Mercato Time now offers you a live broadcast of the match between Germany and Croatia, as part of today’s matches, Friday, January 30, 2026, in the European Handball Championship.
The Jeske Bank Boxen indoor hall in the Danish city of Herning received the first match of the semi-final of the European Handball Championship 2026, between Germany and Croatia, starting at 19:45 Mecca time, 16:45 GMT.
The winner from Germany and Croatia qualifies for the final match to face the winner from the second match for the semi-finals, which will bring together the home team, Denmark, and its counterpart, the Icelandic team.
The German handball team waited until the last round in the main round to secure its qualification to the semi-finals after its strong and well-deserved victory over the defending champion, France, with a score of (38-34).
This was the first victory for the German team over France in the European Championship since 1998 and the second in the history of their confrontations in the tournament.
The Germans gradually regained their strength after a difficult start with a loss to Serbia in the preliminary round, which almost eliminated them from the tournament. They faced Croatia as favorites to win due to the distinguished performance they showed in the main round.
On the other hand, the Croatia national team, led by its new coach Dagur Sigurdsson, qualified for the semi-finals after turning the tables on Hungary by winning (27-25), in a dramatic confrontation in the last round of the main round of Group Two.
The Croatian team, which won the silver medal in the World Championship last year, showed a combination of experience and determination, with new energy that pushed them to transform in the second half.
This victory, the first over Hungary in the European Championship in 30 years, represented a great morale boost before the upcoming confrontation against Germany, and confirmed Croatia’s determination to secure a semi-final ticket for the tenth time in the history of its participation, even though it had not achieved the title before.
History of confrontations between Germany and Croatia
Before the start of the current European Championship, the two teams met in two friendly matches, with Germany winning in Zagreb 32-29 and in Hannover 33-27. As for official competitions, Croatia and Germany played 13 matches in the Olympic Games, World Championships and European Championships. Croatia won 9 matches, lost 3, and tied once.
Their most recent official meeting was in the 2024 European Championship, where Croatia prevailed 30-24. In the Olympic Games, the two teams met once in the final of Athens 2004, and Croatia won 26-24. These statistics show Croatia’s historical superiority in official matches, despite Germany’s superiority in recent friendly confrontations.
