2024 European Men's Handball Championship

The 2024 EHF European Men's Handball Championship was the 16th edition of the tournament and the third to feature 24 national teams. It was hosted in Germany from 10 to 28 January 2024.

The two opening games of the tournament were attended by 53,586 spectators, setting a world record for the largest audience at a handball event. Additionally, the tournament achieved a record for the highest total number of spectators in handball history, becoming the first to exceed one million attendees.

France won their fourth title after a win over Denmark, while Sweden captured the bronze medal over Germany.

Bid process

Bids

On 4 May 2017, it was announced that the following countries had sent in an official expression of interest:
* , &
* &
*
* North Macedonia (potentially with )
*

However, when the deadline for submitting the final bids expired, the following applications had been received:
* &
* & (withdrew after receiving the 2022 hosting rights)
*

Host selection

On 20 June 2018 at the 14th ordinary EHF Congress held in Glasgow, Germany was selected to host the competition.

Venues

On 10 June 2021, the host cities were announced where the championship will be played in six cities. The opening game will be held in Merkur Spiel-Arena in Düsseldorf and is aiming to break the world record for the largest attendance at an indoor handball game and the final will be held in Lanxess Arena in Cologne. On 14 September 2022, it was announced that the classic venue Olympiahalle in Munich (previously hosted Handball at the 1972 Summer Olympics main round and medal games and also the group stage games in the 2019 World Men's Handball Championship) would replace the delay-ridden SAP Garden. Due to material and labour shortages, the venue would not be completed in time for the tournament in January 2024, therefore being dropped by the organisers. Both Olympiahalle and the future SAP Garden are located close to each other in the Olympiapark.

Qualification

The qualification for the final tournament has taken place between November 2021 and April 2023. Germany as the host team, and the three best placed not already qualified teams from the previous championship, were automatically qualified, leaving a total of 36 national teams to compete for the remaining 20 places in the final tournament.

The competition consists of two rounds: a relegation round and qualifiers. In the relegation round, the three best placed teams from the 2021 Men's IHF/EHF Trophy joined by Luxembourg as best ranked team according EHF which haven't participated in the second round of the previous qualifiers, faced the four worst ranked fourth-placed teams from the second round of the 2022 qualification. The four winners of the two-legged relegation round matches advance to the qualifiers, joining the remaining twenty teams that participated in the 2022 championship and the remaining eight teams that were eliminated in the second round of the 2022 qualification. Those 32 teams will be divided into eight groups by four teams, with top two teams and four best ranked third-teams qualifying.

Qualified teams

Marketing

The official logo and slogan was unveiled on 6 January 2022. The basis for the logo design is the place where everything is decided in handball and where emotions arise: the lines of the court. Those were transformed into the compact shape of a ball that conveys the dynamics of the sport. The logo was designed by and in collaboration with Berlin-based agency Styleheads. The heart of the communication is the claim "HERE TO PLAY!" This is activated in several variants in order to convey the different facets of the Men's EHF EURO 2024 and the individual locations. The following variations of the claim were used:

*HERE TO PLAY
*HERE TO DREAM
*HERE TO BE LOUD
*HERE TO CELEBRATE
*HERE TO RELAX
*HERE TO CONNECT
*HERE TO ENJOY
*HERE TO WATCH
*HERE TO EXPLORE.

Draw

The draw took place on 10 May 2023 in Düsseldorf, Germany.

Seeding

The seedings were announced on 1 May 2023.

Referees

The 18 referee pairs were selected on 25 September 2023.

Squads

Each team consists of up to 20 players, of whom 16 may be fielded for each match.

Tiebreakers

In the preliminary and main rounds, if two or more teams are equal on points, their ranking is determined as follows:

;During the round matches:
# Superior goal difference from all group matches;
# Higher number of goals scored in all group matches;
# Alphabetical order.
;After completion of the round matches:
# Higher number of points obtained in the group matches played between the teams in question;
# Superior goal difference from the group matches played between the teams in question;
# Higher number of goals scored in the group matches played between the teams in question;
# Superior goal difference from all group matches;
# Higher number of goals scored in all group matches.

If the ranking of one of the teams in question is determined, the criteria are consecutively reapplied to the remaining teams until all the rankings are determined. If this procedure does not lead to a decision, the Fair Play Ranking decides about the final group ranking. The Fair Play Ranking is decided by the EHF in accordance with the parameters rated as follows:
*Yellow cards: 1 point
*Two-minute suspensions: 2 points
*Red cards: 8 points
In case the number of points in the Fair Play Ranking are identical, a draw is carried out by the EHF in the presence of at least one official from each of the concerned teams.

Preliminary round

The schedule was released on 1 March 2023.

''All times are local (UTC+1).''

Group A

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Group B

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Group C

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Group D

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Group E

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Group F

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Main round

Points and goals gained in the preliminary group against teams that advance were transferred to the main round.

Group I

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Group II

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Knockout stage

Bracket

Fifth place game

Semifinals

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Third place game

Final

Ranking and statistics

Final ranking

The teams ranked fourth in each group after the completion of the preliminary round matches will be ranked 19 to 24, while teams ranked third in each group after the completion of the preliminary round matches will be ranked 13 to 18 according to the number of points won in the preliminary round. Places seven or eight will be attributed to the two teams ranked fourth in the main round groups, places nine and ten to the two teams ranked fifth in the main round groups, places eleven and twelve to the two teams ranked sixth in the main round groups according to the number of points won by the respective teams after completion of the main round matches. Places one to six will be decided by play–off or knock–out.

All Star Team

The all-star team was announced on 28 January 2024.

Statistics

Top goalscorers

Top goalkeepers

Fair play ranking

Notes

References

External links

EHF Euro 2024 at eurohandball.com

{{Portal bar, Germany, Sports

European Men's Handball Championship
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