European Women's Handball Championship

Wikipedia

European Women's Handball Championship
Current season, competition or edition:
Current sports event 2024 European Women's Handball Championship
SportHandball
Founded1994; 31 years ago (1994)
No. of teams16 (finals)
ContinentEurope (EHF)
Most recent
champion(s)
 Norway (10th title)
Most titles Norway (10 titles)

The European Women's Handball Championship is the official competition for senior women's national handball teams of Europe, and takes place every two years. In addition to crowning the European champions, the tournament also serves as a qualifying tournament for the Olympic Games and World Championship. As of December 2024, the only teams that have ever won the championship are Norway (ten times), Denmark (three times), Hungary, Montenegro and France (each once).

History

In year 1946, the International Handball Federation was founded by eight European nations,[1] and though non-European nations competed at the World Championships, the medals had always been taken by European nations.[2] European Handball Federation is founded in 1991. At the same time (1995), the World Championship was changed from a quadrennial to a biannual event, and the European Handball Federation now began its own championship – which also acted as a regional qualifier for the World Championship.[3] The tournament will be expanded to 24 teams in 2024 to take place in Austria, Hungary and Switzerland.

Tournaments

Year Host Final Third place match Teams
Champions Score Runners-up Third place Score Fourth place
1994
Details
Germany
Germany

Denmark
27–23
Germany

Norway
24–19
Hungary
12
1996
Details
Denmark
Denmark

Denmark
25–23
Norway

Austria
30–23
Germany
12
1998
Details
Netherlands
Netherlands

Norway
24–16
Denmark

Hungary
30–24
Austria
12
2000
Details
Romania
Romania

Hungary
32–30 (ET)
Ukraine

Russia
21–16
Romania
12
2002
Details
Denmark
Denmark

Denmark
25–22
Norway

France
27–22
Russia
16
2004
Details
Hungary
Hungary

Norway
27–25
Denmark

Hungary
29–25
Russia
16
2006
Details
Sweden
Sweden

Norway
27–24
Russia

France
29–25
Germany
16
2008
Details
North Macedonia
Macedonia

Norway
34–21
Spain

Russia
24–21
Germany
16
2010
Details
Denmark Norway
Denmark / Norway

Norway
25–20
Sweden

Romania
16–15
Denmark
16
2012
Details
Serbia
Serbia

Montenegro
34–31 (2ET)
Norway

Hungary
41–38 (ET)
Serbia
16
2014
Details
Croatia Hungary
Croatia / Hungary

Norway
28–25
Spain

Sweden
25–23
Montenegro
16
2016
Details
Sweden
Sweden

Norway
30–29
Netherlands

France
25–22
Denmark
16
2018
Details
France
France

France
24–21
Russia

Netherlands
24–20
Romania
16
2020
Details
Denmark
Denmark

Norway
22–20
France

Croatia
25–19
Denmark
16
2022
Details
Montenegro North Macedonia Slovenia
Montenegro / North Macedonia / Slovenia

Norway
27–25
Denmark

Montenegro
27–25 (ET)
France
16
2024
Details
Austria Hungary Switzerland
Austria / Hungary / Switzerland

Norway
31–23
Denmark

Hungary
25–24
France
24
2026
Details
Czech Republic Poland Romania Slovakia Turkey
Czech Republic / Poland / Romania / Slovakia / Turkey
24
2028
Details
Denmark Norway Sweden
Denmark / Norway / Sweden
24
2030
Details
N/A
TBD
24
2032
Details
Denmark Germany Poland
Denmark / Germany / Poland
24

Medal table

RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 Norway103114
2 Denmark3407
3 France1135
4 Hungary1045
5 Montenegro1012
6 Russia0224
7 Spain0202
8 Netherlands0112
 Sweden0112
10 Germany0101
 Ukraine0101
12 Austria0011
 Croatia0011
 Romania0011
Totals (14 entries)16161648

Statistics

Summary (1994–2024)

Source (Table Section): [4][5]

