# 2023–24 Women's EHF European League

The 2023–24 Women's EHF European League is the 43rd edition of EHF's second-tier women's handball competition, running from 23 September 2023 to 12 May 2024.
Ikast Håndbold are the defending champions, but they won't be defending their title due to their involvement in this season's Champions League.
Storhamar Håndball Elite became the first Norwegian team to win the title, defeating Romanian side, CS Gloria Bistrița, in the final.

## Rankings

The rankings are based on the performances of each club from a respective country from a three year period. This season, the EHF decided to make separate rankings for each club competition.
* Associations 1–2 can have four clubs qualify.
* Associations 3–9 can have three clubs qualify.
* Associations 10–18 can have two clubs qualify.
* Associations 19–31 can have one club qualify.
* Associations below the top 31 can't participate in this competition.
| Rank | Association | Average points | Teams |
| 1 | Denmark | 101.00 | 2 |
| 2 | Hungary | 86.00 | 2 |
| 3 | Germany | 80.33 | 4 |
| 4 | Romania | 74.67 | 3 |
| 5 | France | 72.00 | 3 |
| 6 | Russia | 51.33 | 0 |
| 7 | Croatia | 47.00 | 2 |
| 8 | Norway | 46.00 | 4 |
| 9 | Poland | 37.00 | 1 |
| 10 | Turkey | 32.00 | 1 |
| 11 | Czech Republic | 19.00 | 1 |
| 12 | Spain | 18.00 | 2 |
| 13 | Sweden | 12.67 | 2 |
| 14 | Serbia | 8.00 | 2 |
| 15 | Austria | 4.67 | 1 |
| 16 | Belarus | 4.00 | 0 |
| Rank | Association | Average points | Teams |
| 16 | Ukraine | 4.00 | 0 |
| 18 | Slovakia | 3.67 | 0 |
| 19 | Greece | 3.67 | 1 |
| 20 | Netherlands | 2.67 | 0 |
| 21 | Finland | 1.50 | 0 |
| 21 | Iceland | 1.50 | 1 |
| 23 | Switzerland | 1.00 | 2 |
| 23 | North Macedonia | 1.00 | 0 |
| 23 | Portugal | 1.00 | 0 |
| 26 | Luxembourg | 0.50 | 0 |
| 27 | Azerbaijan | 0.33 | 0 |
| 27 | Cyprus | 0.33 | 0 |
| 27 | Israel | 0.33 | 0 |
| 27 | Italy | 0.33 | 0 |
| 27 | Kosovo | 0.33 | 0 |
| 32 | Everyone else | 0.00 | 0 |

## Qualified teams
### Team allocation

Group stage :
| Nykøbing Falster Håndbold (4th, CR) | Thüringer HC (2nd) | Motherson Mosonmagyaróvár (4th) | CS Gloria Bistrița (3rd) |
| Round 3 ||||
| RK Lokomotiva Zagreb (1st) | Podravka Vegeta (2nd) | DHK Baník Most (2nd) | København Håndbold (6th) |
| Neptunes de Nantes (3rd) | Chambray Touraine HB (4th) | Borussia Dortmund (3rd) | HSG Bensheim/Auerbach (8th, CR) |
| Praktiker-Vác (5th) | Storhamar Håndball Elite (2nd) | Sola HK (3rd) | MKS FunFloor Perła Lublin (2nd) |
| CSM Târgu Jiu (10th, CR) | ŽORK Jagodina (1st) | Super Amara Bera Bera (3rd) | H65 Höörs HK (2nd) |
| LC Brühl Handball (1st) | Kastamonu Bld. GSK (1st) | | |
| Round 2 ||||
| Hypo Niederösterreich (1st) | JDA Bourgogne Dijon HB (5th) | VfL Oldenburg (4th) | AC PAOK (1st) |
| Valur (1st) | Larvik HK (4th) | Molde Elite (5th) | HC Dunărea Brăila (4th) |
| ŽRK Železničar (2nd) | Costa del Sol Malaga (1st) | Önnereds HK (3rd) | SPONO Eagles (2nd) |

