Romania’s women’s handball team to face Norway in group B of EHF 2026 European Championship

Romania’s national women’s handball team will face the representatives of Norway, Switzerland, and North Macedonia in preliminary Group B of the 2026 European Championship, which will take place between December 3 and 20.

Norway, the reigning Olympic, world, and European champion, will be a difficult opponent for the Romanian team.

The teams were drawn on Thursday, April 16, in Katowice, Poland. Romania's matches will be played at the BT Arena in Cluj-Napoca, which will also host matches from the main group.

Romania will also host preliminary Group A in Oradea, according to News.ro. Hungary, Montenegro, Slovenia, and Iceland will play in the Romanian city.

The preliminary groups are organized as follows:

• A (Oradea): Hungary, Montenegro, Slovenia, Iceland;
• B (Cluj-Napoca): Romania, Switzerland, Norway, North Macedonia;
• C (Antalya): Turkey, Spain, Denmark, Greece;
• D (Brno): Czech Republic, Austria, Netherlands, Croatia;
• E (Katowice): Poland, Faroe Islands, France, Ukraine;
• F (Bratislava): Slovakia, Germany, Sweden, Serbia.

Romania was part of the second seed pot. The host teams of the final tournament, namely Romania, Turkey, the Czech Republic, Poland, and Slovakia, qualified directly, along with the medalists of the EURO 2024 Championship, Denmark, Norway, and Hungary.

The first two teams in each group will qualify for the main groups. Cluj-Napoca will host matches between teams qualified from groups A, B, and C, while teams from D, E, and F will play in Katowice. The Polish city will also host the semifinals and the finals.

Tickets for the final tournament have already been put on sale on the official platform.

(Photo source: FRH - Federația Română de Handbal on Facebook)