EHF Euro 2022 Qualification: Teams, Groups, Schedule, players, and everything else you need
Qualifiers for EHF Euro 2022 will take place from 5 November 2020 to 2 May 2021, here's all you need:
The next men's European Handball Championships - EHF Euro 2022 - will take place in dual hosts Hungary and Slovakia from 13 to 30 January 2022.
24 teams will battle it out to be hailed 'Kings of Europe' and four have already qualified for the finals: defending champions Spain and runners-up from Euro 2020 Croatia, along with co-hosts Hungary and Slovakia.
Qualification for the 15th edition of the Euros begins on November 5, 2020 with 32 teams vying for the remaining 20 places at the toughest continental handball tournament on the planet.
EHF Euro 2022 Qualifying Groups
EHF Euro 2022 Qualifying Groups
What are the qualification groups for Euro 2022?
Here are the 8 groups from which 20 teams will qualify:
Group 1: France, Serbia, Belgium, Greece.
Group 2: Germany, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Estonia.
Group 3: Czech Republic, Russia, Ukraine, Faroe Islands.
Group 4: Iceland, Portugal, Lithuania, Israel.
Group 5: Slovenia, Netherlands, Poland, Turkey.
Group 6: Norway, Belarus, Latvia, Italy.
Group 7: Denmark, North Macedonia, Switzerland, Finland.
Group 8: Sweden, Montenegro, Romania, Kosovo.
How do teams qualify for Euro 2022?
The winners and runners-up of all eight groups qualify automatically for the finals with the four best third-placed teams also qualifying.
So how are 'the best' four third-placed teams decided?
Once the qualifiers are completed, an overall ranking of the eight third-placed teams will be established.This ranking will only weigh up the results of the four matches against the two teams that finished first and second in the group; the results of the two matches against the team that finished last in that group will not be considered.Olympic Handball Qualification
The winner of the Euro 2022 handball tournament will qualify automatically for the Paris 2024 Olympics.
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Euro 2022 Qualifiers Schedule
The first round of the Men’s EHF EURO 2022 qualifiers will be played in the first week of November 2020. This is the basic match schedule:
Round 1: Wednesday 4 - Thursday 5 November 2020*
Round 2: Saturday 7 - Sunday 8 November 2020*
Round 3: Wednesday 10 - Thursday 11 March 2021**
Round 4: Saturday 13 - Sunday 14 March 2021*
Round 5: Wednesday 28 - Thursday 29 April 2021
Round 6: Sunday 2 May 2021 (18:00 CEST)
* Some games have been postponed - scroll down to find out which
** France, Germany, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia and Sweden, who are participating in the Olympic Games Qualification Tournaments on 12/14 March 2021, will play their rounds 3 and 4 of the EHF EURO 2022 qualifiers on 6/7 and 9/10 January 2021.
Euro 2022 Qualifiers and coronavirus
The coronavirus has hit sports all over the world complicating competition and handball is no different.
Some qualifiers originally scheduled for 4, 5, 7 and 8 November have been postponed due to problems with team training, travel and restrictions in different countries.
10 matches in all have been postponed and will be played at a later date.
Group 1
Serbia vs Greece (original playing date: 4 November)
New playing time: TBA
France vs Belgium
(original playing date: 5 November)
New playing time: TBA
Belgium vs Serbia
(original playing date: 7 November)
New playing time: TBA
France vs Greece
(original playing date: 8 November)
New playing time: TBA
Group 3
Czech Republic vs Faroe Islands
(original playing date: 4 November)
New playing time: TBA
Faroe Islands vs Czech Republic
(original playing date: 7 November)
New playing time: TBA
Group 4
Iceland vs Israel
(original playing date: 7 November)
New playing time: TBA
Group 5
Poland vs Netherlands
(original playing date: 8 November)
New playing time: TBA
Group 6
Belarus vs Italy
(original playing date: 4 November)
New playing time: TBA
Norway vs Latvia
(original playing date: 4 November)
New playing time: TBA
EHF EURO Cup
The EHF Euro Cup - played between the four teams that have already qualified: Spain, Croatia, Hungary, Slovakia, has also been affected as Slovakia will not be able to play the following fixtures:
Slovakia vs Croatia
(original playing date: 4 November)
New playing time: TBA
Spain vs Slovakia
(original playing date: 7 November)
New playing time: TBA
"Matches will be carried out"
In a letter sent on Friday 30 October to all national federations involved, EHF Secretary General Martin Hausleitner said that “many organisers have already arranged matches and, in some of the groups, matches will be carried out according to today's status.”
With different countries in different situations regarding the Covid-19 pandemic the EHF said it poses "a huge challenge to all parties involved" on its website.
Hausleitner continued by saying that games will be played wherever possible and called the EHF EURO 2022 qualifiers “of utmost importance” for the national federations involved.
“Like always a balance must be sought between sporting chances and organisational standards, but in this specific situation health precautions play a dominant role as many of these decisions are not within the reach of sport,” Hausleitner added.
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Who to watch at the Euro 2022 qualifiers
Many of the best handball players on the planet will take part in these qualifiers.
Reigning Olympic and World champions Denmark will be led by Mikkel Hansen, keep an eye out for the Dujshebaev brothers keeping the family tradition alive for Spain, Croatia's quietly brilliant Domagoj Duvnjak, Norway's 'King in the North' Sander Sagosen, and many more.
Unfortunately we won't see 'The Beast' Nikola Karabatic line out for France due to an injury that may keep him out of Tokyo 2020 too.