Crunch matches to offer answers in Cologne

The LANXESS arena in Cologne will surely be sold out also for the next two matches, between Hungary and Croatia and another crucial tie where hosts Germany face Austria, in a must-win match for Alfred Gislason’s side.

GROUP I

France vs Iceland
Saturday 20 January, 15:30 CET, live on EHFTV

• France have the second-best attack after four rounds at the EHF EURO 2024, with 132 goals, while no team in the main round scored less than Iceland’s 106 goals
• while the French are first in the group standings, with four points, Iceland are last, with zero points, and another loss here would see them virtually out of contention for a semi-finals berth
• French left back Nikola Karabatic became the all-time top scorer of the Men’s EHF EURO with a career total of 289 goals in the previous win against Croatia and needs only 11 goals to hit the 300-goal milestone
• with a four-match unbeaten streak, this is France’s best start at the EHF EURO since 2018, when they ended up with bronze
• the two have met five times at the EHF EURO. France have won twp games, two ended in a draw, but Iceland won the last encounter in the main round in 2022, 29:21

Hungary vs Croatia
Saturday 20 January, 18:00 CET, live on EHFTV

• Hungary and Croatia are both coming off their first loss at the EHF EURO 2024 and the space for error is slim, as Hungary have two points and Croatia only one point
• only Denmark (139) and France (132) have scored more goals than Croatia, who have a fantastic shooting efficiency at the EHF EURO 2024, 72.6 per cent
• due to illness, centre back Domagoj Duvnjak missed the match against France, but Croatia hope he will be ready for the clash against Hungary
• one of Croatia’s problems have been the goalkeeping position, where shot stoppers have saved only 26.9 per cent of the shots they faced, with their 41 saves placing Croatia 11th in this department
• Croatia have won 13 of the 19 mutual matches, but the head-to-head record at the EHF EURO is even, with one win for each team and one draw in three previous encounters - the most recent in 2012

Germany vs Austria
Saturday 20 January, 20:30 CET, live on EHFTV

• Austria are currently on their longest unbeaten run at the EHF EURO, four matches, with two wins and two draws, holding the second place in the group standings
• this will be Austria’s 30th EHF EURO match and a win would be their 10th in the European championship
• the two sides have the goalkeepers with the largest number of saves after four matches, with Germany’s Andreas Wolff leading the standings with 43 saves, while Austria’s Constantin Möstl is joint second, with 42 saves
• German centre back, Juri Knorr, is the top scorer of the competition after four matches, with 30 goals, while Austrian left back, Nikola Bilyk, ranks joint fifth, with 26 goals
• Austria have never beaten Germany in a competitive match, drawing once and losing nine times, including at the EHF EURO 2020 (22:34) and the EHF EURO 2022 (29:34)
• the game will have live audio description for blind and visually impaired fans

Photo © Kolektiff Images