Ten years after the last final, France will once again compete for the EHF EURO title after defeating Sweden 34:30 in extra time in Friday’s semi-final. Denmark has not played in an EHF EURO final since 2014, losing 32:41 to France in Herning. The last time they won the trophy was Serbia in 2012.
These two teams are used to facing each other in big finals, as they already did at last year’s World Championship. Denmark defeated France in 34:29 to win the championship and remain on top of the world rankings. It remains to be seen whether they can reach the top of Europe on Sunday night.
Last
France vs Denmark
Sunday, January 28th, 17:45 CET, live on EHFTV
- For a spot in the finals, France defeated Sweden 34-40 in overtime, with Elohim Purandi tying the score with a direct free throw just before regular time.
- Denmark used an effective 7-on-6 attack in the second half of their semi-final against Germany, winning in 29:26 after trailing by two at halftime.
- France is the only team that hasn’t lost since the start of the EHF EURO, while Denmark lost to Slovenia in the final match of the tournament with 25:28.
- France and Denmark played each other in last year’s World Championship final, with Denmark winning 34-29.
- The last time the two teams played an EHF EURO final was in Herning in 2014, with France winning their third European title (41:32)
- France’s Dika Mem is currently tied for second in the EHF EURO with 47 goals.
- Matthias Gyssel missed the last game of the competition, resulting in just one fewer goal for Denmark (46 goals).
- French left-back Nikola Karabatić is five goals away from becoming the first male player to score 300 goals in EHF EURO.
- Danish left-back Mikkel Hansen ranks third in the EHF EURO all-time scoring list (287 goals), one goal less than Iceland’s Gudjon Valur Sigurdsson.
- Danish goalkeeper Emil Nielsen was the most effective shot-stopper at EHF EURO, with 63 shots and a save percentage of 40.1 percent.Niklas Lundin made 47 saves (31.1 percent).
- Samir Belachine saved 54 shots in six games for France (32.5 percent efficiency), while Rémi Desbonnet made 33 saves (26.2 percent).
- France and Denmark met 6 times in the EHF EURO, France won 5 and Denmark only played 1 match for the bronze medal in 2022 (35:32)
Photo © Kolektiff Images