RankTeamPartMWDLGFGAGDPoints
1 Norway1612310361435322725+807212
2 Denmark161157643530202787+233156
3 Hungary161095954529082816+92123
4 France13925933023312118+213121
5 Germany161025354425962557+39111
6 Russia149449113424802284+196109
7 Romania151004944725192530-11102
8 Sweden14873974122382229+985
9 Montenegro8533112113451334+1163
10 Netherlands10622823216391624+1558
11 Spain137724104318961973-7758
12 Croatia13632623415051632-12754
13 Ukraine12621874014891627-13840
14 Serbia13601734016041731-12737
15 Austria9501903112021327-12538
16 Poland9431612910171161-14427
17 Slovenia9401202810101165-15524
18 North Macedonia7337323756934-17817
19 Czech Republic8378029863951-8816
20 Belarus4182511460509-499
21  Switzerland210217264326-625
22 Slovakia3151113303427-1243
23 Iceland39108196250-542
24 Faroe Islands130126678-121
25 Turkey1301268102-341
26 Portugal26006128181-530
27 Lithuania16006124183-590

Total hosts

RankNationHostsYear(s)
1 Denmark61996, 2002, 2010, 2020, (2028), (2032)
2 Hungary32004, 2014, 2024
Sweden2006, 2016, (2028)
4 Germany 21994, (2032)
North Macedonia 2008, 2022
Poland (2026), (2032)
Romania 2000, (2026)
Norway 2010, (2028)
9 Austria12024
Croatia2014
Czech Republic(2026)
France2018
Montenegro2022
Netherlands1998
Serbia2012
Slovakia(2026)
Slovenia2022
 Switzerland2024
Turkey(2026)

Top scorers by tournament

The record-holder for scored goals in a single Euro Championship is Bojana Radulović, where she scored 72 goals Hungary at the 2004 European Women's Handball Championship in Hungary.

Year Player Goals
1994 Hungary Ágnes Farkas 48
1996 Norway Kjersti Grini 48
1998 Austria Ausra Fridrikas 68
2000 Romania Simona Gogîrlă 68
2002 Hungary Ágnes Farkas 58
2004 Hungary Bojana Radulović 72
2006 Germany Nadine Krause 58
2008 Norway Linn-Kristin Riegelhuth 51
2010 Romania Cristina Neagu 53
2012 Montenegro Katarina Bulatović 56
2014 Sweden Isabelle Gulldén 58
2016 Norway Nora Mørk 53
2018 Serbia Katarina Krpež Slezak 50
2020 Norway Nora Mørk 52
2022 Norway Nora Mørk 50
2024 Hungary Katrin Klujber 60

Best players by tournament

Year Player
1994 Not awarded
1996 Denmark Anja Andersen
1998 Norway Trine Haltvik
2000 Hungary Beáta Siti
2002 Denmark Karin Mortensen
2004 Norway Gro Hammerseng
2006 Norway Gro Hammerseng
2008 Norway Kristine Lunde
2010 Sweden Linnea Torstenson
2012 Norway Anja Edin
2014 Sweden Isabelle Gulldén
2016 Netherlands Nycke Groot
2018 Russia Anna Vyakhireva
2020 France Estelle Nze Minko
2022 Norway Henny Reistad
2024 Denmark Anna Kristensen

Participating nations

Legend
  • 1st – Champions
  • 2nd – Runners-up
  • 3rd – Third place
  • 4th – Fourth place
  • 5th – Fifth place
  • 6th – Sixth place
  • 7th – Seventh place
  • 8th – Eighth place
  • 9th – Ninth place
  • 10th – Tenth place
  • 11th – Eleventh place
  • 12th – Twelfth place
  • 13th to 16th – Thirteenth to sixteenth place
  • Q – Qualified for upcoming tournament
  • q – may still qualify for upcoming tournament
  •    – Did not qualify
  •  •×  – Disqualified
  •  ×  – Did not enter / Withdrew / Banned
  •    – Hosts

For each tournament, the number of teams in each finals tournament (in brackets) are shown.

