# 1996 European Women's Handball Championship

The 1996 EHF European Women's Handball Championship was the second edition of the European Championship. It was held in Denmark from 6–15 December. Denmark won their second title in a row after beating Norway 25–23 in the final.

## Venues

The European Championship was held in the following cities:
* Brøndby
* Vejle
* Fredericia
* Herning

## Teams

| Group A | Group B |
| Austria | Germany |
| Croatia | Lithuania |
| Denmark | Norway |
| Hungary | Romania |
| Poland | Russia |
| Sweden | Ukraine |

## Preliminary round
### Group A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Denmark (H) | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 148 | 101 | +47 | 10 | Semifinals |
| 2 | Austria | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 125 | 105 | +20 | 8 | Semifinals |
| 3 | Croatia | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 121 | 120 | +1 | 6 | Fifth place game |
| 4 | Sweden | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 114 | 139 | −25 | 4 | Seventh place game |
| 5 | Hungary | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 109 | 127 | −18 | 2 | Ninth place game |
| 6 | Poland | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 107 | 132 | −25 | 0 | Eleventh place game |
| December 6, 1996 | Hungary | 21 – 19 | Poland |
| December 6, 1996 | | (10–10) | |
| December 6, 1996 | Denmark | 30 – 13 | Sweden |
| December 6, 1996 | | (13–6) | |
| December 6, 1996 | Croatia | 21 – 25 | Austria |
| December 6, 1996 | | (9–12) | |
| December 7, 1996 | Sweden | 31 – 26 | Hungary |
| December 7, 1996 | | (13–13) | |
| December 7, 1996 | Poland | 21 – 25 | Croatia |
| December 7, 1996 | | (11–11) | |
| December 7, 1996 | Austria | 16 – 29 | Denmark |
| December 7, 1996 | | (6–14) | |
| December 8, 1996 | Sweden | 18 – 31 | Austria |
| December 8, 1996 | | (9–13) | |
| December 8, 1996 | Hungary | 19 – 24 | Croatia |
| December 8, 1996 | | (11–13) | |
| December 8, 1996 | Denmark | 33 – 22 | Poland |
| December 8, 1996 | | (14–9) | |
| December 10, 1996 | Poland | 23 – 24 | Sweden |
| December 10, 1996 | | (7–16) | |
| December 10, 1996 | Croatia | 22 – 27 | Denmark |
| December 10, 1996 | | (10–14) | |
| December 10, 1996 | Hungary | 15 – 24 | Austria |
| December 10, 1996 | | (7–11) | |
| December 11, 1996 | Croatia | 29 – 28 | Sweden |
| December 11, 1996 | | (15–14) | |
| December 11, 1996 | Denmark | 29 – 28 | Hungary |
| December 11, 1996 | | (14–14) | |
| December 11, 1996 | Austria | 29 – 22 | Poland |
| December 11, 1996 | | (15–10) | |

### Group B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Norway | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 134 | 106 | +28 | 8 | Semifinals |
| 2 | Germany | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 124 | 111 | +13 | 8 | Semifinals |
| 3 | Romania | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 132 | 122 | +10 | 7 | Fifth place game |
| 4 | Russia | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 132 | 119 | +13 | 5 | Seventh place game |
| 5 | Ukraine | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 114 | 122 | −8 | 2 | Ninth place game |
| 6 | Lithuania | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 97 | 153 | −56 | 0 | Eleventh place game |
| December 6, 1996 | Norway | 36 – 18 | Lithuania |
| December 6, 1996 | | (17–9) | |
| December 6, 1996 | Russia | 30 – 23 | Ukraine |
| December 6, 1996 | | (14–13) | |
| December 6, 1996 | Germany | 22 – 21 | Romania |
| December 6, 1996 | | (12–11) | |
| December 7, 1996 | Ukraine | 19 – 23 | Norway |
| December 7, 1996 | | (11–14) | |
| December 7, 1996 | Lithuania | 17 – 27 | Germany |
| December 7, 1996 | | (7–13) | |
| December 7, 1996 | Romania | 29 – 26 | Russia |
| December 7, 1996 | | (15–14) | |
| December 8, 1996 | Russia | 22 – 22 | Norway |
| December 8, 1996 | | (12–9) | |
| December 8, 1996 | Germany | 25 – 23 | Ukraine |
| December 8, 1996 | | (13–10) | |
| December 8, 1996 | Romania | 32 – 26 | Lithuania |
| December 8, 1996 | | (16–12) | |
| December 10, 1996 | Ukraine | 22 – 24 | Romania |
| December 10, 1996 | | (13–13) | |
| December 10, 1996 | Russia | 31 – 16 | Lithuania |
| December 10, 1996 | | (14–8) | |
| December 10, 1996 | Norway | 27 – 21 | Germany |
| December 10, 1996 | | (11–7) | |
| December 11, 1996 | Norway | 26 – 26 | Romania |
| December 11, 1996 | | (12–16) | |
| December 11, 1996 | Lithuania | 20 – 27 | Ukraine |
| December 11, 1996 | | (12–16) | |
| December 11, 1996 | Germany | 29 – 23 | Russia |
| December 11, 1996 | | (14–11) | |

### classification matches
## Eleventh place game

| December 13, 1996 17:00 | Poland | 30 – 27 (ET) | Lithuania | Herning Attendance: 1000 Referees: Wassili Fegir, Dmitri Stegura (UKR) |
| December 13, 1996 17:00 | Pawelska 16 | (11–11) | Pavoliene 15 | Herning Attendance: 1000 Referees: Wassili Fegir, Dmitri Stegura (UKR) |
| December 13, 1996 17:00 | 3× 8× 1× | Report | 2× 9× 1× | Herning Attendance: 1000 Referees: Wassili Fegir, Dmitri Stegura (UKR) |
| Herning Attendance: 1000 Referees: Wassili Fegir, Dmitri Stegura (UKR) |||

