On Sunday afternoon against Slovakia, Hungary did not have any problems securing their fifth victory in the Women's EHF EURO 2022 qualifiers.
As the EHF EURO 2000 champions hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over Spain, they are confirmed as winners of group 5, regardless of Spain's result later on Sunday evening against Portugal. The 25:19 win was Hungary's 44th victory in 54 EHF EURO qualification matches.
GROUP 5
Hungary vs Slovakia 25:19 (16:9)
- Hungary had already qualified for the EHF EURO 2022 after their 30:18 victory at Portugal on Thursday. On Sunday, they took the top position and will be seeded in pot 2 at the draw next Thursday
- the change of coaches to Spaniard Jorge Duenas did not have the effect Slovakia had hoped for. Under Duenas, Slovakia lost all four qualifiers
- this was Hungary’s second consecutive win in this group against Slovakia, who have only been part of the Women's EHF EURO twice (1994 and 2014)
- pulling ahead easily from 4:4 to 11:6 was the initial key for the hosts. At the break, the gap was already a decisive seven goals. In the end, 12 different players were on the scoreboard for Hungary
- Hungary's margin did not fall below five goals in the second half, but it was mostly seven or eight
- one key for Hungary was the outstanding performance of goalkeeper Melinda Szikora, who made 14 saves at a 48 per cent rate
Hungary extend their record series
Since 1994, 14 Women's EHF EURO final tournaments have been played – and Hungary have been part of all of them. In November, this will include the 15th edition.
Hungary had been the first non-Scandinavian team to become Women's EHF EURO champions in 2000, after all gold medals were previously won either by Denmark or Norway. Besides, only Montenegro (2012) and France (2018) have been European champions. After finishing 10th at the EHF EURO 2020, Hungary will be seeded in pot 2, alongside Montenegro.
