Germany and Iceland to both EYOF semi-finals

The competition, taking place in Skopje, began on 21 July with a preliminary round, from which the two top-ranked sides in each of the two groups progressed to the medal round.

All matches in the EYOF 2025 are streamed live on EHFTV for free — fans must register, free of charge, and can then watch all games without limits or geo-restrictions.

Men’s competition

Iceland and Germany both enter the semi-finals with perfect records behind them, having topped group A and B, respectively. Iceland’s rivals in group B were Croatia, Spain and tournament hosts North Macedonia — and the Nordic side took emphatic victories over all three of them, with the closest score line a 36:27 result against North Macedonia.

In group B, Germany’s opponents were Hungary, Portugal and Norway. The contest there was straight forward: Germany collected six points, second-placed Hungary finished with two wins and one loss, equalling four, ahead of Portugal on two points and Norway on zero. Germany’s results were also dominant — their closest win was a 36:28 result versus Hungary.

In group A, the race for second position and the second semi-final place was as tight as can be. Croatia and Spain entered the last preliminary round day with one win and one loss apiece, making their direct clash a quarter-final of sorts. The game ended in a 21:21 draw, which meant both were on three points on the table and goal difference was the decider regarding table ranking. There, Croatia beat Spain by just one goal, scraping through to the semi-finals by the narrowest possible margin.

Iceland left back Gunnar Róbertsson is the leading scorer in the men’s competition, with 24 goals. Second is Germany’s Leonard Volk with 20 and then Norway’s Tormod Lund on 19.

In the semi-finals on Friday, Germany will play Croatia and Iceland will meet Hungary. In the 5–8 cross matches, Spain take on Norway and Portugal face North Macedonia.

Women’s competition

Only Switzerland arrive at the semi-finals following three straight wins in the preliminary round. Playing in group B, they ranked first with the maximum six points ahead of Iceland on four, Norway on two and North Macedonia on zero. As per the group winners with perfect records in the men’s competition, Switzerland earned clear victories — no team could get closer than 11 goals, with Norway defeated 33:22.

In group A, Germany opened their campaign with a 26:26 draw versus France, who went on to place third, before beating fourth-ranked Hungary 33:14 and fellow semi-finalists the Netherlands 29:25. Group A in the women’s competition was the closest at the Festival, as the Netherlands collected four points — beating everyone but Germany — and France three.

In addition, three of the six matches played ended with one-goal differences, as the Netherlands beat Hungary 24:23 then France 28:27, and France then defeated Hungary 24:23.

Germany will meet Iceland in the opening semi-final in the women’s competition, while Switzerland play the Netherlands. In the 5–8 cross matches, France take on hosts North Macedonia and Norway face Hungary.

The top scorer in the women’s tournament is Germany centre back Mia Fuchs, with 24 goals in their three games, ahead of Norway’s Kata Bali on 16 and North Macedonia’s Marija Dimoska on 15.