Denmark delight home fans with victory over Macedonians

GROUP B

Denmark vs North Macedonia 36:24 (17:12)

H2H: 8-0-1
Top scorers: Simon Pytlick 9/11 (Denmark), Martin Serafimov 6/9 (Macedonia)
Goalkeeper saves: Emil Nielsen 10/30, Kevin Møller 1/4 (Denmark), Martin Tomovski 4/24, Ivan Galevski 1/16 (North Macedonia)
POTM presented by Grundfos: Simon Pytlick (Denmark)

• Denmark's fast breaks enabled them to build a dominant advantage with Emil Jakobsen and Mathias Gidsel finishing most of them
• Emil Nielsen played a pivotal role, making 10 saves (33 per cent efficiency)
• Mathias Gidsel (eight) and Simon Pytlick (nine) combined for 17 goals
• coach Kiril Lazarov tried a few different scenarios to limit Denmark's attack, setting a 5-1 defence in the second half, but Gidsel switched from right back to playmaker and found solutions for his creative approaches
• Martin Serafimov scored the 1,000th goal of the Macedonian national team in their EHF EURO history
• the Macedonians were missing a couple of their most experienced and key players in the starting line-up including goalkeeper Nikola Mitrevski and line player Zharko Peshevski

A Danish repeat from EHF EURO 2014 in Herning

Just like 12 years ago, the star-studded Danish squad began the EHF EURO 2026 with an opening victory against North Macedonia in Herning. Back in 2014 it was 29:21 in favour of Denmark, led by Casper Mortensen. In 2026, Simon Pytlick spearheaded their attack with nine goals, as the Danes celebrated a win once again.

Denmark’s defence was particularly effective as they man-marked the opponents' left back for the best part of the match, regardless of who was playing in that position, which limited the Macedonians' fluidity in attack.

Photos © kolektiff images