## Round and draw dates

The schedule of the competition was as follows (all draws were held at the EHF headquarters in Vienna, Austria).
| Phase | Round | Draw date | First leg | Second leg |
| Qualification | Second qualifying round | 18 July 2023 | 23 September 2023 | 30 September 2023 |
| Qualification | Third qualifying round | 18 July 2023 | 11–12 November 2023 | 18–19 November 2023 |
| Group stage | Matchday 1 | 23 November 2023 | 6–7 January 2024 | 6–7 January 2024 |
| Group stage | Matchday 2 | 23 November 2023 | 13–14 January 2024 | 13–14 January 2024 |
| Group stage | Matchday 3 | 23 November 2023 | 20–21 January 2024 | 20–21 January 2024 |
| Group stage | Matchday 4 | 23 November 2023 | 3–4 February 2024 | 3–4 February 2024 |
| Group stage | Matchday 5 | 23 November 2023 | 10–11 February 2024 | 10–11 February 2024 |
| Group stage | Matchday 6 | 23 November 2023 | 17–18 February 2024 | 17–18 February 2024 |
| Knockout phase | Quarter-finals | no draw | 16–17 March 2024 | 23–24 March 2024 |
| Knockout phase | Semi finals | 26 March 2024 | 11 May 2024 | 11 May 2024 |
| Knockout phase | Final | no draw | 12 May 2024 | 12 May 2024 |

## Qualification stage
### Round 2

There were 12 teams participating in round 2. The first legs were played on 23 September and the second legs were played on 30 September–1 October 2023.
Seeding :
| Seeded | Unseeded |
| Hypo Niederösterreich AC PAOK Valur Molde Elite Costa del Sol Malaga ŽRK Železničar | VfL Oldenburg JDA Bourgogne Dijon HB HC Dunărea Brăila Larvik HK Önnereds HK SPONO Eagles |
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| VfL Oldenburg | 62–47 | AC PAOK | 37–22 | 25–25 |
| SPONO Eagles | 63–62 | ŽRK Železničar | 30–28 | 33–34 |
| Larvik HK | 58–68 | Costa del Sol Malaga | 31–35 | 27–33 |
| Hypo Niederösterreich | 63–64 | Önnereds HK | 29–27 | 34–37 PS |
| Valur | 43–60 | HC Dunărea Brăila | 29–30 | 14–30 |
| JDA Bourgogne Dijon HB | 52–75 | Molde Elite | 29–35 | 23–40 |

### Round 3

There were 24 teams participating in round 3. The first legs were played on 11–12 November and the second legs were played on 18–19 November 2023.
Seeding :
| Seeded | Unseeded |
| København Håndbold Praktiker-Vác Borussia Dortmund Neptunes de Nantes CSM Târgu Jiu Storhamar Håndball Elite MKS FunFloor Perła Lublin RK Lokomotiva Zagreb HSG Bensheim-Auerbach Chambray Touraine HB Sola HK Podravka Vegeta | Super Amara Bera Bera H65 Höörs HK Kastamonu Bld. GSK DHK Baník Most LC Brühl Handball ŽORK Jagodina Winner of Play off 1 Winner of Play off 2 Winner of Play off 3 Winner of Play off 4 Winner of Play off 5 Winner of Play off 6 |
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| HSG Bensheim/Auerbach | 55–44 | VfL Oldenburg | 27–19 | 28–25 |
| LC Brühl Handball | 43–53 | RK Lokomotiva Zagreb | 23–28 | 20–25 |
| Praktiker-Vác | 70–53 | Kastamonu Bld. GSK | 37–21 | 33–32 |
| Borussia Dortmund | 46–52 | HC Dunărea Brăila | 24–25 | 22–27 |
| Storhamar Håndball Elite | 73–60 | H65 Höörs HK | 37–28 | 36–32 |
| Chambray Touraine HB | 60–47 | DHK Baník Most | 33–20 | 27–27 |
| SPONO Eagles | 43–58 | Podravka Vegeta | 17–26 | 26–32 |
| Neptunes de Nantes | 75–52 | Molde Elite | 45–28 | 30–24 |
| Sola HK | 67–66 | Super Amara Bera Bera | 39–32 | 28–34 |
| Önnereds HK | 50–55 | CSM Târgu Jiu | 27–29 | 23–26 |
| ŽORK Jagodina | 44–80 | MKS FunFloor Perła Lublin | 20–36 | 24–44 |
| Costa del Sol Malaga | 54–49 | København Håndbold | 29–29 | 25–20 |
* ↑ 5th place Viborg HK declined
* ↑ Both matches were hosted by RK Lokomotiva Zagreb in Zagreb.
* ↑ Both matches were hosted by Podravka Vegeta in Koprivnica.
* ↑ Both matches were hosted by CSM Târgu Jiu, in Târgu Jiu.

