Summary: Sweden claim victory in final preliminary round match
It's day 7 of the Men's EHF EURO 2026, and the preliminary round has concluded with wins for Sweden and the Netherlands. Sweden will take two points to the main round, while the Netherlands avoid phase 2 of World Championship qualification.
The arena was boiling. This is how we want handball to be. Everybody enjoyed it who were playing, I think, everybody who was in the arena. I really thought it was an amazing game. It’s a nice feeling.
They showed two really good games here at the tournament, they did also really good against Croatia in their first game, so it’s going to be a tough game. But we also know it’s important for the draw for the World Championship so it’s not over yet, and we have to be there at our best to win this game.
Of course it’s going to be a tough match for us, because it’s a strong team complete with experienced and good players. But we have our system, our goal, and somehow we’re going to fight until the end of the match.
17:15
The Netherlands have shared some clips from their last meeting with Georgia two years ago. Georgia have impressed this tournament, and could well challenge the Dutch tonight.
17:00
It's an hour until throw-off in Malmö for the final day of the preliminary round. Georgia and the Netherlands are still hoping for their first (and last) wins of the EHF EURO 2026; Sweden and Croatia both want to take two points to the main round. Here's some facts and stats!
- out of three previous encounters, the Netherlands and Georgia have met only once at the EHF EURO, in 2022, when the Dutch claimed a 34:29 win
- Rutger ten Velde became the Netherlands’ all-time top scorer with 74 goals on Monday, while Dani Baijens is second with 68, both having now surpassed Kay Smits - although Baijens will not play tonight after an ankle injury against Croatia
- Georgia are missing line player Erekle Arsenashvili, who was stretchered off the court in their last match
- Sweden are 42 goals away from reaching 3,000 EHF EURO goals, and a victory would mark their 70th win in 108 matches at the competition
- the first EHF EURO meeting between Croatia and Sweden came in the semi-final of the inaugural edition in 1994, when Sweden won 24:21; out of four EURO meetings in total, each side has claimed two wins
- their most recent encounter in 12 official matches was at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, where Sweden won 38:27
- Andreas Palicka will play his 39th EURO match for Sweden - two more, and he will have played more EHF EURO games than any other Swedish male player
- however, this game is Luka Cindrić's 40th for Croatia, making him the most experienced player on court
15:00
We're taking a little break now before the first match at 18:00 - check back later from about 17:00 CET for the build-up. In the meantime, here's the stat of the day: Croatia wing Mario Šoštarić has scored 13 field goals so far from 13 attempts, making him the only player with a perfect record who has scored more than eight goals. Remarkable!
14:30
With all 12 main round spots booked, 12 teams' EHF EURO 2026 journeys are at an end (or almost, in the case of Georgia and the Netherlands). They've each given us three thrilling matches, showing the depth and quality of European handball. Here are some of our favourite pictures showing the emotions of the past week for the teams not continuing in the competition.