## Ninth place game

| December 13, 1996 16:00 | Hungary | 22 – 27 | Ukraine | Fredericia Attendance: 50 Referees: Giampiero Masi, Piero Di Piero (ITA) |
| December 13, 1996 16:00 | Mátéfi 8 | (14–14) | Martynienko 6 | Fredericia Attendance: 50 Referees: Giampiero Masi, Piero Di Piero (ITA) |
| December 13, 1996 16:00 | 3× 4× 0× | Report | 3× 2× 0× | Fredericia Attendance: 50 Referees: Giampiero Masi, Piero Di Piero (ITA) |

## Seventh place game

| December 13, 1996 18:00 | Sweden | 28 – 32 | Russia | Fredericia Attendance: 108 Referees: Stevan Popov, Zivan Stakic (SRB) |
| December 13, 1996 18:00 | Rosenberg Olsson 8 | (15–18) | Malakhova 8 | Fredericia Attendance: 108 Referees: Stevan Popov, Zivan Stakic (SRB) |
| December 13, 1996 18:00 | 3× 2× 0× | Report | 6× 0× 0× | Fredericia Attendance: 108 Referees: Stevan Popov, Zivan Stakic (SRB) |

## Fifth place game

| December 13, 1996 20:00 | Croatia | 17 – 23 | Romania | Fredericia Attendance: 50 Referees: Per Elbrønd, Kjeld Løvqvist (DEN) |
| December 13, 1996 20:00 | Nemaskalo 4 | (10–9) | Cozma 6 | Fredericia Attendance: 50 Referees: Per Elbrønd, Kjeld Løvqvist (DEN) |
| December 13, 1996 20:00 | 3× 5× 0× | Report | 3× 6× 0× | Fredericia Attendance: 50 Referees: Per Elbrønd, Kjeld Løvqvist (DEN) |

## Final round

| Semi-Final | Semi-Final | Final | Final |
| December 13, 1996 | December 13, 1996 |
| Denmark | 24 |
| Denmark | 24 | December 15, 1996 | December 15, 1996 |
| Germany | 22 | December 15, 1996 | December 15, 1996 |
| Germany | 22 | Denmark | 25 |
| December 13, 1996 | December 13, 1996 | | Denmark | 25 |
| December 13, 1996 | December 13, 1996 | Norway | 23 |
| Norway | 22 | Norway | 23 |
| Austria | 20 | | |
| Austria | 20 | 3rd/4th Place | 3rd/4th Place |
| | | December 15, 1996 | December 15, 1996 |
| | | Germany | 23 |
| | | Austria | 30 |

### Semifinals

| December 13, 1996 19:00 | Denmark | 24 – 22 | Germany | Herning Attendance: 4500 Referees: Grigorij Guterman, Feliksas Gedvilas (LTU) |
| December 13, 1996 19:00 | Andersen 6 | (13–10) | Jurack 6 | Herning Attendance: 4500 Referees: Grigorij Guterman, Feliksas Gedvilas (LTU) |
| December 13, 1996 19:00 | 3× 2× 0× | Report | 3× 2× 0× | Herning Attendance: 4500 Referees: Grigorij Guterman, Feliksas Gedvilas (LTU) |
| Herning Attendance: 4500 Referees: Grigorij Guterman, Feliksas Gedvilas (LTU) |||
| December 13, 1996 21:00 | Norway | 22 – 20 | Austria | Herning Attendance: 4500 Referees: Jeno Klucso, Tivadar Lekrinszki (HUN) |
| December 13, 1996 21:00 | Grini 9 | (11–11) | Fridrikas, Teodorovic 5 | Herning Attendance: 4500 Referees: Jeno Klucso, Tivadar Lekrinszki (HUN) |
| December 13, 1996 21:00 | 3× 3× 0× | Report | 2× 2× 0× | Herning Attendance: 4500 Referees: Jeno Klucso, Tivadar Lekrinszki (HUN) |

### Bronze medal match

| December 15, 1996 14:00 | Austria | 30 – 23 | Germany | Herning Attendance: 4500 Referees: Francois Garcia, Jean-Pierre Morena (FRA) |
| December 15, 1996 14:00 | | (18–8) | | Herning Attendance: 4500 Referees: Francois Garcia, Jean-Pierre Morena (FRA) |
| December 15, 1996 14:00 | | Report | | Herning Attendance: 4500 Referees: Francois Garcia, Jean-Pierre Morena (FRA) |

### Gold medal match

| December 15, 1996 16:00 | Denmark | 25 – 23 | Norway | Herning Attendance: 4500 Referees: Stefan Arnaldsson, Rögnvald Erlingsson (ISL) |
| December 15, 1996 16:00 | | (10–10) | | Herning Attendance: 4500 Referees: Stefan Arnaldsson, Rögnvald Erlingsson (ISL) |
| December 15, 1996 16:00 | | Report | | Herning Attendance: 4500 Referees: Stefan Arnaldsson, Rögnvald Erlingsson (ISL) |

## Final ranking

| | Denmark |
| | Norway |
| | Austria |
| 4 | Germany |
| 5 | Romania |
| 6 | Croatia |
| 7 | Russia |
| 8 | Sweden |
| 9 | Ukraine |
| 10 | Hungary |
| 11 | Poland |
| 12 | Lithuania |
* 1996 Women's European champions
* Denmark 2nd title