The interest in hosting the Men’s and Women’s EHF EURO events has reached new heights as 14 national federations have expressed their interest in hosting the events in 2026 and 2028.

Letters of intent have been received from all corners of the continent to host the four tournaments, with several nations expressing a joint interest in hosting the flagship event for Europe’s national teams.

As part of the process all federations were entitled to send letters of intent or to become part of a joint bid.

EHF President Michael Wiederer said: “This is the highest amount of interest we have received from federations showing an intent to host our flagship national team tournaments.

“These numbers once again prove that this event remains the most highly sought-after national team event in our sport and shows that the develop of handball continues to grow.

“Following similarly significant interest in the bidding process for the EHF Men’s EURO 2024, that will be hosted in Germany and the EHF Women’s EURO 2024, which will be played in Hungary, Austria and Switzerland, we are now excited to look ahead towards the following stage in the process for 2026 and 2028.”

Men’s EHF EURO attracts attention

The success of the Men’s EHF EURO 2020 in January – that saw a record 500,000 spectators watch inside arenas and millions more on television and online – has further highlighted the importance of hosting an EHF EURO.

That impact has seen the EHF receive no less than eight letters of intent, covering 10 countries, for the Men’s EHF EURO 2028 alone.

The Men’s EHF EURO 2026 has seen the EHF receive letters of intent from six interested parties, including a joint intention from Belarus, Lithuania and Poland.

Men’s EHF EURO 2026 (15 January – 1 February)

• Belarus/Lithuania/Poland
• Croatia
• France
• Norway/Denmark
• Switzerland
• Sweden

Men’s EHF EURO 2028 (13-30 January)

• Belgium
• Croatia
• Estonia
• France
• Norway/Denmark
• Portugal/Spain
• Switzerland
• Sweden

Scandinavian interest in Women’s EHF EUROs

The upcoming Women’s EHF EURO 2020 in December will be hosted by Norway and Denmark.

And both countries have also sent a joint letter of interest to co-host the 2026 and 2028 events.

Neighbours Sweden have also put their names forward for both, while Russia have signalled their interest in hosting the 2026 edition.

Women's EHF EURO 2026 (26 November – 13 December)

• Norway/Denmark
• Russia
• Sweden

Women's EHF EURO 2028 (30 November – 17 December)

• Norway/Denmark
• Sweden

As part of the process all interested federations are entitled to submit a single bid or become part of a joint bidding process.

Next steps

Following this expression of interest, bid documents will be sent to all federations concerned. The next steps are as follows:

• Application forms and documents will be sent to interested federations by 1 November
• By 1 May 2021 applications must be provided to the EHF
• Evaluations of the bids will take place in May and June 2021
• In June 2021 the EHF EXEC will approve the applications
• Site inspections will take place between June and September 2021 with further evaluations taking place in September 2021
• The awarding on the EHF EUROs 2026 and 2028 will take place at an EHF Extraordinary Conference in November 2021 to coincide with the 30-year anniversary of the EHF.