2026 European Men's Handball Championship qualification

Prior to the qualifiers, three teams were automatically qualified:

• Denmark, Norway and Sweden as a host

In phase 1, four teams played a round-robin tournament, with the winner advancing to the Relegation round, with up to four of the lowest-ranked fourth-ranked teams of the 2024 qualification. After that, the qualifiers will be played, in Phase 2.[1]

Since only four teams participate in this round, no draw was needed, other than the hosting rights.[1][2] Although Cyprus had the hosting rights, it declined and the rights moved to Azerbaijan.

Standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Great Britain	3	2	1	0	108	61	+47	5[lower-alpha 1]	Relegation round
2	Cyprus	3	2	1	0	104	74	+30	5[lower-alpha 1]
3	Azerbaijan (H)	3	1	0	2	79	96	−17	2
4	Malta	3	0	0	3	65	125	−60	0

Source: EHF
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) goal difference.
(H) Hosts
Notes:

1. Cyprus 25–25 Great Britain

Results

All times are local (UTC+4).

13 January 2023 14:45	Cyprus	25–25	Great Britain	Baku Sports Palace, Baku Attendance: 600 Referees: Yovchev, Yonchev (BUL)
	C. Argyrou, Dimosthenous 6	(12–13)	Edgar 10
	2× 4×	Report	1× 2×

13 January 2023 17:00	Azerbaijan	34–25	Malta	Baku Sports Palace, Baku Attendance: 2,200 Referees: Peretz, Schwartz (ISR)
	Muradov 9	(18–6)	Gruppetta, Naudi 5
	1× 2×	Report	1× 3×

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14 January 2023 14:45	Malta	26–47	Cyprus	Baku Sports Palace, Baku Attendance: 500 Referees: Peretz, Schwartz (ISR)
	Seifert 6	(12–23)	C. Argyrou 9
	5×	Report	2× 4×

14 January 2023 17:00	Great Britain	39–22	Azerbaijan	Baku Sports Palace, Baku Attendance: 2,100 Referees: Yovchev, Yonchev (BUL)
	White 11	(16–8)	Georgiyevski 9
	1× 1×	Report	2× 1×

---

15 January 2023 12:45	Great Britain	44–14	Malta	Baku Sports Palace, Baku Attendance: 450 Referees: Peretz, Schwartz (ISR)
	Pereira 17	(23–7)	Mercieca 4
	2× 2×	Report	1×

15 January 2023 15:00	Cyprus	32–23	Azerbaijan	Baku Sports Palace, Baku Attendance: 1,700 Referees: Yovchev, Yonchev (BUL)
	Dimosthenous 8	(18–15)	Mammadov 9
	2× 1×	Report	1× 4×

Six teams will participate in this round. The winner of the Qualification Phase 1 will have a guaranteed place in the Relegation round, alongside up to four of the lowest-ranked fourth-ranked teams in the Men's EHF EURO 2024 Qualifiers and the best european team of the Men's IHF 2023 Emerging Nations Championship.[1] The draw took place on 5 July 2023, in Vienna, Austria.[3][4]

Participating teams

Qualification method	Team(s)
Winner of Qualification Phase 1	Great Britain
Four of the lowest-ranked fourth-ranked teams in the Men's EHF EURO 2024 Qualifiers	Belgium  Kosovo  Luxembourg  Latvia
Three best European teams at the Men's IHF 2023 Emerging Nations Championship	Cyprus

Seeding

The seeding was announced on 4 July 2023.[3]

Pot 1	Pot 2
Belgium  Kosovo  Luxembourg	Latvia  Great Britain  Cyprus

Overview

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Latvia	–	Luxembourg	10–11 Jan	13–14 Jan
Kosovo	–	Great Britain	10–11 Jan	13–14 Jan
Belgium	–	Cyprus	10–11 Jan	13–14 Jan

Matches

10–11 January 2024	Latvia	v	Luxembourg	Valmiera Olympic Center, Valmiera
		Report

13–14 January 2024	Luxembourg	v	Latvia	d'Coque, Luxembourg City
		Report

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10–11 January 2024	Kosovo	v	Great Britain	Palace of Youth and Sports, Prishtina
		Report

13–14 January 2024	Great Britain	v	Kosovo	Derby Arena, Derby
		Report

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10–11 January 2024	Belgium	v	Cyprus	Sporthal Alverberg, Hasselt
		Report

13–14 January 2024	Cyprus	v	Belgium	Eleftheria Indoor Hall, Nicosia
		Report

Qualifiers will be played between October 2024 and April 2025. Like in previous cycles, 32 teams will be divided into eight groups of four, with the winners and runners-up qualifying for the final tournament, together with the four best third-placed teams which will be determined taking into account only results against top two teams in each group.[5]

• EHF website