY 4 JUNE

15:30 

One of the names which will attract the attention of handball fans across the globe this weekend is Anna Vyakhireva. Brest's star won the trophy in 2023 with Vipers Kristiansand and was named the MVP of the EHF FINAL4 in the same year. One year later, she became the competition's top scorer with 113 goals. How much more do you know about Anna? Test your knowledge! 

15:05

Sunday will be an emotional day for three players who will retire from an active handball career: Györ's Anna Lagerquist and Nathalie Hagman, as well as Brest's Ana Gros. Slovenian right back is also one of only five players in EHF Champions League 'Club 1,000', scoring 1,005 goals so far. 

14:42

Apart from Györ's records, another milestone is possible this weekend in the MVM Dome. CSM's head coach, Bojana Popovic, can become the first female to win the trophy as a player and as a coach. If she lifts the trophy with the Romanian club, it would be her seventh, after winning six with three different clubs as a player. Three with Slagelse (2003, 2005, 2007), two with Viborg (2008, 2009) and one with Buducnost (2012).

This week, we released the latest episode of the 'Handball Mastermind' series featuring Popovic, again the first female coach to be filmed for the series. You can hear all about her coaching philosophy on the link below! 

14:30

Hungarian powerhouse Györ holds the record for most appearances, but also for most trophies won — seven (2013, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2024, 2025). Many consider them clear favourites, so we asked our journalist Julian Rux to dive deep into the numbers and tell us what the probabilities for each team to win the shiny silverware are! Read the latest 'Stats Counter' on the link below. 

14:17

The excitement is building up as CSM Bucuresti, Brest Bretagne Handball and Györi Audi ETO KC are expected to arrive to Margaret Island in Budapest later in the afternoon. There are no debutants and the four teams together have 22 appearances at the EHF FINAL4. Here's how the stats look like! 

14:00

Welcome to Budapest and the Raiffeisen Bank EHF FINAL4 2026!

Metz Handball is in the house, while the remaining three final teams are arriving today ahead of the matches on Saturday and Sunday, and the live blog is here to start the build-up to the action at the weekend. We'll also be bringing you previews of the inaugural EHF Youth Club Trophy Women, featuring four of the continent's best under-17 women's teams who will play on the same court as the seniors for their own title. 

Check back here throughout the afternoon for some of the features we've been running, photos of the arrivals, and more. 

To start things off, get ready for the weekend with the preview episode of 'The Spin' podcast!