Women's Handball European Championship 2026
David Chelly, January 15, 2026
Dates and host countries
The 2026 Women's Handball European Championship, also called the Women's EHF EURO 2026, is played from December 3 to 20, 2026. The event is co-hosted by five countries: Poland, Romania, Czechia, Slovakia and Turkey. Matches are spread across Katowice, Cluj-Napoca, Oradea, Brno, Bratislava and Antalya, with a multi-site setup depending on the tournament phase.
Format and sporting stakes
The final phase brings together 24 national teams. The tournament is structured around a preliminary round, followed by a main round and a knockout phase, allowing for a string of high-stakes matches while still rewarding consistency over the tournament's length. To follow the schedule, groups, times and live results, the most reliable source remains the competition's official page.
Qualification and teams to watch
The road to the final phase runs through qualifiers held between October 2025 and April 2026. The top two teams in each group qualify, along with the best third-place finishers under the rules published by the EHF. Pending the final list of participants, the 2026 edition is shaping up as a new test for the nations at the top, in a context where Norway remains the recent benchmark after its 2024 European title.
Tickets, schedule and practical information
For tickets, transport information, match venues and the opening of sales, the official Tickets section and the host cities' pages on the official website are the way to go. In practice, the most efficient approach is to pick a city first, then build a trip around match days, since the distances between countries make following the tournament on the move more time-consuming. The schedule becomes clearer as the draws take place, which can also affect the choice of destination.