Women’s EHF EURO 2020 Qualifiers drawn in Copenhagen

The road to the Women’s EHF EURO 2020 in Norway and Denmark has begun in Copenhagen on Thursday night, with the Qualifiers being drawn in the Danish capital

EHF EURO 2018 winners and current world champions, France, have been drawn to group 6 and will face Croatia, Turkey and Iceland. EURO 2018 silver medallists and reigning Olympic champions, Russia, head group 4 and play against Serbia, Slovakia and Switzerland.

28 teams play the Qualifiers. The top two teams from each of the seven groups will qualify for the final tournament. Norway and Denmark as organisers are already qualified for the 16-nation tournament.

Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 Group 4 Group 5 Group 6 Group 7 Netherlands Montenegro Germany Russia Sweden France Romania Spain Hungary Slovenia Serbia Czech Republic Croatia Poland Austria Italy Belarus Slovakia North Macedonia Turkey Ukraine Winner Q1 Lithuania Kosovo Switzerland Portugal Iceland Faroe Islands

Playing days

The Qualifiers will be played on the following dates

Round 1: 25/26 September 2019

Round 2: 28/29 September 2019

Round 3: 25/26 March 2020

Round 4: 27/28 March 2020

Round 5: 27/28 May 2020

Round 6: 31 May 2020 (according to the applicable regulations, all matches will throw off at 16:00 hrs Vienna time)

A first qualification phase will be played from 31 May to 2 June 2019. Israel, Finland, Greece and Luxembourg have to play a tournament. Only the winner of the group advances to the EHF EURO 2020 Qualifiers.

Statements

Olivier Krumbholz, France head coach

"We are the title holders, so we have to qualify for the EURO. We were lucky because we managed not to be placed in the same group as Serbia and Spain, the two most dangerous teams from pot 2. But we'll respect all our opponents and give everything it takes to qualify."

Daria Dmitrieva, Russia centre back

"Of all our rivals, I know Serbia best, as we played against them at EHF EURO 2018. As for Slovakia and Switzerland, I have never faced them, so I don't have much information. Anyway, I think we are the favourites, and we will try our best to do well in this group."

Henk Groener, Germany head coach

"All qualification groups are pretty even, but looking at ours, the aim has to be to qualify for EHF EURO 2020. Slovenia are a strong team, Belarus are hard to judge and Kosovo are a must-win for us."

Lois Abbingh, Netherlands left back

"I think it’s an interesting draw. Spain again! We’ve played them several times in recent years and they have proven at the last EHF EURO that they are a very strong team. Austria won’t be easy, either. They have a couple of really good players on their team. But I think it’s a doable draw for us and that we definitely should qualify."

About Women’s EHF EURO 2020

The Women's EHF EURO 2020 is played from 4 to 20 December. The host cities are Trondheim, Stavanger and Oslo in Norway as well as Herning in Denmark. Trondheim is a preliminary round venue, Stavanger hosts the main round in Norway. In Herning, a preliminary and a main round will take place. Norway's capital, Oslo, will host the final weekend.