EHF EURO 2022 draw pots announced

Following the completion of the EHF EURO 2022 qualifiers on Sunday, the lineup for the final tournament in Hungary and Slovakia is complete – and the next step is for the 24 teams to learn their preliminary round opponents.

The teams will not have to wait long, as the draw that will determine the six preliminary round groups is set to take place on Thursday 6 May at 17:00 CEST. The draw will be held in Budapest, where the EHF EURO 2022 final will be played on 30 January.

20 of the teams made their way to the final tournament through the extensive qualification stage, which saw the two top-ranked teams in each of the eight playing groups clinch berths at the final tournament, along with the four best third-ranked teams. Hungary and Slovakia were directly qualified as co-hosts, while Spain and Croatia secured their places as finalists at the 2020 edition won by Spain.

For the draw, the 24 teams have been divided into four pots of six squads. The seeding for the pots is based on ranking at the EHF EURO 2020, updated with consideration for ranking in the qualifier groups.

The pots are as follows:

• Pot 1: Spain, Croatia, Norway, Slovenia, Germany, Portugal — defending champions, runners-up and four first-ranked teams of qualifiers
• Pot 2: Sweden, Hungary, Russia, Denmark, Serbia, Austria — organisers, four first-ranked teams and one second-ranked team of qualifiers
• Pot 3: Slovakia, Belarus, Iceland, Czech Republic, France, North Macedonia — organisers and five second-ranked teams of qualification groups
• Pot 4: Netherlands, Montenegro, Ukraine, Poland, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Lithuania — two second-ranked teams of qualifiers and four third-ranked teams

Six teams have already been allocated their group (and row, according to pot), with EHF EURO 2020 semi-finalists Slovenia set to play in group A in Debrecen; co-hosts Hungary to start in group B in Budapest; EHF EURO 2020 runners-up Croatia to begin in group C in Szeged; Germany in group D in Bratislava; Czech Republic in group E, also in Bratislava; and co-hosts Slovakia in group F in Kosice.

The draw procedure will see the three remaining teams in pot 1 drawn into row one, after which the five remaining teams in pot 2 will be drawn into row two. Next, the four remaining teams in pot 3 will be drawn into row three, and finally the six teams in pot 4 will be drawn into row four.

Download the complete draw procedure here.

The EHF EURO 2022 draw will be streamed live on the Home of Handball Facebook page, the Home of Handball YouTube page, and EHFTV.