Final day in Malmö to shape semi-final line-up

GROUP II

SLOVENIA VS ICELAND

Wednesday 28 January, 15:30 CET, live on EHFTV

H2H: 6-0-6

• Iceland currently sit second with five points, while Slovenia are fourth on four
• both teams remain in the semi-final race — Iceland qualify with a win, or with a draw provided Sweden do not win; Slovenia advance with a win and a Swedish defeat
• the last time Slovenia played the semi-finals was in 2020 when they ultimately finished fourth, while Iceland have not made the final weekend since 2010
• Iceland entered the main round with two points and have since defeated Sweden (35:27), lost narrowly to Croatia (29:30) and drawn with Switzerland (38:38)
• Slovenia also arrived with two points and so far have beaten Hungary (35:32) while losing to Sweden (31:35) and Croatia (25:29)
• Slovenia's Domen Makuc is currently the competition's fourth top scorer with 43 goals, while Iceland's Ómar Ingi Magnússon leads his team with 30 and has moved into Iceland's all-time EHF EURO top five with a total of 111 goals
• their most recent EHF EURO meeting also took place in Malmö in 2020, when Slovenia won 30:27; Iceland have claimed just one European championship win against Slovenia in five games, in 2002 in Skövde

CROATIA VS HUNGARY

Wednesday 28 January, 18:00 CET, live on EHFTV

H2H: 14-1-6

• Croatia sit top of the group and are in a strong position to reach the semi-finals — they qualify with a win, or with a draw provided either Iceland or Sweden do not win, and even a defeat could be enough if either Iceland or Sweden lose
• if Croatia qualify it will be their first semi-final since 2020 when they won silver
• Hungary are out of contention for both the semi-finals and the 5/6 placement match, but will aim to finish the tournament on a high note as they currently sit fifth with two points
• after six matches played, Croatia have suffered only one defeat so far, against Sweden in the preliminary round (25:33); Hungary had two draws in the main round, against Switzerland and Sweden, while they were defeated by Slovenia
• at the EHF EURO, Croatia have beaten Hungary only once — 30:27 in 1996 — while Hungary have claimed three other wins, although Croatia lead the overall head-to-head with 14 victories
• Croatia's top scorer is Zvonimir Srna with 28 goals, though he may miss the match after a suspected hamstring injury against Slovenia; Hungary's leading scorer is Bence Imre with 39 goals

SWITZERLAND VS SWEDEN

Wednesday 28 January, 20:30 CET, live on EHFTV

H2H: 1-0-7

• co-hosts Sweden have endured a rollercoaster main round so far — arriving with two points, they defeated Slovenia (35:31), suffered a heavy loss to Iceland (27:35) and shared the spoils with Hungary (32:32)
• those results leave Sweden in a complicated position in the semi-final race — they need a win and either Iceland or Croatia not to win, or a draw provided either Iceland or Croatia lose their respective matches
• Switzerland are out of contention for a place in Herning after two draws (against Iceland and Hungary) and a defeat to Croatia (24:28), but will fight for their best-ever finish, having previously placed 12th in 2004
• four Swiss players are set to become the nation's most-capped EHF EURO players with 13 appearances — Luka Maros, Lucas Meister, Nikola Portner and Lenny Rubin
• should Sweden miss out on the semi-finals, it would be their first absence since 2020, having won gold in 2022 and claimed bronze in 2024
• Switzerland have beaten Sweden only once in eight meetings, back at the 1979 IHF World Championship

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