M18 EHF EURO 2026 main round wraps up; quarter-finals await

While Iceland, Spain, France, Denmark, Slovenia and Hungary qualified for the quarter-finals as the one of the two top-ranked sides in their respective main round groups, Germany and Croatia grabbed the spots for the two best third-ranked teams. 

M18 EHF EURO 2026 quarter-final schedule

Thursday 6 August; live on EHFTV

• Iceland vs Germany 17:00 CEST
• Spain vs France 17:00 CEST
• Denmark vs Croatia 19:30 CEST
• Slovenia vs Hungary 19:30 CEST

Tournament hosts Serbia, Portugal, the Faroe Islands and Poland are the four latest to farewell the title race, being knocked out in the main round — and the Faroe Islands take one of the competition’s top scorers with them: Boas Ellefsen á Skipagøtu. A name familiar to avid handball fans, as the younger brother of the Faroe Islands A national team star Elias Ellefsen á Skipagøtu. 

Boas Ellefsen á Skipagøtu will still have the chance to add to his tally, where he sits on 56 goals joint in first with Israel’s Yonathan Pelach, as the Faroe Islands join the cross matches phase, which will determine positions nine to 24 on the final ranking. 

Quarter-finals

Iceland vs Germany

Thursday 6 August, 17:00 CEST, live on EHFTV

• Iceland are one of three teams in the quarter-finals with a perfect record of wins behind them; in the main round, they added victories over Croatia (37:29) and Portugal (41:29) to their record and topped group II
• Germany reached the quarter-finals thanks to their performance in the preliminary round, as they lost both main round matches and did not add any points to their account in that stage
• both Germany’s main round defeats were as narrow as it gets: First they lost to Slovenia 30:28, then to France 29:28
• it was a preliminary round draw with M18 EHF EURO 2026 hosts Serbia that took Germany through to the knockout stage, as the point carried over into the main round
• Iceland centre back Freyr Aronsson is among the leading scorers at the M18 EURO, with 37 goals, while Germany are led by Vincent Faciejew on 29

Spain vs France 

Thursday 6 August, 17:00 CEST, live on EHFTV

• France won both their main round games, beating home side Serbia 27:22 and Germany 29:28, to rank second in group I
• France’s one defeat in the tournament so far came against Slovenia on the last day of the preliminary round
• after winning all three preliminary round games, Spain had their first taste of defeat on the first main round day, losing to Denmark 32:30; they recovered and took a victory with the same score against Poland on the second
• in right wing Adrian Sola, who counts 41 goals, Spain have the fifth top scorer of the competition
• France back Isaac Saillard leads his team with 27 goals

Denmark vs Croatia 

Thursday 6 August, 19:30 CEST, live on EHFTV

• Denmark have won all five games played in Belgrade; in the main round, they added victories over Spain, 32:30, and the Faroe Islands, 32:27, to their record
• Croatia were the only preliminary round group winners to lose a match, but as that defeat was to Czechia, who did not progress, they brought a crucial two points in the main round thanks to an earlier win over Portugal
• those two points were what ultimately took Croatia to the quarter-finals, as they were defeated in both main round matches — 37:29 to Iceland and 37:32 to Hungary — but booked a place in the knockout round as one of the best third-ranked teams
• Denmark centre back Emil Bak is the leading scorer still in the title race, with 42 goals; Bak was MVP of the EHF Youth Club Trophy Men held in early June, where he scored 23 goals in two game
• Denmark’s previous generation finished as runners-up at the M18 EHF EURO 2024, behind Sweden, who were eliminated from the 2026 edition in the preliminary round

Slovenia vs Hungary

Thursday 6 August, 19:30 CEST, live on EHFTV

• Slovenia bring a perfect record into the quarter-finals, having added another two victories in the main round — 30:28 versus Germany and 29:24 versus Serbia — following their three in the preliminary round
• while Slovenia topped their preliminary and main round groups, Hungary placed second in both of theirs
• in the main round, Hungary took two clear wins, first beating Portugal 45:35 then Croatia 37:32
• right back Jaka Podvrsic is Slovenia’s top scorer, with 37 goals, sitting joint-sixth overall, while back Zalán Juhász-Tóth is Hungary’s leader, on 28
• while all eight quarter-final nations have played the M18 EHF EURO semi-finals before, Slovenia are the sole team ultimately aiming for a debut in the final — but first, the quarter-finals await

Photos © Dusan Sandic; Dusan Milenkovic; Nikola Cimburovic