This week's preliminary round has whittled the eight-team tournament down to four, and as with all the group A and B matches, the Pallati i Rinise dhe Sportit in Kosovo's capital will host the two semi-finals, which are scheduled as follows:
W17 EHF Championship 2025 semi-finals
Saturday 9 August 2025
16:45 CEST - Finland vs Ukraine
19:00 CEST - Italy vs Bulgaria
Both matches will be broadcast live on EHFTV. Geo-blocking may apply in certain countries and territories.
Finland will be coming into their semi-final full of confidence after they won all three of their matches in group A by an average of over 14 goals. With 124 goals in three matches, they had by far the strongest attack in the preliminary round.
However, their semi-final opponents Ukraine conceded 71 goals across their three group B games, a better defensive record than the Finns, despite losing their opener 26:23 to Italy. Their defence will have to be solid again, but they could be the team to slow Finland's goal threat.
After their three-goal win over Ukraine, Italy were pushed hard by Israel in a 31:30 win before strolling to a huge victory over Great Britain. Already coming away unscathed from some tight matches to keep their perfect record intact could stand them in good stead ahead of their semi-final.
Their last-four opponents Bulgaria may have been beaten by Finland 40:29 in their final preliminary round match, but that was after securing comfortable wins over Kosovo and Latvia to reach the last four with a game to spare. With over 100 goals to their name, Bulgaria could threaten Italy's resolute defence.
All four teams will be in action again on Sunday; the losing duo will contest the bronze medal match, before the winning semi-finalists do battle for the gold medals in the W17 EHF Championship final.
