World runners-up Croatia among headliners as Qualifiers return
The race for the Men’s EHF EURO 2026 is set to reach its midway point this week, as rounds 3 and 4 of the qualifiers take place from Wednesday to Sunday — round 3 on Wednesday and Thursday, then round 4 on Saturday and Sunday. 32 teams are in the still-open contest for 20 places at the final tournament in Denmark, Norway and Sweden, but by the final whistle on Sunday night, the first to qualify may be known.
Eight matches will open round 3 of the qualifiers on Wednesday. The week will see a series of double-headers, with all teams facing the same opponents twice.
The Macedonians are driven by their performance at the recent World Championship, which they played well for their circumstances. It should not be forgotten that our rivals need points, as they suffered a setback in Lithuania and will do everything they can to earn at least a point against us. On the other hand, we want four points and thus to secure first place, which would give us a better starting point in the draw.
It’s going to be a real Baltic battle. We should definitely aim to win both games. The important thing is that we continue the same kind of fight we showed against Slovenia. After the last match, we have already gained new fans in the arena, and hopefully, we will be able to keep introducing people to how beautiful the sport of handball is.
We believe in ourselves, especially in front of our home crowd. We will certainly have a better chance in this first game, and I hope that with a potential victory, we will be one step closer to the EHF EURO 2026. I hope to adapt to the system as soon as possible and contribute to the team. It means a lot for my confidence, and I will try to carry my good form into the national team jersey.
During this EURO qualification campaign, Montenegro seem to be our toughest opponents and it is always hard to play in Podgorica. We have to have full focus on the game. Didier Dinart overtook the bench of the Montenegrin team last October, and I’m sure that he prepares him team at its best. We have to concentrate on ourselves, because our main goal is to qualify for the EHF EURO 2026, collecting more and more points this week.
Most of the guys are familiar with this environment, have been through the qualifiers before, know that time is short and you have to work hard. The guys know what they are getting into and what it takes to win games.
It is a great feeling to be here again, in the Croatian jersey. I cannot wait for the new matches to come, for the new moments. We want to win both matches and secure a better draw position. For sure, Czechia are a strong team and it will not be an easy task to win. I am sure if we will be on our level, the victory must be achieved.
We respect the Croatians, but we are definitely not afraid of them. Anything can happen on the pitch. We have to show the most concentrated and combative performance, then I believe we can succeed even against such a quality opponent as Croatia undoubtedly is. We are looking for a full arena and a 'red hell' concept.
Against our opponents this evening, I believe we have a strong chance of achieving a good result. Playing in our home hall, with the support of our fans, will be a significant advantage. Belgium has many experienced players competing in top leagues. They play a very fast-paced handball, but we will give our best performance to come out as the winners. To succeed, we must be highly disciplined and consistent. Our defense needs to be compact and well-organised. Belgium is a strong team, but they are not yet among the top nations, which gives us a real opportunity to pull off an upset.
The arena was sold out in a few minutes and that explains very well the enthusiasm and handball culture in the Faroe Islands. We have followed the performances of the Netherlands closely, and we are aware that we will face a very tough opponent, which has qualities at a high international level.
I'm really looking forward to this week, it's always nice to come together and see where we stand after the World Championship. It will be difficult but attractive matches because the Faroe Islands are a very talented team with many good players and will have a lot of support from their own fans in both matches.
We expect a hard game because Switzerland are a really good team, they played the main round at the last World Championship, they competed with the best teams in the world. Our aim is to compete with them in the best way and to show good handball in this game.
Obviously we didn’t get the result we wanted at the World Championships and we look forward to this game where we can continue to work on the things we need to improve. We want to perform here and at the same time we have to look forward to the coming years, so it will be interesting to see some new players in action.
We hope to put on a great show for the fans who will come to support us. But beyond the spectacle, this is an important match after the World Championship. We are facing the reigning world and Olympic champions. In this EHF EURO Cup, we are also the two unbeaten teams, so it promises to be a high-level confrontation.
The matches come so soon after the World Championship that we are not going to revolutionise our way of playing. But we can repeat many of the things we've worked on during the World Championship. And then it will be a cozy week where we should also be allowed to pat each other on the back and be proud of what we have just achieved.
