Sweden aim for their third trophy in this age group after winning the M18 EHF EURO gold already in 1997 after beating Czechia in the final and in 2018 thanks to a final victory against Iceland. In 2012 and 2022, Sweden were finalists, but were defeated by Germany and two years ago by Spain. At the 2024 edition, Sweden were only beaten by Iceland by now, won the remaining six matches.
For Denmark, it is the fourth final of an M18 EHF EURO after 2001, 2006 and 2008, all three times, they won silver. Among the “class of 2008” was newly crowned Olympic champion Rasmus Lauge. His successors are still unbeaten at the tournament in Podgorica with six victories and one draw.
Denmark vs Iceland 34:26 (18:9)
Denmark's semi-final against Iceland was more or less already decided at the break. Goalkeeper Frederik Wolff had saved nine shots, the duo Oscar Møller Jakobsen and Frederik Nygård Jespersen combined for nine goals after 30 minutes – and the Danes were ahead by nine goals (18:9). Iceland could barely get through the movable Danish defence. Right after the break, the Icelanders improved, reduced the gap to 18:23 and 24:29 – but could not endanger the Danes, despite nine goals of Dagur Árni Heimisson. Finally, Wolff had 15 saves to his tally, Møller Jakobsen scored nine times for the dominant victors.
Sweden vs Hungary 39:27 (17:15)
The second semi-final between Sweden and Hungary was much closer for a long time but ended with an even clearer result. Like before, a goalkeeper was the hero for the victors: Viggo Håkansson saved 16 Hungarian shots and paved the way to the final alongside the top scorers Liam Hultberg (7 goals) and Nikola Roganovic (8 goals). Hungary had the better start, then Sweden scored a 7:3 run from 9:9 to 16:12. After the 17:15 half-time advance of the Scandinavians, the match was almost levelled until minute 36 when Sweden pulled ahead easily by another 4:0 run for their first double-digit margin at 30:20. Best Hungarian scorers were Mate Fazekas and Mate Meszaros with five goals each. Hungary and Iceland were runners-ups of their respective main round groups and now duel for bronze.
