Alfred Gislason: “The hardest tournament I’ve ever played”

Now, at the Men’s EHF EURO 2026, a real challenge awaits, with top-class opponents in preliminary round group A. In this interview with eurohandball.com, Gislason discusses his squad, his objectives and the opposition.

How do you assess your team’s situation ahead of the EHF EURO 2026?

Alfred Gislason: At a European Championship you only face top-level opponents — we've always known that. But our half of the tournament in 2026 is extremely tough; it will be the hardest tournament I’ve ever played. In the other half, reaching the semi-finals is considerably easier. We have to be fully alert from the very first match and give absolutely everything.

Spain, Serbia, Austria are Germany’s group opponents — how do you rate these teams?

Alfred Gislason: Spain have a rejuvenated squad with many outstanding young talents who have already won several gold medals at youth level. Serbia are also in transition, but on a good day, thanks to their physicality and individual strengths, they can cause problems for anyone. And we always seem to lock horns with Austria, whether in qualification or at European or world championships. We know them very well, and they’ve developed strongly. I’m curious to see what style they’ll play under their new coach, Iker Romero.

You’ve integrated many young players over the past two years. How prepared is the squad for the EHF EURO 2026?

Alfred Gislason: We have a core of 20 to 25 players, but the door remains open for everyone else. Over the past two years we’ve made the team significantly younger; at the Paris Olympic Games we were, on average, the youngest team, and we won silver. But this rejuvenation was our only possible path. I placed my trust in these young players even when they were going through weaker spells at their clubs. They have to accept that challenge and perform at club level as well.

Having this core helps us during the few training camps we have, as we can quickly find our rhythm again. We have seven U21 world champions in the squad — top talents who have already proven themselves in the Bundesliga. But the decisive question ahead of the EHF EURO 2026 is the same as before every tournament: who is healthy, who is injured, who is fit? This is especially relevant in the right back position; recently, Renars Uscins and Franz Semper have not been at 100 per cent, so we will have to see.

What is your goal when travelling to Herning?

Alfred Gislason: Our aim at every tournament is to reach the semi-finals. But this time it’s different — the first goal is simply to reach the main round, ideally with a clean record. That will be difficult enough.

Under normal circumstances we’ll then be playing against the world champions, the Olympic champions and hosts Denmark, European champions France, and top teams Norway and Portugal, and only two teams from that group will proceed to the semi-finals. Every point, perhaps even every goal, could be decisive in this situation. It could happen that you miss out on the semi-finals despite only losing twice in the entire tournament. Denmark are the clear favourites at home – beating this team in Herning will be extremely difficult. As I said: the main round group in Malmö is considerably easier.

Photos © Kolektiff Images; FOTO Wagner/Alexander Wagner