- What: The 2022 EHF European Men’s Handball Championship
- Who: The top four contenders to take home the European title
- Where: Co-hosted in two countries – Hungary and Slovakia
- When: January 13-30, 2022
Recognized as one of the most important handball tournaments of the year, the 2022 European Men’s Handball Championship will be an awesome display of what the best in handball have to offer in January. It is the official competition of the men’s national handball teams of Europe and is held every two years, in the even-numbered year before the World Championship. The current reigning champions of the tournament are Spain and the Spanish national team also holds the record for most overall medals.
Below, we take a look at who the favorites are in the upcoming edition of the tournament and who you can expect to see on the gold medal podium.
The Number One Team (three-way tie): Denmark (4.50)
In the double defending World Champions (2019 and 2021), Denmark is riding a hot streak on the international handball circuit. In European Championship history, they have the fourth most medals won, with a total of six medals. Their last gold medal came in 2012, and before that 2008. In addition to the World and European Championships, the Danes also won the 2016 gold medal at the Rio Olympics and won the silver at the 2020 Tokyo Games. The current national squad is led by goalkeeper Niklas Landin Jacobsen (226 international appearances) and left-back Mikkel Hansen (1,114 international goals as of April 2021).
Number Two: Spain (4.50)
The defending European Champions, they also won in 2018, the Spanish is one of the most successful handball squads in the world. Though this was not always the case, Spain has made the podium at each European Championship since 2014. However, this current run might be Spain’s most successful in the history of the national team. The Spanish won the bronze medal at the 2020 Tokyo Games, giving them four medals since the 2018 European Championship. For the Spanish to continue their winning ways, they need their young wing players like Aleix Gómez and Ferran Solé to lead the way for their potent offence.
Number three: France (4.50)
Recognized by many in the handball world as the best national team in the history of the sport, the France national handball team is looking to lock down their first European Championship since 2014. Though they have more of a distinguished track record at the Olympic Games (three gold medals in the last four Olympics), France is no slouch when it comes to the European tournament. The French were runner-ups in 2018, but have won the European title three times overall (2006, 2010, and 2014). France is led by center-back Kentin Mahé (354 international goals) and right-back Nedim Remili (216 goals).
Final contender: Norway (5.50)
Our final contender in the top four at the tournament, Norway is sort of the upstart when compared to the other squads on this list. Though they have never won a European Championship, they are coming off of their best finish ever at the competition with a bronze medal finish in 2020. A younger team, the Norwegians do have youth on their side when compared to the more veteran squads on this list. They are led by center-back Sander Sagosen (655 goals), and right-back Harald Reinkind (268).
Prediction: Look for Denmark to continue their winning ways at the 2022 European Championship. The Danes are just too loaded with firepower and will be an imposing threat in each matchup they enter.
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