The 12th EHF European Men`s Handball Championship begins 15 January. 16 nations have qualified for the finals in Poland. The teams play in a total of 48 matches to be crowned the European Handballs. The final will be on 31 January at 17.30 clock in Krakow instead.
After the German national handball team was the European Championship finals in 2014 still missed, it is in this year's title fight back on the field again. In Poland, the team of coach Dagur Sigurdsson will confirm with a young team the ascending trend of recent months.
It is also important to bring the qualifying tournament for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio in shape. In April Germany fights there at one of the final grid positions. Would not be necessary this, if they could win the European Championship in Poland.
As European champions or runners against the already-qualified world champion France they would be directly qualified. However, only the most optimistic believe in a victory for the DHB selection.
The mode of the European Championship finals in 2016
The 16 eligible participating nations were divided into four preliminary groups (A - D) solved with four teams each. All teams in a group play against each other once. The best three of a group move to the main round. The last group is eliminated.
In the main round, the three best teams in the Group A encounter the three best teams in the group B. The same applies to the groups C and D, each team plays only against the three teams of the other preliminary group. The results against the teams from their own Preliminary Group be taken into the main round.
The two best teams in each main round group qualify for the semi-finals, the two groups for the third place play-off 5, the two groups for the fourth-place play-7 case of a tie, the direct comparison between the teams equal on points decides.
The two winners of those ties play on 31 January at 17.30 clock in the final of the EHF Krakow-European Championship 2016, while the losers identify the third party in the prelude.
The Handball European Championships in Poland will be played at four different locations: Krakow, Katowice, Wroclaw and Gdansk.
