Live blog: Sweden and the Netherlands meet for fifth place
The Women's EHF EURO 2024 semi-finals take place on Friday: Hungary vs Norway and France vs Denmark will decide the two finalists. Before then, starting at 15:00 CET, Sweden take on the Netherlands for fifth place.
14:30
Before today’s games throw off, here are a few top facts:
- Sweden and the Netherlands meet to decide fifth place at the Women’s EHF EURO for the second consecutive time, after the Scandinavian team won the 5/6 placement match in 2022, 37:32
- the Netherlands also placed sixth in 2020, after taking the bronze medal in 2018 and silver in 2016
- the head-to-head record between the sides shows eight victories for Sweden, five for the Netherlands and four draws
- Norway have not lost an EHF EURO semi-final since the very first event in 1994 and have won 14 of 22 semi-finals played at the Olympic Games and World Championship; this is Hungary’s first semi-final since 2012
- Norway’s record for most goals scored in a EURO game was set against Hungary in the 2004 semi-final, when they won 44:29
- Norway own the head-to-head record against Hungary, taking 20 wins to Hungary’s seven; Hungary have not beaten Norway since the EHF EURO 2014 on their home court
- both teams contested the semi-finals at the two previous editions of the Women’s EHF EURO and they were the last teams to lose the title to Norway, with Denmark the runners-up in 2022 and France the second-placed side in 2020
- the overall balance between the sides has four EURO wins apiece, 12 victories for Denmark across all competitions and eight for France, but Denmark have only beaten France once since 2016
- goalkeeper Anna Kristensen has made the most saves at the EHF EURO 2024, with 75, and also has an unmatched rate of 39.68 per cent among keepers who have faced over 100 shots, contributing to Denmark’s first position on the combined ranking including her fellow keepers Althea Reinhardt and Sandra Toft
14:00
The stat of the day focuses on the second semi-final between France and Denmark, the teams with the shortest average shot distance among the main round participants. Without penalty throws, fast breaks, empty goal attempts and direct free throws France shoots from 6.28 metres, Denmark from 6.29m.
13:30
EHF journalist Courtney Gahan has done some digging into KINEXON’s main round data, to look at which teams have played the fastest, who changes direction most and which players have stood out. Find out more in her feature here.
