The GOAT, the unfinished and many more legends

The one who won it all

At the age of 40, Nikola Karabatic won his fourth EHF EURO gold medal in the “cathedral of handball”, the LANXESS arena in Cologne, beating Denmark in the thrilling 2024 final after overtime. In 2006, 2010 and 2014, Karabatic stood on the European winners’ podium as well. Besides, he added four gold medals at the IHF World Championships, and three at the Olympic Games before his career came to a sudden end in the quarter-final of the 2024 Olympic Games, losing to Germany after overtime.

Karabatic holds all EHF EURO records: no one else played more matches at European championships (79 between 2004 and 2024), only Mikkel Hansen scored more goals (295), no other player was part of EHF EURO All-star Teams more often (five times), only two players was MVP twice like him (Ivano Balic and Jim Gottfriddson), and only five Swedish players — Ola Lindgren, Staffan Olsson, Stefan Lövgren, Magnus Wislander, and Martin Frandesjö — managed to win the competition four times before. Besides being MVP in 2008 and 2014, Karabatic was the top scorer in 2008, equal with Balic and Dane Lars Christiansen. He won the EHF Champions League three times with three clubs (Montpellier, Kiel and Barcelona), was awarded IHF World Player of the Year three times (2007, 2024 and 2016). 

The one with the unfinished business

When Karabatic is the GOAT, Ivano Balic is the unfinished. In 2004 and 2006, the prolific Croatian playmaker was EHF EURO MVP and was an All-star Team member four times, but never won the trophy. In 2008 (against Denmark) and 2010 (against France), he was part of the finals, but lost both. Balic is topped only by his successor, Croatian playmaker legend Domagoj Duvnjak, who was part of three finals, and became MVP of the 2020 edition as silver medallist after losing to Spain. Balic was EHF EURO top scorer in 2008, IHF World Player of the Year in 2003 and 2006 and was the first handball player ever to become MVP in five consecutive events (EHF EURO 2004, Olympic Games 2004, World Championship 2005, EHF EURO 2006 and World Championship 2007). Balic was the world champion in 2003 and the Olympic champion in 2004.

One of the Bengan Boys 

Below those two magicians, it is hard to select one Swedish player to third position, as those Bengan Boys dominated the early years of the EHF EURO history, winning four times gold between 1994 and 2002). It could have been Stefan Lövgren (fourth best EHF EURO scorer of all time with 203 goals) or Staffan Olsson, but finally the bronze rank goes to Magnus Wislander. He imprinted this generation first as playmaker then as a line player, was awarded best handball player of the last century, IHF World Player of the Year 1990 and MVP of the EHF EURO 2002. The only unfortunate fate of those Bengan Boys: they were three times Olympic finalists, but always returned home with silver medals, after becoming World Champions in 1990 and 1999.

The one who started a dynasty

Number four on the greatest EHF EURO players list is another one, who never won gold on the European stage, but was World and Olympic champion and twice IHF Player of the Year (1994 and 1996): Talant Dujshebaev. After becoming an Olympic champion in 1992 with the CIS team (successor of the Soviet Union) and world champion with Russia in 1993, the legendary playmaker took Spanish citizenship in 1995 and won the EHF EURO silver medals in 1996 and 1998, including his MVP award in 1996 and an All-star Team nomination two years later. Finally, the Dujshebaev family did not end unfinished, as Talant’s sons Dani and Alex became EHF EURO champions in 2018 and 2020 with Spain.

The one with the most goals scored

Mikkel Hansen is unfinished in terms of EHF Champions League trophies, but he steered Denmark to their last EHF EURO trophy won, beating Serbia in Belgrade in the 2012 final, when Hansen scored nine of Denmark’s 21 goals for a 21:19 win. Hansen is the All-time EHF EURO top scorer, as he passed Karabatic at the last EHF EURO by one goal after the 2024 final to finish on 296 strikes between 2010 and 2024. The two-time Olympic and four-time world champion was three times IHF World Player of the Year (2011, 2015 and 2018), MVP of IHF World Championships three times and Olympic Games twice, but despite four All-star Team nominations, never an MVP at European championships, like no other Danish player by now. In his last match on club level, he lost the Champions League final with Aalborg against Barça, but in a farewell match as a player, he became Olympic champion with Denmark, beating Germany in the final.

The Spanish wall, the legacy maker and the goal machines

Among those players following in the 'greatest of Men’s EHF EURO ranking', there are some crazy stories — like Arpad Sterbik. After losing the EHF EURO 2016 final against Germany, he had retired from the Spanish national team, but the goalkeeping legend was on a stand-by at home during the EHF EURO 2018. The emergency occurred when Gonzalo Perez de Vargas was ruled out after an injury in the last main round match against Germany. Sterbik was flown to Zagreb — and like Caesar, he came, saw and conquered! In the semi-final against France, Sterbik saved four penalty shots and played a crucial role in Spain making it to another EURO final.

In the final, Sterbik replaced Rodrigo Corrales after 24 minutes, and in the first 20 minutes of the second half, ‘the Spanish wall’ conceded only three goals. The way to the first-ever Spanish EURO trophy was paved, Sterbik was awarded MVP of the final, and he became EHF EURO champion with a playing time of less than 50 minutes. In terms of goalkeepers, Thierry Omeyer has an outstanding position with three EHF EURO gold medals with France, like Peter Gentzel and Mats Olsson, both have with Sweden. 

And there are two legends, who never were European champions, but have imprinted this competition: Filip Jicha was the only player who never won a medal, but became MVP and top scorer, even at the same event, when his 53 goals were 32 per cent of all Czech goals at the EHF EURO 2010, and his side finished eighth. Olafur Stefansson steered Iceland to their, by now, only EHF EURO medal (bronze in 2010), after he had been the top scorer with the incredible number of 58 goals in 2002. In 2002, 2006 and 2010, Stefansson was also an All-star Team player. 

Finally, two goal machines have made it to this list: Macedonian Kiril Lazarov, who scored 61 goals at the EHF EURO 2012, which looked like a record for eternity. However, eternity ended only eight years later with Norwegian star Sander Sagosen, who scored 65 goals and added 53 assists at the EHF EURO 2020 to be the first player in EHF EURO history to combine triple digits in both categories (118).

But history is always in the making — let’s wait to see what Mathias Gidsel or the Costa brothers are capable of doing at the Men’s EHF EURO 2026. 

Photos Axel Heimken / kolektiff, Sasa Pahic Szabo, EHF arhive, Jure Erzen / kolektiff, Uros Hocevar / kolektiff