The National Team, as co-host, has already secured its place in the final phase. The grouping for the qualifying phase was announced this Thursday.
The draw for the qualifying phase of the 2028 European Handball Championship, held this Thursday in Lisbon, revealed that Sweden, five-time European champion, will face Greece, Luxembourg, and North Macedonia in Group 8. Portugal, as co-host, has already secured its place in the final phase.
The event, held at the Royal Treasury Museum, marked the official launch of the race for the 20 remaining places in the competition, which will be hosted by Portugal, Spain, and Switzerland. The final phase of the tournament thus returns to Portuguese soil 34 years after its first hosting.
Despite qualifying directly, the three host countries will compete in the European Cup along with Denmark, the current defending champion. The start of this competition is scheduled for early November.
The draw included 32 teams, defining quite competitive groups. Group 6, for example, brings together Poland, Latvia, Romania, and four-time champion France. Group 7 includes Italy, Slovakia, Belgium, and Germany, four regular participants in the final stages.
The groups are composed as follows:
Group 1: Netherlands, Finland, Lithuania, and Croatia. Group 2: Austria, Turkey, Georgia, and Norway. Group 3: Serbia, Estonia, Ukraine, and Iceland. Group 4: Faroe Islands, Kosovo, Montenegro, and Hungary. Group 5: Czech Republic, Israel, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Slovenia.
The top two teams from each of the eight groups, as well as the four best third-placed teams, qualify for the final stage.
Present at the ceremony, Rui Silva, player for the national team and FC Porto, emphasized the importance of hosting the event. “As a player, I hope Portugal can have a lot of support,” he stated, highlighting the unique opportunity to bring the team closer to the fans.
Euro 2028 will take place from January 13th to 30th. In Portugal, the MEO Arena in Lisbon will be the main venue, hosting two groups from the preliminary phase and one from the ‘main round’. The remaining matches will be played in Zurich (Switzerland) and the Spanish cities of Madrid and Valencia, which also hosted the finals, including the semi-finals and the final.
