Five teams make their way to Zagreb

Five teams can already pack for the EHF EURO 2014 main round action in Zagreb as Sweden, the Netherlands and Germany qualified from Group C in Varazdin and France and Montenegro advanced from Group D in Osijek.

The last ticket to Group II will be solved on Friday in a direct encounter between the runners up of the 2013 World Championship Serbia and Slovakia.

A thrilling encounter in the Group C match between Sweden and Netherlands ended in a deserved 30:30 draw. Sweden survived numerous defensive black-outs for Ida Oden to score the game-tying goal in the dying moments, splitting the two points between the teams.

Susann Müller and Evgenija Minevskaja scored five each as Germany's two right backs paved the way for Germany to the main round in Zagreb after beating Croatia 26:24 in Group C on Wednesday. Germany's win also meant that Sweden and Netherlands reached the next stage, while Croatia's campaign will inevitably end on Friday.

With one match to spare France advance to the main round courtesy of an an unexpectedly high 27:16 win in Group D against a lacklustre Serbia. France went into Wednesday's game against Serbia fully determined not to leave their fate undecided until their last Group D match against Montenegro on Friday - and after 60 minutes they had bagged a convincing 27:16 win and also a ticket to the main round.

In a similar fashion but with a less lopsided result the defending champions from Montenegro cruised past Slovakia with a 28:24 win.