## Group stage

The draw for the group phase was held on Thursday, 23 November 2023. In each group, teams played against each other in a double round-robin format, with home and away matches.
In the group stage, teams were ranked according to points (2 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). After completion of the group stage, if two or more teams have scored the same number of points, the ranking will be determined as follows:
* Highest number of points in matches between the teams directly involved;
* Superior goal difference in matches between the teams directly involved;
* Highest number of goals scored in matches between the teams directly involved;
* Superior goal difference in all matches of the group;
* Highest number of plus goals in all matches of the group;
This season, nine national associations are present. For the first time since the 2018–19 season, Spain has a qualified team, while Romania has the most teams in the group stage with three.

### Group A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | STO | POD | NFH | VAC |
| 1 | Storhamar Håndball Elite | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 169 | 138 | +31 | 10 | Quarterfinals | — | 31–22 | 27–26 | 35–17 |
| 2 | Podravka Vegeta | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 147 | 148 | −1 | 7 | Quarterfinals | 23–19 | — | 25–23 | 27–24 |
| 3 | Nykøbing Falster Håndbold | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 154 | 155 | −1 | 4 | | 26–27 | 23–22 | — | 32–27 |
| 4 | Praktiker-Vác | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 147 | 176 | −29 | 3 | | 24–33 | 28–28 | 27–24 | — |

### Group B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | DUN | THC | CHA | LOK |
| 1 | HC Dunărea Brăila | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 176 | 150 | +26 | 10 | Quarterfinals | — | 33–23 | 27–21 | 34–26 |
| 2 | Thüringer HC | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 173 | 146 | +27 | 10 | Quarterfinals | 32–28 | — | 29–22 | 29–17 |
| 3 | Chambray Touraine HB | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 143 | 159 | −16 | 4 | | 19–24 | 25–32 | — | 27–25 |
| 4 | RK Lokomotiva Zagreb | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 140 | 177 | −37 | 0 | | 29–30 | 21–28 | 22–29 | — |
* 1 2 HC Dunărea Brăila 61–55 Thüringer HC

### Group C

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | GLO | NAN | BEN | LUB |
| 1 | CS Gloria Bistrița | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 176 | 148 | +28 | 11 | Quarterfinals | — | 19–19 | 33–24 | 26–23 |
| 2 | Neptunes de Nantes | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 190 | 171 | +19 | 7 | Quarterfinals | 29–34 | — | 39–27 | 39–25 |
| 3 | HSG Bensheim/Auerbach | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 182 | 200 | −18 | 4 | | 27–35 | 37–30 | — | 35–29 |
| 4 | MKS FunFloor Perła Lublin | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 166 | 195 | −29 | 2 | | 26–29 | 29–34 | 34–32 | — |

