The best four nations have qualified for the semi-finals of the 2024 European Handball Championships and now want to win the title. The first game will be a top duel: France against defending champions and record winners Sweden (January 26th, 5:45 p.m.).
Both teams were already considered favorites for the title before the European Handball Championships and now they will meet in the semi-finals. Who will advance to the final? Can Sweden be crowned European champions again or can France dream of a fourth European Championship?
France – Sweden in the live ticker
Before the Germany game, eyes in Cologne will be on the first semi-final game between France and Sweden. You can get all the information about the top game here in our live ticker!
France – Sweden 34:30 aet (17:11)
+++ Update live ticker +++
AFTER THE GAME: Who is the enemy of the French? Germany against Denmark will be available here in the live ticker from 8.30 p.m.
END! France is in the final! In an outstanding match, the French threw out the defending champions Sweden. After the first half it looked like an easy way into the final, but then the Swedes turned up the heat and rewarded themselves with a strong comeback. It went into overtime. France was much stronger there and made it into the final on Sunday after a 34:30.
65th min: That was the first extra time! France is the better team and leads 30:28! Sweden now has five minutes to reach the final.
61st minute: The spectacle continues – to the delight of the fans in the hall! The first extension is underway. There are two five minutes. If the score remains a draw, the game goes to a seven-meter throw.
60th min: THAT DOESN’T EXIST! The game was actually already decided, but France equalized at the very last second to make it 27:27! It’s going into extra time!
59 minutes: Only 14 seconds left and now Sweden is taking a time out here. With a one-goal lead, it should have been for the defending champions.
59 minutes: One minute before the end, Sweden leads by two goals, France takes another time out.
57 minutes: In the first half it was France’s Bellahcene, now it’s Sweden’s Palicka who makes outstanding saves and keeps Sweden ahead.
55 minutes: Is that a small decision? Sweden increases the lead to two goals. France is in trouble!
52nd min: Sweden actually takes the lead here with 23:22! Who would have expected that after the French’s outstanding first half?
49th minute: It’s a really great game – and it’s close to the end! Sweden equalizes to 22:22.
45th min: Sweden is back in the game, even if the deficit is now two goals again. Meanwhile, France around superstar Karabatic has unexpected problems.
40 minutes: There is compensation – at least for a few seconds. France was able to score for the first time in several minutes.
38th minute: And then it was just one hit! What a catch-up effort from the Swedes! France immediately takes the time out.
35 minutes: A decent start for the Swedes so far after the break. The deficit was halved to three goals.
31st min: Let’s continue in Cologne! Can Sweden come back here again?
HALFTIME! What a show of power from the French. After a furious start from both teams, the Olympic champion really got going. Thanks to goalkeeper Bellahcene, the lead is a whopping six goals! How does defending champion Sweden react after the break?
26th minute: France was now able to come back and restore the old six-goal gap.
20 min: In the last few minutes, Sweden was able to score four goals. Now the French have some problems in front of goal.
15 minutes: What goalkeeper Bellahcene thinks is outstanding. Thanks to him, France now leads 12-5. Sweden is presented!
13th minute: Sweden is taking the first time out because absolutely nothing is going on at the moment! The reason for this is France keeper Samir Bellahcene, who holds up outstandingly. Five goal lead for the French!
10th min: Despite being twice outnumbered, France is already in the lead by two goals! 6:4 for the Olympic champion.
4th minute: Furious start from the two top teams. The fans were able to celebrate six goals in less than five minutes.
1. Min: Let’s go! We are looking for the first finalist.
5:10 p.m.: It won’t be long until the throw-off. The two teams are already warming up and the hall is slowly filling up.
3:50 p.m: And while the French were able to celebrate reaching the final in the World Cup duels, the Swedes prevailed at the European Championships two years ago (34:33) – and then also won the title. “These are the games you dream of as a child,” said Sweden goalkeeper Andreas Palicka, who is under contract in Paris and will therefore meet some of his club colleagues.
3:26 p.m.: France is the only unbeaten team so far and is particularly afraid of the Swedes’ counterattacks. Superstar Karabatic warns: “If we lost against the Swedes, then we made too many technical errors and thereby allowed easy goals. This can’t happen to us again.” Coach Guillaume Gille doesn’t doubt that: “We’ve played a great tournament so far and are correspondingly self-confident.”
More news for you:
3:05 p.m.: Whoever wins or loses the game: the DHB team will take a close look at the game. Germany will face France or Sweden either in the final or in the game for third place. There was already a narrow defeat against the French in the preliminary round.
2:44 p.m.: Good news for all handball fans! France versus Sweden is on free TV, as is Germany – Denmark. All information about this can be found here.
1:20 p.m.: The last time the two top teams met was at the World Cup last year in the semi-finals. At that time, the French clearly prevailed, but lost to Denmark in the final. It will be the fourth duel between the French and the Swedes at a European Championship or World Cup in a row.
12:36 p.m.: While Sweden won all three games in the preliminary round, there were two defeats in the main round against Denmark and Norway. Nevertheless, the record winner at the European Championships qualified for the semi-finals. France has won six of the seven games so far. Only in the preliminary round there was a 26:26 draw against Switzerland.
12:01 p.m.: Hello and welcome to the semi-finals of the 2024 European Handball Championship. Both duels between the best four teams in the tournament are scheduled today. Before the DHB team fights for the final, there is the top game between France and defending champion Sweden. We’ll follow the game live and keep you up to date in our live ticker.