The 2022 European Men's Handball Championship qualification was a

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of thr ...

competition organized by the

European Handball Federation The European Handball Federation (EHF) is the umbrella organisation for European handball. Founded on 17 November 1991, it is made of 50 member federations and two associated federations (England and Scotland), and is headquartered in Vienna, Au ...

(EHF) to determine 20 of the 24 men's national teams competing in the

2022 European Men's Handball Championship The 2022 European Handball Federation, EHF European Men's Handball Championship was the 15th edition of the tournament and the second to feature 24 national teams. It was co-hosted in two countries – Hungary and Slovakia – from 13 to 30 Janua ...

final tournament. They joined the other four teams already qualified:

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

and

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

, as final tournament co-hosts, and

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

and

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

, who finished in the top two positions in the previous championship. Those four played in the

EHF Euro Cup EHF Euro Cup is a European handball competition for national teams, organized by the European Handball Federation (EHF). Teams, that already automatically qualified for the next European Men's Handball Championship, play against each other in a ...

. This qualification competition was being disputed by a total of 40 national teams in three phases between January 2019 and May 2021.

Qualification system

The campaign was split into two distinct qualification phases and a relegation round. Qualification phase 1 comprises teams which didn't participate at the 2020 EHF Euro qualification Phase 2. The two best teams advanced to the relegation round. In the relegation round, the two teams that advanced from phase 1 were joined by the highest ranked European team at the 2019 IHF Emerging Nations Championship and they faced the three lowest ranked fourth-placed teams from the 2020 EHF Euro qualification. Three winners of those elimination matches advanced to the qualification phase 2. Qualification phase 2 comprised three winners from the relegation round along with 29 teams which participated at either the 2020 EHF Euro or the qualification phase 2.

Qualification Phase 1

Seeding

The draw for the qualification round 1 was held on 28 September 2018 in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

. This qualification was played in a tournament format, with the teams able to choose whether they wanted to play on 4 to 6 January or 11 to 13 January 2019.

Groups

Group A

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Group B

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IHF Emerging Nations Championship

Unlike previous editions, single participation at this tournament was not possible. Only teams participating at the qualification phase 1 and failing to advance, earned a right to play. The best ranked European team qualified for the relegation round. *Note: Ranking of exclusively European teams is displayed.

Relegation from the previous qualification cycle

The three lowest ranked among fourth-placed teams in the 2020 European Men's Handball Championship qualification, apart from Slovakia as co-host nation, played in the

relegation round Promotion and relegation is used by sports leagues as a process where teams can move up and down among divisions in a league system, based on their performance over a season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are sometimes call ...

. The other four teams entered qualification phase 2.

Relegation round

Seeding

The draw for EHF EURO 2022 Relegation Round took place at the EHF Office on 23 July 2019. Three lowest ranked sides from EHF EURO 2020 Qualification Phase 2 were seeded teams while qualification phase 1 participants were unseeded teams.

Overview

The first legs were played on 15 and 16 January and the second legs on 19 January 2020.

Matches

''Finland won 61–45 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Estonia won 69–53 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Belgium won 55–23 on aggregate.''

Qualification Phase 2

In this round, pre-qualified teams from the EHF EURO 2020 qualification and final tournaments joined the three winners from the relegation round. The 32 teams were split into eight groups of four, with the winners and runners-up qualifying for the final tournament, together with the four best third-placed teams. The draw was initially scheduled to take place at the EHF Executive Committee meeting in

Bratislava Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...

on 23 April 2020. On 13 March 2020, the EHF announced that the draw would be postponed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

across Europe, with the new date set for 16 June 2020.

Seeding

On 2 June 2020, the EHF revealed the seeding pots and the draw procedure. The 32 teams qualified for this stage were seeded in four pots, according to the EHF men's national team ranking. The draw allocated successively the eight teams from Pot 3, followed by the eight teams from Pot 2, Pot 1 and finally Pot 4. For political reasons,

Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

(Pot 4) was drawn to a group not containing

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

(Pot 2). ''All times are local.''

Group 1

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Group 2

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Group 3

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Group 4

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Group 5

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Group 6

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Group 7

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Group 8

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Ranking of third-placed teams

The four highest ranked third-placed teams from the groups directly qualified for the tournament. Matches against the fourth-placed teams in each group were discarded.

Ranking of fourth-placed teams

The four lowest ranked fourth-placed teams from the groups will play the

Relegation round Promotion and relegation is used by sports leagues as a process where teams can move up and down among divisions in a league system, based on their performance over a season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are sometimes call ...

of the

EURO 2024 The 2024 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2024 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2024) or simply Euro 2024, was the 17th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international football championship organised by U ...

qualification. Other teams will enter Qualifiers.

EHF Euro Cup

The

was played between the 2022 co-hosts,

and

plus the top 2 from the 2020 Handball Euro, champions,

and second place,

. The winner was

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Notes

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:2022 European Men's Handball Championship Qualification

Qualification Qualification may refer to: Processes * Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS), a competitive contract procurement process established by the United States Congress * Process qualification, ensures that manufacturing and production processes can ...

European Men's Championship qualification European Men's Championship qualification European Men's Championship qualification European Men's Handball Championship qualification, 2022 European Men's Handball Championship qualification