Germany is back in the European Championship ten years after its last European Championship victory Final of the Handball-EM. After a collectively strong performance in the semi-final against Croatia, national coach Gislason’s team secured their ticket to the final. The defense around goalkeeper Andreas Wolff, who was voted player of the game, was outstanding.
The German national team will play the final against Denmark on Sunday at 6 p.m. ZDF will broadcast the final live on TV.
Finals of the 2026 European Handball Championship
Final in Herning
- February 1st, 2026, 6:00 p.m.: Denmark – Deutschland (ZDF)
Semifinals
- 30.01.2026: Deutschland – Croatia 31:28
- 01/30/2026: Denmark – Iceland 31:28
:Germany celebrates reaching the final
The big goal has been achieved: the German handball players are in the European Championship final after a deserved 31:28 against Croatia. Shortly before the end it gets close again.
Germany at the 2026 European Handball Championship
After a defeat against Serbia, the German team made it into the main round with a win against Spain in the last preliminary round game as the first in the group. There, after two hard-fought victories against Portugal and Norway, the DHB team finally had to deservedly admit defeat to world champion Denmark after being able to keep up well for one half.
In the decisive group game against defending champions France, the national team showed a first-class game and moved into the semi-finals with a 38:34 win. Croatia was the expected tough opponent there. But after the break the DHB team turned up the heat and pulled away to seven goals. Towards the end the Croatians got close again, but the German team extended their lead over time.
:“I almost felt like I was being fooled.”
After days of quarrels and doubts, Juri Knorr returns in the 38:34 against France – and shows one of his best performances in the national jersey. But the next big opponent awaits in the semifinals.
Squad of the German national team
There are 18 national players in the squad for the 2026 European Handball Championship, with the national team led by captain Johannes Golla. Before the start of the European Championship, goalkeeper Andreas Wolff had the most international matches in the squad with 185, followed by Jannik Kohlbacher. Together with left winger Rune Dahmke, these three players are the last in the DHB team to be part of the 2016 European Championship success. Gislason also nominated six players who will become U21 world champions in 2023. The DHB squad at a glance (Stand 19.12.):
- Tor: David Späth (23 years old, Rhein-Neckar Löwen, 44 international matches, 3 goals), Andreas Wolff (34, THW Kiel, 185, 15)
- Left winger: Rune Dahmke (32, THW Kiel, 94, 137), Lukas Mertens (29, SC Magdeburg, 68, 151)
- Backcourt on the left: Marko Grgic (22, SG Flensburg-Handewitt, 29, 88), Tom Kiesler (24, VfL Gummersbach, 2, 0), Julian Köster (25, VfL Gummersbach, 73, 192), Matthes Langhoff (23, Füchse Berlin, 1, 1), Miro Schluroff (25, VfL Gummersbach, 6, 17)
- Back center: Juri Knorr (25, Aalborg Handbold, 81, 311), Nils Lichtlein (23, Füchse Berlin, 29, 32)
- Backcourt on the right: Franz Semper (28, SC DHfK Leipzig, 28, 59), Renars Uscins (23, TSV Hannover-Burgdorf, 43, 172)
- Right winger: Mathis Häseler (23, VfL Gummersbach, 4, 7), Lukas Zerbe (29, THW Kiel, 45, 98)
- Kreis: Justus Fischer (22, TSV Hannover-Burgdorf, 32, 40), Johannes Golla (28, SG Flensburg-Handewitt, 106, 370), Jannik Kohlbacher (30, Rhein-Neckar Löwen, 125, 239)
Venues of the European Handball Championships
The 2026 European Handball Championship will take place in Denmark, Sweden and Norway. For Denmark it is the second European Handball Championship, Sweden and Norway are holding the tournament for the third time. The venues at a glance:
- Herning (Denmark): Jyske Bank Boxes, maximum 15,000 places
- Malmö (Sweden): Malmö Arena, 13,000 seats (for handball)
- Oslo (Norway): Unity Arena, 15,000 seats (for sporting events)
- Kristianstad (Sweden): Kristianstad Arena, 4700 seats
:If he wants to, he’s still the bad Wolff
Before the opening win against Austria, he provoked the opponent, then Andreas Wolff, 34, held up outstandingly. The success of the German handball players at the European Championships will not least depend on the goalkeeper performance.
The European Handball Championship on TV
ARD and ZDF show the German national team’s games alternately live on TV and in the live stream. The public broadcasters will also broadcast 30 additional games in live streams on sportstudio.de and in their media libraries.
The Sport Streaming Service Dyn has secured the rights for the entire European Championship; all European Championship games will be broadcast on the platform.
The European handball champions at a glance
Sweden is the record European champion with five titles, followed by France, who won the European Championship four times. Germany is in fifth place behind Spain and Denmark in the medal table with two wins, two silvers and one bronze.
- 1994: Sweden
- 1996: Russia
- 1998: Sweden
- 2000: Sweden
- 2002: Sweden
- 2004: Deutschland
- 2006: France
- 2008: Denmark
- 2010: France
- 2012: Denmark
- 2014: France
- 2016: Deutschland
- 2018: Spain
- 2020: Spain
- 2022: Sweden
- 2024: France
With material from dpa.
