LIVE BLOG: Trophy seeks new owner at Winamax EHF Finals 2026

EHF / Eric Willemsen

31 May 2026, 12:00

The EHF European League Men 2025/26 season comes to end on Sunday with the crowning of the new champions at the Winamax EHF Finals 2026 at Barclays Arena in Hamburg. THW Kiel and MT Melsungen will battle it out for the title in the final at 18:00 CEST, three hours after Montpellier Handball and SG Flensburg-Handewitt have duelled for the third place.

13:30

We are 90 minutes away from the throw-off of the third place match, which was the big final last year: Montpellier vs Flensburg.

Currently, Flensburg are third in the Bundesliga — above Kiel and Melsungen — but they lost their last two domestic league games, as well as Saturday's semi-final. Still, Flensburg captain Johannes Golla will want to take a some positives from this weekend before leaving the club and returning to... Melsungen next season.

12:58

Not only that beautiful trophy is at stake today, but also a potential starting berth for the EHF Champions League in the 2026/27 season. That applies when Füchse Berlin will not win the TruckScout24 EHF FINAL4 2026 in Cologne in two weeks' time, so then either Kiel or Melsungen will earn that ticket to Europe's top flight. This is according to new regulations explained here.

More than a final. 👀 🇩🇪 THW Kiel vs MT Melsungen 🇩🇪

A #ehffinals trophy 🏆 — and a possible step towards the Machineseeker EHF Champions League. #ehfcl #ehfel #handball pic.twitter.com/eu9U06W1TY
— EHF Champions League (@ehfcl) May 31, 2026

12.24

Before we dive into today's matches, let's have a quick recap of those spectacular semi-finals from yesterday. Here are the highlight videos for you:

12:08

Did I just hear you say: Wow, I don't want to miss a second of today's action?! Well, you don't have to! There are plenty of options to follow the matches live, which we have summarised for you here.

But maybe you even prefer the on-site experience but have not bought your ticket yet? Don't panic, it's not too late. There are still some day tickets left for Sunday and they come with a discount, so if you want to score your seat at Barclays Arena like a buzzer-beater, you can still do so. Find all the relevant ticket sales information here.

See you in Hamburg?!

12:00

Moin! Hello from Hamburg and welcome to the live blog covering the all-decisive closing day of the Winamax EHF Finals 2026!

On 30/31 August 2025, the EHF European League Men 2025/26 started with the first leg of the qualification round. Exactly nine months later, the final curtain comes down on this enthralling season today as we are going to find out who will be our new champions — either THW Kiel or MT Melsungen.

Kiel edged out Montpellier Handball (29:28) and Melsungen downed SG Flensburg-Handewitt (37:30) in Saturday's semi-finals, so let's have a look at what awaits us today in the Sunday preview from EHF journalist Björn Pazen: