What you need to know about the Men's EHF EURO 2020 Qualifiers Draw

The Men's EHF EURO 2020 Qualifiers Draw takes place on 12 April 2018 in Trondheim. Here are all the facts you need to know about it.

Time & location?
The draw starts at 19:00 hrs. It takes place at the Archbishop's Palace in Trondheim.

Where can I watch it?
The draw will be streamed live on the EHF EURO YouTube channel and the EHF EURO Facebook page.

How many teams participate in the qualification?
There are 32 teams participating which will be drawn to eight groups of four teams each. It is the biggest draw and therefore also the biggest qualification phase played in EHF EURO history.

And who are these teams?
In alphabetical order: Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Faroe Islands, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Israel, Italy, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, FYR Macedonia, Montenegro, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine

What do the pots look like?

• Pot 1: France, Croatia, Germany, Denmark, Slovenia, Belarus, Hungary, FYR Macedonia

• Pot 2: Russia, Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Iceland, Serbia, Montenegro

• Pot 3: Latvia, Lithuania, Switzerland, Slovakia, Ukraine, Israel, Turkey

• Pot 2 or 3: Bosnia-Herzegovina, Netherlands, Portugal (Ranked equally according to national team ranking

• Pot 4: Finland, Belgium, Estonia, Greece, Romania, Italy, Kosovo, Faroe Islands

What is this with pot 2 or 3?
Bosnia-Herzegovina, Netherlands and Portugal have the exact same points in the national team ranking. This means that at the beginning of the draw two of these three teams will be drawn to pot 2 and one will be drawn to pot 3.

But other than that the regular draw procedure is followed?
There is one more thing to be aware of. Based on the decision of the EHF Executive Committee in January 2018, which reserves the EHF the right to intervene in a draw to avoid encounters between teams where geo-political situations may cause difficulties for the scheduling and carrying out of matches, it will be ensured that Kosovo and Serbia play in different groups at the Men’s EHF EURO 2020 Qualification. This means that the teams of pots 3, 2 and 1 will be drawn to their respective groups. Then Kosovo will be drawn to row 4, but the group that contains Serbia is excluded.

When are the qualifiers being played?
Rounds 1 & 2: Wednesday 24 to Sunday 28 October 2018
Rounds 3 & 4: Wednesday 10 to Sunday 14 April 2019
Rounds 5 & 6: Wednesday 12 to Sunday 16 June 2019

And who qualifies eventually?
The top two teams of each of the eight groups will qualify for the final tournament. Furthermore, the four best third-ranked teams overall qualify.

How are the best third-ranked teams determined?
To determine the best third-ranked teams only the matches against the teams ranked first and second are taken into account.

That makes 20 teams that qualify. Who are the other four teams?
Sweden, Austria and Norway are already qualified as organisers of Men's EHF EURO 2020. Spain as EHF EURO 2018 champions are also qualified. With 24 teams competing for the title, it will be the biggest EHF EURO played to date..

When and where is the Men's EHF EURO 2020 being played?
The Men's EHF EURO 2020 is played from 10 to 26 January 2020. The host cities are Gothenburg (preliminary round), Malmö (preliminary and main round) and Stockholm (final weekend) in Sweden; Graz (preliminary round) and Vienna (preliminary round and main round) in Austria and Trondheim (two preliminary round groups) in Norway.