Live blog: Spain and Norway even early on

15:00

Half an hour until throw-off! Here's some fun facts about the games ahead:

• one goal for Francisco Costa will mean he overtakes his dad Ricardo in the Portuguese all-time scorers list at the EURO. His brother Martim did that last week!
• Germany and Portugal have just one EURO meeting in the past, from the EHF EURO 2020 when Germany won 29:27 to finish fifth
• the Spaniard who has scored the most goals against Norway in a EURO match is 'The Spin' host Victor Tomàs, who netted eight when they met in Aalborg in 2014. Make sure you tune into the 'The Spin' podcast (on YouTube, Spotify or other platforms) after the games today for his reaction to whatever happens tonight!
• France are on a 12-match unbeaten run at the EHF EUROs, starting in 2024 and running through the preliminary round here
• Denmark have beaten France just once at the EUROs, winning the bronze medal match in Budapest in 2022 ... what happens in Herning in 2026?

14:45

Fair play is important in handball, and along with our referee partner Dekra we've picked out the best fair play moments from the preliminary round. It's all about acknowledging mistakes, and they can happen to even the top players.

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14:30

We're an hour from throw-off in Herning. A few players are on court starting their warm-ups; Portugal's João Gomes has been catching up with his VfL Gummersbach teammate Miro Schluroff. It's all friendly now, but it won't be quite so much when the match gets going!

While we wait for things to start, have a look at the referee nominations for today. We update this article every day with the names of the pair who'll be whistling each game.

14:15

The last thing you need to read before the main round throws off is our updated power rankings. Denmark topped the pre-tournament ranking, but their defeat by Portugal, coupled with France's high-scoring preliminary round, has shifted things around.

Check out the new ranking here!

13:45

Germany face Portugal this afternoon. Both teams have two points at the start of the main round, after Portugal's famous defeat over Denmark the other day. 

But can Portugal now keep that winning streak going? In today's feature, we analyse how defence was key against Denmark; it is likely to be key against Germany today too, although Portugal are missing Victor Iturizza after he received a late red card on Tuesday.

13:20

German right back Renārs Uščins is their top scorer so far, and he shone particularly in their last preliminary round match against Spain. Although Germany suffered defeat to Serbia in the second game, Uščins is confident about their chances in the main round. Björn Pazen caught up with the 23-year-old before they meet Portugal later today.

13:00

We've published a ton of great content ahead of the first main round games, but let's start at the beginning with the day preview. There's loads to delve into in these three matches, but perhaps the most intriguing fact is that one of the two times Denmark have lost at the Jyske Bank Boxen was against tonight's opponents, France. That was 12 years ago in the EHF EURO 2014 final. No players from that match are left in either team now (although Magnus Landin's brother Niklas was involved), but nevertheless the history is there. Denmark know they cannot let a repeat of that result happen today, nor a repeat of 2024, when France won the title 33:31 after overtime.

12:45

Also at the end of the preliminary round, we've compiled the top 5 saves and top 5 goals. Check them out on our social media channels - here are the saves!

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12:30

So how did each team make it through to the next round? Check out this video, where we've broken down the results of each group.

12:00

All 12 main round tickets are now confirmed, and we throw off this afternoon at 15:30 CET in Herning. 

Before then, 'The Spin' recapped the preliminary round in last night's podcast - so remind yourself of everything that's happened in the past week, before we get into the big games to come.