### Group D

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | SOL | MOS | COS | TAR |
| 1 | Sola HK | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 195 | 164 | +31 | 10 | Quarterfinals | — | 28–32 | 36–31 | 40–29 |
| 2 | Motherson Mosonmagyaróvár | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 167 | 161 | +6 | 8 | Quarterfinals | 29–34 | — | 25–23 | 33–27 |
| 3 | Costa del Sol Malaga | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 170 | 164 | +6 | 6 | | 22–26 | 29–26 | — | 30–26 |
| 4 | CSM Târgu Jiu | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 148 | 191 | −43 | 0 | | 21–31 | 20–22 | 25–35 | — |

## Quarterfinals

| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Thüringer HC | 61–72 | Storhamar Håndball Elite | 35–39 | 26–33 |
| Podravka Vegeta | 51–58 | HC Dunărea Brăila | 26–32 | 25–26 |
| Neptunes de Nantes | 70–57 | Sola HK | 31–27 | 39–30 |
| Motherson Mosonmagyaróvár | 55–59 | CS Gloria Bistrița | 30–32 | 25–27 |

### Matches

| 17 March 2024 16:00 | Thüringer HC | 35–39 | Storhamar Håndball Elite | Salza-Halle, Bad Langensalza Attendance: 1,400 Referees: Pagh, Pontoppidan (DEN) |
| 17 March 2024 16:00 | Reichert 9 | (17–19) | Obaidli 10 | Salza-Halle, Bad Langensalza Attendance: 1,400 Referees: Pagh, Pontoppidan (DEN) |
| 17 March 2024 16:00 | 1× 2× | Report | 1× 2× | Salza-Halle, Bad Langensalza Attendance: 1,400 Referees: Pagh, Pontoppidan (DEN) |
| 23 March 2024 16:00 | Storhamar Håndball Elite | 33–26 | Thüringer HC | Boligpartner Arena, Hamar Attendance: 1,321 Referees: Fukala, Muhyla (CZE) |
| 23 March 2024 16:00 | Obadili 9 | (15–9) | Rode 9 | Boligpartner Arena, Hamar Attendance: 1,321 Referees: Fukala, Muhyla (CZE) |
| 23 March 2024 16:00 | 1× 1× | Report | 1× 3× | Boligpartner Arena, Hamar Attendance: 1,321 Referees: Fukala, Muhyla (CZE) |
| 16 March 2024 16:00 | Podravka Vegeta | 26–32 | HC Dunărea Brăila | ŠSD "Josip Samaržija-Bepo", Koprivnica Attendance: 1,200 Referees: Ilieva, Karbeska (MKD) |
| 16 March 2024 16:00 | Mamić 10 | (13–21) | Ježić 7 | ŠSD "Josip Samaržija-Bepo", Koprivnica Attendance: 1,200 Referees: Ilieva, Karbeska (MKD) |
| 16 March 2024 16:00 | 1× | Report | 2× 2× | ŠSD "Josip Samaržija-Bepo", Koprivnica Attendance: 1,200 Referees: Ilieva, Karbeska (MKD) |
| 24 March 2024 18:00 | HC Dunărea Brăila | 26–25 | Podravka Vegeta | Sala Sporturilor „Romeo Iamandi”, Buzău Attendance: 1,700 Referees: Aghakishi, Aghakishi (AZE) |
| 24 March 2024 18:00 | Ježić 7 | (10–12) | Šimara 5 | Sala Sporturilor „Romeo Iamandi”, Buzău Attendance: 1,700 Referees: Aghakishi, Aghakishi (AZE) |
| 24 March 2024 18:00 | 3× | Report | 2× 2× | Sala Sporturilor „Romeo Iamandi”, Buzău Attendance: 1,700 Referees: Aghakishi, Aghakishi (AZE) |
| 17 March 2024 18:00 | Neptunes de Nantes | 31–27 | Sola HK | Complexe Sportif Mangin-Beaulieu, Nantes Attendance: 1,827 Referees: Yonchev, Yovchev (BUL) |
| 17 March 2024 18:00 | Vollebregt 5 | (16–15) | Holta 10 | Complexe Sportif Mangin-Beaulieu, Nantes Attendance: 1,827 Referees: Yonchev, Yovchev (BUL) |
| 17 March 2024 18:00 | 1× 2× | Report | 1× 3× | Complexe Sportif Mangin-Beaulieu, Nantes Attendance: 1,827 Referees: Yonchev, Yovchev (BUL) |
| 24 March 2024 16:00 | Sola HK | 30–39 | Neptunes de Nantes | Stavanger Idrettshall, Stavanger Attendance: 1,530 Referees: Bocakova, Janosikova (SVK) |
| 24 March 2024 16:00 | Tveiten 6 | (10–17) | Sajka 8 | Stavanger Idrettshall, Stavanger Attendance: 1,530 Referees: Bocakova, Janosikova (SVK) |
| 24 March 2024 16:00 | 1× 4× | Report | 1× 4× | Stavanger Idrettshall, Stavanger Attendance: 1,530 Referees: Bocakova, Janosikova (SVK) |
| 16 March 2024 20:00 | Motherson Mosonmagyaróvár | 30–32 | CS Gloria Bistrița | UFM Aréna, Mosonmagyaróvár Attendance: 1,001 Referees: Duplii, Pobedrina (UKR) |
| 16 March 2024 20:00 | Stranigg 6 | (12–14) | Laslo 8 | UFM Aréna, Mosonmagyaróvár Attendance: 1,001 Referees: Duplii, Pobedrina (UKR) |
| 16 March 2024 20:00 | 1× 4× | Report | 2× 2× | UFM Aréna, Mosonmagyaróvár Attendance: 1,001 Referees: Duplii, Pobedrina (UKR) |
| 23 March 2024 14:00 | CS Gloria Bistrița | 27–25 | Motherson Mosonmagyaróvár | TeraPlast Arena, Bistrița Attendance: 3,000 Referees: Puksic, Satler (SLO) |
| 23 March 2024 14:00 | Laslo 9 | (15–15) | Lancz 6 | TeraPlast Arena, Bistrița Attendance: 3,000 Referees: Puksic, Satler (SLO) |
| 23 March 2024 14:00 | 2× | Report | 3× | TeraPlast Arena, Bistrița Attendance: 3,000 Referees: Puksic, Satler (SLO) |

