European Men's Handball Championship

European Men's Handball Championship
Founded 1994
Region Europe (EHF)
Number of teams 36 (Qualifiers)
16 (Finals)
Current champions  France (2 titles)
Most successful team  Sweden (4 titles)

The European men's handball championship is the official competition for senior men's national handball teams of Europe, and takes place every two years. In addition to crowning the European champions, the tournament also serves as a qualifying tournament for the World Championship. Sweden have won four of the eight championships that have been held since 1994, while Spain have been runners-up three times.

Contents

History

In 1946, the International Handball Federation was founded by eight European nations,[1] and though non-European nations competed at the World Championships, the medals had always been taken by European nations.[2] European Handball Federation is founded in 1991. At the same time (1995), the World Championship was changed from a quadrennial to a biannual event, and the European Handball Federation now began its own championship – which also acted as a regional qualifier for the World Championship.[3]

1994 Championship

Host:  Portugal

The first championship was held in Portugal in June 1994.[4] The host nation had not managed to qualify for any World Championship thus far, and they finished 12th and last after losing all six games, including 21–38 to Romania in the 11th-place play-off. Sweden became the first European champion after defeating Russia by 34–21 in the final, Russia's heaviest loss in their international history.[5] Both teams had gone through the tournament without loss, but Sweden's fast breaks became the key in the final; they scored 14 of their 34 goals on fast breaks. Russian winger Valeri Gopin scored 50 goals and was top scorer.

1996 Championship

Host:  Spain

Two years later, the championship moved to Spain, with the same format. This time, no team went through the group stage without giving up points, but Russia and Sweden were to face off once again; this time in the semi-final, and Russia got revenge with a 24–21 win in front of 650 spectators.[6] In the other semi-final, the hosts beat Yugoslavia 27–23, before 7,500 spectators littered the arena in Sevilla to watch the hosts go down by one goal despite the efforts of Talant Dujshebaev, a Kyrgyz-born[7] back player who had played for Russia in 1994 but who now turned out for Spain.[5] Federal Republic of Yugoslavia participated for the first time and finished third.

1998 Championship

Host:  Italy

In 1998 the Championship was held in Italy, whose appearance at the 1997 World Championship was their first (and to date, only) at the top level of international handball.[2] Spain went through the first six matches of the tournament unbeaten, while their opponents Sweden had won the first four games before becoming the first team to lose to hosts Italy. However, in the final, Sweden were too strong and won by 25–23 after having led by 15–9 at half-time in front of 6,100 spectators in Bolzano.

2000 Championship

Host:  Croatia

Two years later, the Championship was held in the Croatian cities of Zagreb and Rijeka. By now, the Championship had been moved back to January[8] in the middle of the European handball season. The Championship acted as an Olympic qualifier, and hosts Croatia, who had won the 1996 Olympics, needed to finish in the top five to qualify. They lost to Spain and drew with France in the group stage, which sent them into a fifth-place play-off with neighbours Slovenia. 10,000 spectators watched as Slovenia prevailed by one goal and qualified for the Sydney Games. The two teams who had won European Championships before, Sweden and Russia, qualified for the final – Sweden had won the group stage match 28–25,[8] but Russia took a six-goal lead at half-time. Sweden came back to tie the game at full time, and two 10-minute extra periods were required before Sweden won 32–31[5] after Magnus Wislander scored the deciding goal.[9]

2002 Championship

Host:  Sweden

Three-time champions Sweden were the next to host the European Championship, in 2002. This was the first tournament with 16 teams, an expansion from 12 in the previous four instalments. The Swedes won their first seven matches, and had already qualified for the semi-finals when they lost 26–27 to Denmark, having led 17–11 at half time. In the other main round group, Iceland became the third Nordic team to qualify after defeating Germany in the final match, but both Denmark and Iceland were soundly beaten in the semi-finals – Denmark lost 23–28 to Germany, while Sweden defeated Iceland by 11 goals. Sweden thus qualified for their fourth final in five attempts, and in front of 14,300 spectators in Stockholm Globe, they came back from a one-goal deficit when Staffan Olsson equalised with five seconds to spare. Sweden had substituted their goalkeeper, and Florian Kehrmann replied with a goal in an empty net, but it was disallowed because the referees had not started play after the Swedish goal.[10] In the extra time, Sweden held on, and could celebrate their fourth title.[11]

2004 Championship

Host:  Slovenia

Sweden's row of three successive Championships was broken in Slovenia in 2004, when Germany won despite not being touted as a medal candidate by news agency Deutsche Presse Agentur.[12] Germany suffered an early defeat to Serbia and Montenegro, and qualified for the main round as the third and final team from their group, having drawn with France as well. However, as the favourites beat each other in Germany's main round group, Germany qualified for the semi-finals in first place from the six-team group. In the other group, Croatia, who won the other group, had not lost any of their first seven games, while Denmark also had four successive wins.

