Quarter-finals await at W17 EHF EURO 2025

Switzerland, Hungary, France and Croatia all made it through the preliminary round with perfect records, but only Switzerland managed to extend their run into the main round. They took wins over Hungary and Slovenia to finish first in group H and reach the W17 EHF EURO quarter-finals for the first time ever.

Despite a 39:30 loss to Switzerland, Hungary booked a place in the quarter-finals thanks to a 30:28 win over the Netherlands, after already beating Slovenia in the preliminary round.

Main round group I saw France record two losses in two matches, after they entered the stage on the back of an unblemished preliminary round. A 27:25 defeat at the hands of Croatia followed by a 26:26 draw versus Poland was enough to push France into third position on the group I table — but they snuck into the quarter-finals as one of the best third-ranked teams.

Montenegro took wins over Poland, 30:27, and Croatia, 31:20, to rank on top of the group. Croatia’s result against France coupled with the points they carried from the preliminary round were enough to secure them the group’s second quarter-final ticket.

Main round group G was comprised of four teams who entered the phase with the exact same record: two wins and one draw apiece. Those sides were Spain and Denmark, coming from preliminary group A, and Slovakia and Germany from group B. The four sides had beaten the other teams in their respective groups and drawn against each other, which meant they all started the main round with one point.

In the main round, yet another draw was recorded, as Denmark and Germany played a 28:28 result in the first round, while Slovakia beat Spain 25:22. On the second and final main round day, Spain defeated Germany 27:26 and Denmark beat Slovakia 22:21, making for a nail-biting decision in the quarter-final race.

Denmark placed first on the table of the extremely tight group, Slovakia were second ahead of Spain — though on the same number of points — and Germany finished fourth. Spain’s results were enough to take them through to the quarter-finals, alongside Denmark and Spain, as one of the best third-ranked teams.

In the quarter-finals on Thursday, Montenegro will meet France, Denmark will play Slovakia, Switzerland will take on Spain and Croatia will face Hungary.

The W17 EHF EURO 2025 is taking place in Podgorica, after the Montenegrin capital hosted the W19 EHF EURO 2025 in July. The semi-finals will be played on Friday and the finals on Sunday.

While the medal race continues, the teams knocked out of the title contest in the main round and those eliminated in the preliminary round, who went on to the intermediate round, will play a series of cross matches to determine the final ranking all way down to 24^th position.

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