Boosted by their fans, the new Norwegian generation delivered right from the throw-off. With Patrick Anderson and Tobias Grøndahl on the back court, Norway pushed every ball they could to take an eight-goal advantage at the break.
The second half was even more one-sided, as Norway’s advantage crossed the 10-goal mark two minutes after the restart. As goals kept on coming, it became clear that Sander Sagosen and his teammates were about to take their biggest ever win at the EHF EURO, inflicting Ukraine their biggest defeat in the competition along the way.
GROUP C
H2H: 6-0-1
Top scorers: Patrick Anderson 7/8, Alexandre Blonz 7/8 (both Norway), Ihor Turchenko 5/8 (Ukraine)
Goalkeeper saves: Robin Haug 3/11, Torbjørn Bergerud 9/23 (both Norway), Anton Terekhov 1/13, Gennadiy Komok 7/34 (both Ukraine)
POTM presented by Grundfos: Patrick Anderson (Norway)
- while both teams remained neck-and-neck for about 10 minutes, Norway put their foot on the gas to take a four-goal advantage in the 14th minute, when Tobias Grøndahl scored his third personal goal
- it was really Kevin Gulliksen, though, who was in the spotlight for the team in red in the first half, as he scored six goals to put them ahead by eight at the break
- Sander Sagosen's third goal, in the 26th minute, marked his 200th at the EHF EURO
- the goal of the game, though, was certainly Ihor Turchenko’s direct nine-metre shot at the buzzer that marked the end of the first half
- Ukraine’s offensive difficulties did not get any better in the second half, allowing Norway to increase their gap to a maximum of 18 goals at various points
- this victory is Norway’s biggest ever at the EHF EURO; the previous record was 11 goals
- Ukraine also recorded their biggest defeat at the EHF EURO today; the previous record of 14 goals dated back to 2006 in the 22:36 loss against Germany
Norway’s new generation make an impression
There might be a lot of new faces compared to when Norway last played an EHF EURO in front of their fans, back in 2020. Patrick Anderson, Kevin Gulliksen and Tobias Grøndahl were all in the stands or in front of the TV back then. But judging from tonight’s game, it seems like the names change, but the talent remains in the team. Patrick Anderson, elected as Player of the Match, presented by Grundfos, scored seven times, while Gulliksen added another six goals.
While all the players insisted before the start of the competition that they would take it game after game, you cannot help but think that this Norwegian squad already has potential to upset some of the favourites at the Men's EHF EURO 2026.
It was really satisfying because the players enjoyed the moment. They came into the match with a great attitude. It seemed like they enjoyed playing, and I think that was the most important thing, to be able to win today, to win comfortably. It was a good performance by the team.
We focused on their key players. We know that Norway’s a very fast team and they had fast breaks, but we had too many lost balls and didn’t manage to keep them.
