2026 European Women's Handball Championship

The 2026 EHF European Women's Handball Championship, commonly referred to as the EHF EURO 2026, will be the 17th edition of the EHF European Women's Handball Championship.

2026 EHF European Women's Handball Championship
Tournament details
Teams24 (from 1 confederation)
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The championship was originally scheduled to be arranged in Russia, but in view of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and Russia being suspended from competition by the International Handball Federation, the championship will be arranged somewhere else.[1]

Bid process

On 20 November 2021 at the 14th EHF Extraordinary Congress it was announced that the 2026 EHF European Women's Handball Championship will take place in Russia.[2]

Russia's bid was the only one, as the EHF Executive Committee was previously notified that Norway, Denmark and Sweden had withdrawn their joint bid.

Bidding timeline

The bidding timeline was as follows:[3]

  • 4 June 2020: Invitation to National Federations to provide a letter of intent to the EHF for hosting the EHF EUROs 2026 & 2028
  • 1 October 2020: Deadline for submitting the letter of intent and request for the bidding documents by the interested federations
  • 1 November 2020: Dispatch of the manual for staging the EHF EUROs 2026 & 2028 together with the relevant specifications and forms by the EHF
  • 1 May 2021: Applications available at the EHF Office
  • May/June 2021: Evaluation of bids by the EHF
  • June 2021: Approval of applications by EHF EXEC
  • June–September 2021: Site inspections
  • September 2021: Further evaluation after inspections
  • September 2021: Confirmation of bids for the EHF EUROs 2026 & 2028
  • 17/18 November 2021: Allocation at the EO EHF Congress 2021

Bids

On 11 May 2021 it was announced that the following nations sent in an official expression of interest: [4]

Host selection

As only the Russian bid remained it was unanimously selected at the 14th EHF Extraordinary Congress on 20 November 2021.[6][7]

Second bidding process

After it was decided that Russia would not host the event due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine,[8] the EHF reopened the bidding process. On 25 August 2023, the EHF announced the new bids.[9]

On the 25 October, the EHF announced the official bids. Spain withdrew their application, while Slovakia joined Romania's bid.[10]

The new timeline is:[9]

  • 25 October 2023: Deadline for submitting the full bids by the interested federations
  • November–December 2023: Evaluation of bids by the EHF and site inspections
  • 27 January 2024: Allocation at the EHF EXEC meeting

Venues

The championship was planned to be arranged in Moscow and Saint Petersburg, but after Russia lost the right to arrange the championship, some other venues will be selected.

Qualification

Qualified teams
CountryQualified asDate qualification was securedPrevious appearances in tournament1
00Host27 January 2024
1 Bold indicates champion for that year

References
  1. Mackay, Duncan (2023-07-04). "Russia stripped of 2026 European Women's Handball Championships". inside the games. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
  2. "EHF Euro hosts for 2026 & 2028 confirmed". European Handball Federation. 20 November 2021. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  3. "Bidding Timeline". Bid Brochure EHF Euro 2026 & 2028 (PDF). European Handball Federation. 2021. p. 34. Archived (PDF) from the original on 13 May 2021. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
  4. "Seven nations bid for EHF Euros in 2026 and 2028". European Handball Federation. 11 May 2021. Archived from the original on 13 May 2021. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
  5. "Schweiz bündelt Kräfte mit Spanien und Portugal: Ausrichter für Handball-Europameisterschaften zeichnen sich ab". handball world (in German). 20 October 2021. Archived from the original on 20 October 2021. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  6. "EHF EURO hosts for 2026 & 2028 confirmed". European Handball Federation. 20 November 2021. Archived from the original on 21 November 2021. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
  7. "The 14th EHF Extraordinary Congress". European Handball Federation. 20 November 2021. Archived from the original on 21 November 2021. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
  8. "EHF seeks alternative host for Women's EHF EURO 2026". eurohandball.com. 4 July 2023.
  9. "Five federations express interest in hosting Women's EHF EURO 2026". eurohandball.com. 25 August 2023.
  10. "Three bids received for Women's EHF EURO 2026". www.eurohandball.com.
  11. Szarek, Maciej (October 26, 2023). "Polska i Czechy z oficjalną kandydaturą do organizacji EHF EURO 2026 kobiet | Związek Piłki Ręcznej w Polsce".
  12. "Slovensko podalo spoločne s Rumunskom kandidatúru na ME 2026 žien | Slovenský zväz hádzanej". www.slovakhandball.sk. October 26, 2023.
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