Summary: Arrivals day for the Raiffeisen Bank EHF FINAL4

• the Raiffeisen Bank EHF FINAL4 takes place at the MVM Dome in Budapest on Saturday and Sunday 6 and 7 June
• Thursday is arrivals day for the three finalist teams; Metz Handball arrived to Budapest on Wednesday afternoon 
• read the semi-finals preview
• find out where to watch the final weekend

THURSDAY 4 JUNE

18:00

That's all from us today. Tomorrow we'll bring you the best of the quotes from the media calls, plus plenty more build-up from Budapest ahead of the first day of action on Saturday. Join the blog again at 12:00 CEST!

Györ are just arriving at the hotel, with their fans singing them in.

17:50

Can anyone catch Henny Reistad in the top scorer standings this weekend? The Norwegian scored 131 goals through to the quarter-finals, when Team Esbjerg were knocked out. That puts her 26 goals ahead of Sarah Bouktit (Metz) and 27 ahead of Anna Vyakhireva (Brest) in the standings. It would be quite something if either of them were able to catch her.

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17:15

The Györ fans are gathering at the hotel right now, ready to welcome their team to Budapest once again. But yesterday they also gathered in Györ, surprising the team as they had a pizza party ahead of travelling for the final weekend. The video shows lots of mutual respect between players and fans, and even if you don't understand Hungarian, it's heart-warming to watch! 

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16:50

Fancy winning yourself a jersey from one of the four teams competing in Budapest this weekend? Join our giveaway on Instagram. It's very easy: follow @ehfcl, like the post below and tag two friends, and of course tell us which jersey you want!

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16:15 

Looking at the Raiffeisen Bank EHF FINAL4 and the EHF Youth Club Trophy Women, five out of eight head coaches are female. Raphaelle Tervel (Brest Bretagne Handball), Bojana Popovic (CSM Bucuresti), Krisztina Pigniczki (Györi ETO KC), Blanka Marian (DVSC Kézilabda Akadémia) and Judit Grandpierre (FTC) will be leading their teams towards success in Budapest and, next to it, paving the way for other female coaches in the game. 

15:55

Apart from senior teams competing for the glory, the inaugural EHF Youth Club Trophy Women will also take place this weekend in Budapest. Three Hungarian teams, Györi ETO KC, FTC and DVSC Kézilabda Akadémia, and CSM Bucuresti have booked their ticket for the event. The finalists will enjoy all the glory of the MVM Dome, as the gold medal match will be played just ahead of the EHF Champions League Women 3/4 placement match, but the semi-finals and 3/4 placement match will be played in a sold-out 900-seater BUD Arena. Read the preview below!

15:30 

One of the names which will attract the attention of handball fans across the globe this weekend is Anna Vyakhireva. Brest's star won the trophy in 2023 with Vipers Kristiansand and was named the MVP of the EHF FINAL4 in the same year. One year later, she became the competition's top scorer with 113 goals. How much more do you know about Anna? Test your knowledge! 

15:05

Sunday will be an emotional day for three players who will retire from an active handball career: Györ's Anna Lagerquist and Nathalie Hagman, as well as Brest's Ana Gros. Slovenian right back is also one of only five players in EHF Champions League 'Club 1,000', scoring 1,005 goals so far. 

14:42

Apart from Györ's records, another milestone is possible this weekend in the MVM Dome. CSM's head coach, Bojana Popovic, can become the first female to win the trophy as a player and as a coach. If she lifts the trophy with the Romanian club, it would be her seventh, after winning six with three different clubs as a player. Three with Slagelse (2003, 2005, 2007), two with Viborg (2008, 2009) and one with Buducnost (2012).

This week, we released the latest episode of the 'Handball Mastermind' series featuring Popovic, again the first female coach to be filmed for the series. You can hear all about her coaching philosophy on the link below! 

14:30

Hungarian powerhouse Györ holds the record for most appearances, but also for most trophies won — seven (2013, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2024, 2025). Many consider them clear favourites, so we asked our journalist Julian Rux to dive deep into the numbers and tell us what the probabilities for each team to win the shiny silverware are! Read the latest 'Stats Counter' on the link below. 

14:17

The excitement is building up as CSM Bucuresti, Brest Bretagne Handball and Györi Audi ETO KC are expected to arrive to Margaret Island in Budapest later in the afternoon. There are no debutants and the four teams together have 22 appearances at the EHF FINAL4. Here's how the stats look like! 

14:00

Welcome to Budapest and the Raiffeisen Bank EHF FINAL4 2026!

Metz Handball is in the house, while the remaining three final teams are arriving today ahead of the matches on Saturday and Sunday, and the live blog is here to start the build-up to the action at the weekend. We'll also be bringing you previews of the inaugural EHF Youth Club Trophy Women, featuring four of the continent's best under-17 women's teams who will play on the same court as the seniors for their own title. 

Check back here throughout the afternoon for some of the features we've been running, photos of the arrivals, and more. 

To start things off, get ready for the weekend with the preview episode of 'The Spin' podcast!