Four past title winners in battles for final

The title is sure to go to a country that has celebrated it before, as all the semi-finalists have claimed the trophy in the past, although Denmark and Hungary have not topped the podium in over two decades.

Hungary face Norway in the first semi-final on Friday in Wiener Stadthalle, before France play Denmark to decide who will follow the first victors to the trophy game. The finals await on Sunday 15 December.

Prior to the semi-finals, Sweden and the Netherlands will meet to decide fifth place at the EHF EURO 2024.

SEMI-FINALS

Hungary vs Norway
Friday 13 December, 18:00 CET, live on EHFTV

• Norway are contesting the semi-finals for the 14th time in 16 editions of the Women’s EHF EURO and the third straight time
• Hungary have made it back to the EHF EURO semi-finals after a 12-year wait; their last semi-final in any competition was at the EHF EURO 2012, when they took one of three bronze medals in the competition
• Norway have not lost an EHF EURO semi-final since the very first event in 1994 and have won 14 of 22 semi-finals played at the Olympic Games and World Championship
• although Norway hold the record for most EURO title wins, with nine, Hungary are also a successful nation in the competition, being one of just five countries to have taken the title
• however, Norway’s record for most goals scored in a EURO game was set against Hungary in the 2004 semi-final, when they won 44:29
• overall, Norway have won 33 medals — the most of any handball national team — to Hungary’s 16; 13 of Norway’s medals have been taken at the EURO, while Hungary have collected four at the European Championship
• the last time Norway did not win a medal at a major tournament was the EHF EURO 2018
• Norway own the head-to-head record against Hungary, taking 20 wins to Hungary’s seven; Hungary have not beaten Norway since the EHF EURO 2014 on their home court
• Hungarian right back Katrin Klujber is the top scorer of the semi-final teams, with 46 goals so far; Norway’s Henny Reistad, who was MVP of the last EURO, is her team’s leader in this statistic, with 35
• Hungary’s goalkeeper Zsófi Szemerey has the second highest save rate among the 10 top keepers for most saves, stopping 39.22 per cent of shots faced so far, while centre back Petra Vamos is third on assists, with 30

France vs Denmark
Friday 13 December, 20:30 CET, live on EHFTV

• both teams contested the semi-finals at the two previous editions of the Women’s EHF EURO and they were the last teams to lose the title to Norway, with Denmark the runners-up in 2022 and France the second-placed side in 2020
• the two teams are in a golden era, having been regulars among the top four across all major championships in recent years, but while France have celebrated trophies, Denmark have not won a title since Olympic gold at Athens 2004 and have reached one final in those 20 years
• at the last three tournaments, France took silver at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, won the world title in 2023 and placed fourth at the EHF EURO 2022; Denmark secured bronze at the World Championship won by France and at the Olympic Games, but as finalists naturally ranked above France at the last EURO
• France have played eight out of 11 available finals since starting their current run of success at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games; they lost only two semi-finals in that period, at the EUROs in 2016 and 2022
• one of France’s semi-final wins in the last eight years was against Denmark — 23:22 at the 2021 World Championship
• the overall balance between the sides has four EURO wins apiece, 12 victories for Denmark across all competitions and eight for France, but Denmark have only beaten France once since 2016
• France were the last team other than Norway to clinch the EHF EURO title, doing so at home in 2018; six players in the current line-up were part of that victory
• goalkeeper Anna Kristensen has made the most saves at the EHF EURO 2024, with 75, and also has an unmatched rate of 39.68 per cent among keepers who have faced over 100 shots, contributing to Denmark’s first position on the combined ranking including her fellow keepers Althea Reinhardt and Sandra Toft
• Denmark lost two players due to injuries in the last main round days, with Reinhardt and Sarah Iversen forced out of the competition; Toft was called up as a replacement for Reinhardt before main round 3 after not being named in the team to start the EURO
• left wing Chloé Valentini is France’s top scorer, with 31 goals; back Anne Mette Hansen leads Denmark with 28

5/6 PLACEMENT MATCH

Sweden vs Netherlands
Friday 13 December, 15:00 CET, live on EHFTV

• Sweden and the Netherlands meet to decide fifth place at the Women’s EHF EURO for the second consecutive time, after the Scandinavian team won the 5/6 placement match in 2022, 37:32
• the Netherlands also placed sixth in 2020, after taking the bronze medal in 2018 and silver in 2016
• Sweden played the semi-finals at both the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and 2023 World Championship, but clinching fifth would equal their best result at the EURO since the bronze medal in 2014
• the Netherlands’ Swedish coach Henrik Signell was previously at the helm for Sweden, leading the team from 2016 to 2020
• the head-to-head record between the sides shows eight victories for Sweden, five for the Netherlands and four draws

Photos © EHF/kolektiff