Denmark top power ranking before international matches
After a little over five weeks’ break, the national teams are back in full fledge, with 36 sides getting ready for another batch of matches in the EHF EURO 2024 Qualifiers or the EHF EURO Cup 2024.
For plenty, the prize at stake is a place in the final tournament, which will take place in January 2024 in Germany, while four other sides – four of the top five teams at the 2023 IHF Men’s World Championship – are playing in the EHF EURO Cup 2024, having already punched their tickets to the top European competition.
After some debating between the eurohandball.com journalists, we have finalised a list and are basing our power rankings on the form displayed by the sides and their results in the past months.
8. Hungary
In the first tournament with Chema Rodriguez as their head coach, Hungary finished eighth at the World Championship but lost five of the nine games, they played, including three on the trot to finish the tournament.
They looked out of their depth against Denmark and Norway but have been excellent in the EHF EURO 2024 Qualifiers so far, boasting the best attack, with 77 goals scored in two games and the best goal difference, +30.
They now face Switzerland in a doubleheader and could well be one of the first teams to progress to the final tournament if they seal at least one win, and are looking like clear favourites to do so.
7. Serbia
Since the appointment of new coach Toni Gerona, Serbia have been on an upward trend, trying to balance their combative approach to the strict style designed by Gerona. Despite being eliminated early, it proved to work wonders in the preliminary round at the EHF EURO 2022. However, only a few have forgotten Serbia looked excellent in the past Qualifiers, delivering excellent games against France.
That form has been rekindled at the World Championship, where they ended up in 11th place, with losses against Germany and Norway and four wins out of six games. If they are to rank higher here, they need to win against Norway, and what better test to have to see if they outgrew their woes than the one against the Scandinavian side?
6. Norway
When Jonas Wille took over the reins from Christian Berge at Norway men’s senior national team, the Scandinavian side looked to be missing some fire and the drive needed to succeed.
At the World Championship, Norway finished sixth, winning seven of the nine games they played, despite their star, Sander Sagosen, coming short of the match fitness needed, after recovering after a complex injury.
Without Sagosen, Norway won their two matches in Group 2 of the EHF EURO 2024 Qualifiers, 38:26 against Slovakia and 35:22 against Finland, looking excellent in attack, playing at the fast tempo they need to thrive.
However, they needed Sagosen back for the doubleheader against Serbia, which could see them clinch the EHF EURO 2024 berth they covet.
5. Germany
Germany’s form has been up and down in the past years, but the fifth place sealed at the World Championship earlier in January could be seen as a step forward for the development of a successful side for the EHF EURO 2024.
Coach Alfred Gislason has surely earmarked the competition as a crucial one, and every match will be important in the buildup for the tournament, which will surely amp up the interest in handball in Germany.
Consistency is the crucial word for Gislason, and all the players called up for the doubleheader against Denmark in the EHF Euro Cup 2024 have been present at the World Championship.
Juri Knorr (below) continued his superb form, which landed him a spot in the All-star team at Poland/Sweden 2023 as the best young player. Germany look set to be an impressive side again.
4. Sweden
After winning the EHF EURO 2022, Sweden looked to be prime favourites to clinch a medal in the World Championship they hosted, only for a big disappointment in the final weekend of the competition, where they lost the semi-final against France and the bronze medal game against Spain.
They surely missed the MVP of the EHF EURO 2022, Jim Gottfridsson, who was out due to injury, and the centre back will also miss the doubleheader against Spain.
Coach Glenn Solberg shook up the roster for the matches against Spain in the EHF Euro Cup 2024 and will bring eight players who were not present at Poland/Sweden 2023, but stalwarts like Hampus Wanne, Eric Johansson or Tobias Thulin will still be in the team. A big absence will be goalkeeper Andreas Palicka.
3. Spain
Spain’s roster looks like “set and forget” for coach Jordi Ribera (picture below), whose system runs itself, with any player entering it providing some excellent performances.
It is always about the team, not individual performances for Spain, and this is what brought them so much success over the past years, sealing two gold medals and one silver medal in the past three editions of the EHF EURO.
In January, they also added an impressive bronze medal at Poland/Sweden 2023.
For the two EHF EURO Cup 2024 matches against Sweden, Ribera will not have excellent goalkeeper Gonzalo Perez de Vargas at his disposal but will test some new players, ushering in new blood into the squad, with centre back Jan Gurri entering the fray, after some impressive performances at the M20 EHF EURO 2022 last summer, where Spain were champions.
2. France
France are the only team from the first top five picks in this power ranking to play in the EHF EURO 2024 Qualifiers. Still, they have looked excellent in the first two games, winning against Italy and Latvia, creating the second-best goal difference in the competition, +28.
They have also looked excellent, like a well-oiled machine, at the World Championship, clinching the silver medal with impressive performances, despite losing the final against Denmark.
The men in blue will also have some players returning after injuries in the doubleheader against Poland, which they won against in the World Championship opener in Katowice, 26:24. Timothey N’Guessan and Karl Konan will make their return. At the same time, left wing Hugo Descat is set to miss once again due to an injury.
1.Denmark
The Scandinavian powerhouse completed an impressive and unprecedented hat-trick of consecutive wins at the World Championship, creating a superb run of 28 games without losing the competition.
Moreover, Nikolaj Jacobsen (picture below) has swiftly introduced some excellent young talent in the squad over the past years, with Mathias Gidsel and Simon Pytlick taking the plaudits at Poland/Sweden 2023, as the former was named the MVP of the competition, while the latter entered the All-star team as the best left back.
Denmark will now head for the EHF Euro Cup 2024 with a huge morale boost and will have even more young talent at their disposal, with new players set to debut.
However, the only drawback in the doubleheader against the EHF EURO 2024 hosts Germany is the absence of left back Mikkel Hansen, who is taking some time out of handball due to stress symptoms.