Croatia faced hosts Slovenia in the semi-final, and the clash of the two Balkan neighbours saw heightened security measures.[13] 7,000 spectators in the Hall Tivoli saw that the hosts became the first team to beat Croatia in this tournament despite 12 goals from Croatian right winger Mirza Džomba who was reputed to be the best handball player in the world at the time.[14] Denmark, who had reached their second successive semi-final, once again had to bow out at this stage, as they lost 20–22 to Germany in what was described as a "hard-fought victory."[13] Germany won the final more convincingly; a 16–10 lead at half time was never squandered, as Slovenia only got within three goals in the second half, and eventually lost 25–30.[15]

2006 Championship

Host:  Switzerland

The 2006 tournament was held in Switzerland, in the cities of Basel, Bern, Lucerne, St Gallen and Zürich. France won the tournament, going through with one solitary loss – a 26–29 defeat to Spain in the preliminary round (where France trailed by eight goals at half-time). Defending champions Germany was also in this preliminary group, and this time taking one point through from the group stage would not be enough for Germany. Despite winning all three main round games, so did France and Spain, and those two teams qualified for the semi-finals from Group I. From the other group, Croatia qualified in first place after a 34–30 victory over Serbia and Montenegro in the last match. Later that evening, Denmark beat Russia and qualified for their third successive semi-final, one point behind Croatia. However, the Group II teams were both defeated by Group I teams, causing France and Spain to meet again in the final. In the third-place play-off, Croatia surprisingly lost to Denmark, while the final saw France prevail by eight goals to win their first European Championship.

2008 Championship

Host:  Norway

Norway was the host country for the 2008 tournament. Matches were played in Bergen, Drammen, Lillehammer, Stavanger and Trondheim. Croatia, Norway, Hungary and France won their preliminary groups, but two of the teams failed to utilise their advantage; Norway drew with Poland and lost to Slovenia, and needed to beat Croatia in the final match of the group stage. Instead, Ivano Balić scored the 23–22 goal with twenty seconds to spare, and only a late equaliser gave Norway third place in the group.[16] Hungary, Spain and Germany had all gone through with two points from Group C, and Germany sealed their qualification with a two-goal win over Sweden in a match where a draw would have been enough for the Swedes.[17] In the first semifinal Croatia played France in a game dominated by strong defense by both teams, with the Croats achieving a three-goal lead twice, only to see France come back strong. Croatia goalkeeper Mirko Alilović saved a shot from Nikola Karabatic with six seconds to go as Croatia won 24–23. Denmark came back from 7–12 down to beat Germany, despite the Germans equalising with in the final minute, as Lars Christiansen slotted home a penalty shot with three seconds remaining. Croatia started off well in the final, scoring the first four goals, but with eight saves more from Denmark's keeper, Kasper Hvidt, Denmark won 24–20 and took their first major trophy.

2010 Championship

Host:  Austria

2012 Championship

Host:  Serbia

2014 Championship

Host:  Denmark

Statistics

Year Host Final Third place match
Winner Score Runner-up Third place Score Fourth place
1994  Portugal
Sweden
34–21
Russia

Croatia
24–23
Denmark
1996  Spain
Russia
23–22
Spain

Yugoslavia
26–25
Sweden
1998  Italy
Sweden
25–23
Spain

Germany
30–28
aet

Russia
2000  Croatia
Sweden
32–31
Russia

Spain
24–23
France
2002  Sweden
Sweden
33–31
Germany

Denmark
29–22
Iceland
2004  Slovenia
Germany
30–25
Slovenia

Denmark
31–27
Croatia
2006  Switzerland
France
31–23
Spain

Denmark
32–27
Croatia
2008  Norway
Denmark
24–20
Croatia

France
36–26
Germany
2010  Austria
France
25-21
Croatia

Iceland
29-26
Poland
2012  Serbia
2014  Denmark
1No extra time played.

