Bosnia and Herzegovina had the chance to make a huge step towards their second EHF EURO participation, after their debut in 2020, but came up just short against already qualified Germany on Thursday: 26:24. However, they are still in the race for Hungary/Slovakia 2022.

The result marked the 19th straight win in an EHF EURO qualifier for Germany in a series that started in April 2015.

GROUP 2
Bosnia and Herzegovina vs Germany 24:26 (15:15)

• the hosts led only once, 13:12, in the first half but Germany never led by more than three goals
• Marcel Schiller scored a perfect seven from seven in the first half and finished on 10 goals
• the duel between EHF Champions League goalkeepers Benjamin Buric (Flensburg/10 saves) and Andreas Wolff (Kielce/11) was close, as well
• 30 seconds before the end, Ibrahim Haseljic failed with the last shot for the hosts, before Timo Kastening made it 26:24 in the last second
• Josip Peric (six goals) and Alen Ovcina (four) were the best Bosnian scorers.

German victory makes Austria happy

Thanks to the German victory, their neighbours Austria saw their chances of qualifying increase. If they win at Estonia later Thursday and beat Bosnia-Herzegovina at home on Sunday, they would have booked the ticket for their fifth EHF EURO – and third straight since 2018. Austria lost the reverse fixture in Bosnia 27:21 last month.