April 1, 2022 - The Euro 2024 handball qualifiers have been announced after a draw held last night in Berlin. Croatia was drawn into Group 5 and will play against the Netherlands, Greece, and Belgium from October 2022 to April 2023.
A draw of qualifying groups for the 2024 European Championship hosted by Germany was held in Berlin on Thursday night. The EURO is scheduled for January 10-28, 2024, and will be played in six German cities: Dusseldorf, Cologne, Berlin, Hamburg, Manheim, and Munich.
An earlier placement at the European Championship was secured by Germany as the host and the medal winners at the last (this year's) European Championships: Sweden, Spain, and Denmark. Thus, for the second qualifying phase, there were a total of 32 teams that were drawn from four "pots" in eight strong groups. Croatia was placed in the first "pot". Russia and Belarus were not in the draw due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but their places were taken by Georgia and Luxembourg, while Kosovo and Serbia cannot be in the same group.
First, the teams from the fourth "pot" were drawn, each team in one group and so on until the last, first "pot". Croatia thus drew group 5, along with the Netherlands, Greece, and Belgium.
The complete qualification draw, on the other hand, looks like this:
Group 1: PORTUGAL, NORTHERN MACEDONIA, TURKEY, LUXEMBOURG
Group 2: NORWAY, SERBIA, SLOVAKIA, FINLAND
Group 3: ICELAND, CZECH REPUBLIC, ISRAEL, ESTONIA
Group 4: AUSTRIA, UKRAINE, ROMANIA, FAROE ISLANDS
Group 5: CROATIA, NETHERLANDS, GREECE, BELGIUM
Group 6: HUNGARY, SWITZERLAND, LITHUANIA, GEORGIA
Group 7: SLOVENIA, MONTENEGRO, BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA, KOSOVO
Group 8: FRANCE, POLAND, LATVIA, ITALY
Qualifying matches will be played from October 2022 to April 2023, after which there will be a total of 20 national teams: two first-placed teams from each group and four best third-placed teams to be decided after all qualifying matches, taking into account only matches against the two best-placed national teams. With four previously placed national teams, we come to the number 24, which is the final number of teams that will ensure their appearance at the European Championships in 2024.
Source: HRS
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