Final tournament appearances

Appearances Country
9  Croatia
 France
 Germany
 Russia
 Spain
8  Denmark
 Hungary
 Slovenia
 Sweden
7
6  Czech Republic
 Iceland
 Serbia1
5  Poland
 Portugal
 Ukraine
4  Norway
3  Switzerland
2  Belarus
 Macedonia
 Romania
 Slovakia
1  Austria
 Israel
 Italy
 Lithuania
 Montenegro

1:Includes 3 appearances of the FR Yugoslavia and 2 of the Serbia and Montenegro

Total hosts

Hosts Nations (Year(s))
1  Austria (2010)
 Croatia (2000)
 Italy (1998)
 Norway (2008)
 Portugal (1994)
 Slovenia (2004)
 Spain (1996)
 Sweden (2002)
 Switzerland (2006)

Top scorers per tournament

Year Player Goals
1994 Valery Gopin 50
2002 Ólafur Stefánsson 58
2004 Mirza Džomba
2006 Siarhei Rutenka 51
2008 Ivano Balić
Nikola Karabatić
Lars Christiansen
44
2010 Filip Jícha 53

Participation details

Team
1994

1996

1998

2000

2002

2004

2006

2008

2010

2012

2014
Total
 Croatia 3rd 5th 8th 6th PR 4th 4th 2nd 2nd 9
 France 6th 7th 7th 4th 6th 6th 1st 3rd 1st 9
 Germany 9th 8th 3rd 9th 2nd 1st 5th 4th 10th 9
 Russia 2nd 1st 4th 2nd 5th 5th 6th 14th 12th 9
 Spain 5th 2nd 2nd 3rd 7th MR 2nd 9th 6th 9
 Denmark 4th 12th - 10th 3rd 3rd 3rd 1st 5th 8
 Slovenia 10th 11th - 5th 12th 2nd MR 10th 11th 8
 Sweden 1st 4th 1st 1st 1st 7th - 5th 15th 8
 Hungary 7th 10th 6th - - MR PR 8th 14th 7
 Czech Republic - 6th 10th - 8th MR - 13th 8th 6
 Iceland - - - 11th 4th PR MR 11th 3rd 6
 Serbia1 - 3rd 5th - 10th 8th MR - 13th 6
 Poland - - - - PR PR MR 7th 4th 5
 Portugal 12th - - 7th 9th PR PR - - 5
 Ukraine - - - 12th 11th PR MR - 16th 5
 Norway - - - 8th - - MR 6th 7th 4
 Switzerland - - - - PR MR PR - - 3
 Belarus 8th - - - - - - 16th - 2
 Romania 11th 9th - - - - - - - 2
 Slovakia - - - - - - PR PR - 2
 Austria - - - - - - - - 9th 1
 Israel - - - - PR - - - - 1
 Italy - - 11th - - - - - - 1
 Lithuania - - 9th - - - - - - 1
 Macedonia - - 12th - - - - - - 1
 Montenegro - - - - - - - 12th - 1
Legend
Notes

External links

Further references

  1. ^ History of Handball from ihf.info, retrieved 7 February 2006
  2. ^ a b Medals Table - Ranking At Men's World Championships A 1938-1990 from ihf.info, retrieved 7 February 2006
  3. ^ (German) Handball-Bundesliga diskutiert Reduzierung auf 16 Teams, by Erik Eggers, published by Der Spiegel online, 30 January 2006
  4. ^ (Norwegian) (ed) Arvid Eriksen Sportsboken 1994, pg. 291, Schibsted. ISBN 82-516-1543-7.
  5. ^ a b c (German) Von Porto bis Ljubljana, from Handballworld.com, retrieved 7 February 2006
  6. ^ EHF - Match details, retrieved 7 February 2006
  7. ^ Talant Dujshebaev, from hand-ball.org, retrieved 7 February 2006
  8. ^ a b 2000 Men's European Championship - Finals, from EHF, retrieved 27 January 2006
  9. ^ (Swedish) Ryssland väntar i semifinalen, retrieved 27 February 2006
  10. ^ (German) Deutschland verpaßt Europameistertitel nur knapp - Schweden am Rande der Niederlage from starpix.se, retrieved 27 February 2006
  11. ^ 2002 - Men's European Championship, - Finals - Germany v Sweden, retrieved 27 February 2006
  12. ^ (German) Vor der EM - Keine Panik", by Martin Kloth, published by stern.de, retrieved 27 February 2006
  13. ^ a b Deutschland ist im Finale
  14. ^ (German) Slowenien erreicht nach 27:25-Sieg über Kroatien das Finale, from thw-provinzial.de, retrieved 27 February 2006
  15. ^ (German)Europameister! Deutschland gegen Gastgeber Slowenien ganz cool zum Titel, from thw-provinzial.de, retrieved 27 February 2006
  16. ^ (Norwegian) Drama mot Kroatia, Webjørn Espeland, NRK, retrieved 19 July 2008
  17. ^ (Sami) Tyskland stoppade Sverige, Martin Ahlin, Eurosport, retrieved 19 July 2008