Fight for first place concludes main round in Debrecen

France and Hungary were the first teams to secure their tickets to Vienna on Sunday night, after managing to keep their winning streaks intact. The clash at the top of the standings will decide who finishes first in group I, while other teams will fight for a chance to feature in the 5/6 placement match.

GROUP I

Romania vs Poland
Tuesday 10 December, 15:30 CET, live on EHFTV

• Romania still have a chance of playing the fifth-place match if they can win this game, provided Montenegro lose to Sweden later on
• Poland are eliminated from the placement match after losing their first three main round matches
• 10 years ago in Debrecen, Poland scored their lowest number of EHF EURO goals, 19, in a match against Romania; the latter clinched a 24:19 victory in the main round, but neither side reached the semi-finals
• the game against Poland will be Romania’s 100th match at the EHF EURO on their 15th appearance in the tournament
• Bianca Bazaliu and Lorena Ostase lead the top scorers charts for Romania with 31 successful shots each, while Poland’s best striker is Monika Kobylinska with 28 goals
• Poland’s 12th goal in the game will be their 1,000th at the EHF EURO

Hungary vs France
Tuesday 10 December, 18:00 CET, live on EHFTV

• both sides have already secured their tickets to the semi-finals in Vienna, winning all the games they have had so far
• this duel is a direct battle for first place in the group; Hungary and France sit at the top of the standings with eight points each, and the co-hosts are currently leading due to a better goal difference
• the last match of the main round will be France’s 90th at the EHF EURO; this is their 13th participation in the tournament, but they have only managed to lift the trophy once, in 2018
• the two sides were in the same preliminary group at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, when France took a 31:28 victory against Hungary on their way to the silver medal
• Katrin Klujber (37 goals) and Viktória Gyori-Lukács (29) have netted the most goals for Hungary at the EHF EURO 2024 so far; the two of them are also among the all-time top five scorers for Hungary in the competition — Klujber third (105) and Gyori-Lukács fourth (95)
• Orlane Kanor is expected to return for this match, after missing the game against Sweden following a direct red card disqualification

Sweden vs Montenegro
Tuesday 10 December, 20:30 CET, live on EHFTV

• the EHF EURO 2022 bronze medallists, Montenegro, will miss out on the podium this time, as they are on four points with just one main round victory
• Sweden started the main round with zero points and in the meantime have only grabbed one win — against Poland — placing them just below Montenegro with two points
• their last encounter at an EHF EURO was back in 2020, when Montenegro secured a 31:25 victory over Sweden in the main round; the two also met more recently, at the 2023 IHF Women’s World Championship, and Sweden claimed a 32:25 win
• Jamina Roberts will play her 55th EHF EURO match for her country. The Swedish captain has been crucial for the team at this year’s edition, making 27 assists in the six games played so far
• Djurdjina Jaukovic has been the main asset for Montenegro in attack with 38 goals scored, 17 more than their second-best scorer, Dijana Mugosa (21); the left back received a red card while playing against Poland, due to reaching three two-minute suspensions

Photos © EHF/kolektiff