Nation Germany
1994
Denmark
1996
Netherlands
1998
Romania
2000
Denmark
2002
Hungary
2004
Sweden
2006
North Macedonia
2008
Denmark
Norway
2010
Serbia
2012
Croatia
Hungary
2014
Sweden
2016
France
2018
Denmark
2020
North Macedonia
Montenegro
Slovenia
2022
Austria
Hungary
Switzerland
2024
Czech Republic
Poland
Romania
Slovakia
Turkey
2026
Denmark
Norway
Sweden
2028
N/A
2030
Denmark
Germany
Poland
2032
Participations
 Austria 9th 3rd 4th 12th 9th 10th 10th 15th 14th 9
 Belarus 11th 16th 16th 12th × × 4
 Croatia 5th 6th 13th 7th 6th 9th 13th 13th 16th 16th 3rd 10th 19th 13
 Czech Republic 8th 8th 15th 12th 10th 15th 15th 15th Q 9
 Denmark 1st 1st 2nd 10th 1st 2nd 11th 11th 4th 5th 8th 4th 8th 4th 2nd 2nd Q Q Q 18
 Faroe Islands × × × × × × × × × × × 17th 1
 France 5th 3rd 11th 3rd 14th 5th 9th 5th 3rd 1st 2nd 4th 4th 13
 Germany 2nd 4th 6th 9th 11th 5th 4th 4th 13th 7th 10th 6th 10th 7th 7th 7th Q 16
 Hungary 4th 10th 3rd 1st 5th 3rd 5th 8th 10th 3rd 6th 12th 7th 10th 11th 3rd Q 17
 Iceland 15th 15th 16th 3
 Lithuania 12th 1
 Montenegro1 6th 1st 4th 13th 9th 8th 3rd 8th 8
 Netherlands 10th 14th 15th 8th 7th 2nd 3rd 6th 6th 6th 10
 North Macedonia × × 8th 8th 12th 7th 16th 16th 18th 7
 Norway 3rd 2nd 1st 6th 2nd 1st 1st 1st 1st 2nd 1st 1st 5th 1st 1st 1st Q Q 18
 Poland 11th 5th 8th 11th 15th 14th 14th 13th 9th Q Q 10
 Portugal 16th 22nd 2
 Romania 10th 5th 11th 4th 7th 7th 5th 3rd 10th 9th 5th 4th 12th 12th 11th Q 16
 Russia 6th 7th 9th 3rd 4th 4th 2nd 3rd 7th 6th 14th 7th 2nd 5th × × 14
 Serbia1 14th 13th 14th 4th 15th 9th 11th 13th 15th 21st 10
 Slovakia 12th 12th 24th Q 4
 Slovenia 10th 9th 16th 16th 14th 13th 16th 8th 10th 9
 Spain 12th 13th 8th 9th 2nd 11th 11th 2nd 11th 12th 9th 9th 13th 13
 Sweden 7th 8th 15th 14th 6th 9th 2nd 8th 3rd 8th 6th 11th 5th 5th Q 15
  Switzerland 14th 12th 2
 Turkey 20th Q 2
 Ukraine 11th 9th 7th 2nd 12th 6th 13th 10th 12th 14th 16th 23rd 12
Historical national teams
 Serbia and Montenegro1 12th 1
 FR Yugoslavia1 × 7th 6th 2
Total1212121216161616161616161616162424242424
1 FR Yugoslavia competed as such until 2003 when the FRY was reconstituted as a State Union Serbia and Montenegro. Since the dissolution of the union in 2006, national teams exist for both countries.

Most successful players

Boldface denotes active handball players and highest medal count among all players (including these who not included in these tables) per type.

Rank Player Country From To Gold Silver Bronze Total
1Katrine Lunde (Haraldsen) Norway20022024729
2Camilla Herrem Norway20082024617
3Karoline Dyhre Breivang Norway20042014516
Marit Malm Frafjord Norway20062020516
Stine Bredal Oftedal Norway20102022516
Linn-Kristin Riegelhuth Koren Norway20042014516
Silje Solberg-Østhassel Norway20122024516
8Kari Aalvik Grimsbø Norway2006201655
Nora Mørk Norway2010202255
10Heidi Løke Norway20082020415

Notes

    References

    1. History of Handball from ihf.info, retrieved 7 February 2006
    2. Medals Table – Ranking At Men's World Championships A 1938–1990 from ihf.info, retrieved 7 February 2006
    3. (in German) Handball-Bundesliga diskutiert Reduzierung auf 16 Teams, by Erik Eggers, published by Der Spiegel online, 30 January 2006
    4. "Handball-Titelträger der Frauen: Wettbewerbe in Europa".
    5. "Women Handball European Championships Archive".