DGermany’s handball players will meet Switzerland, North Macedonia and France at the European Championships at home next January. That was the result of the draw on Wednesday in Düsseldorf. On January 10, 2024, national coach Alfred Gislason’s team will play the opening game, which is set to set a world record attendance in the Düsseldorf Arena with more than 50,000 fans, against the Swiss.
The other games of the preliminary round group A against the EM-22. North Macedonia (January 14) and Olympic champions France (January 16) will take place in Berlin. The first two teams in each of the six groups of four reach the main round. The German team would play its four main round games in the case of the sporting qualification in the Cologne Lanxess Arena (January 18th to 24th), where the final round (January 26th to 28th) will also take place. The other EM venues are Mannheim, Munich and Hamburg.
The declared goal of the German Handball Federation (DHB) is to reach the semi-finals. It is already clear that Germany can only meet world champion Denmark, defending champion Sweden or co-favorite Norway in the final round at the earliest. At the World Cup last January, the DHB selection took fifth place.