## Final Four

The Final Four, (also known as the EHF Finals by the EHF), is held at the Raiffeisen Sportpark in Graz, Austria on 11 and 12 May 2024. The draw took place on 26 March 2024.

### Bracket

| Semifinals | Semifinals | Final | Final |
| 11 May | 11 May |
| CS Gloria Bistrița | 37 |
| CS Gloria Bistrița | 37 | 12 May | 12 May |
| HC Dunărea Brăila | 26 | 12 May | 12 May |
| HC Dunărea Brăila | 26 | CS Gloria Bistrița | 27 |
| 11 May | 11 May | | CS Gloria Bistrița | 27 |
| 11 May | 11 May | Storhamar HE | 29 |
| Storhamar HE | 28 | Storhamar HE | 29 |
| Neptunes de Nantes | 27 | | |
| Neptunes de Nantes | 27 | Third place | Third place |
| | | 12 May | 12 May |
| | | HC Dunărea Brăila | 38 |
| | | Neptunes de Nantes | 39 |

### Semifinals

| 11 May 2024 15:00 | CS Gloria Bistrița | 37–26 | HC Dunărea Brăila | Raiffeisen Sportpark, Graz Attendance: 1,650 Referees: Duplii, Pobedrina (UKR) |
| 11 May 2024 15:00 | Laslo 9 | (20–14) | Ježić 7 | Raiffeisen Sportpark, Graz Attendance: 1,650 Referees: Duplii, Pobedrina (UKR) |
| 11 May 2024 15:00 | 1× 6× | Report | 3× | Raiffeisen Sportpark, Graz Attendance: 1,650 Referees: Duplii, Pobedrina (UKR) |
| 11 May 2024 18:00 | Storhamar Håndball Elite | 28–27 | Neptunes de Nantes | Raiffeisen Sportpark, Graz Attendance: 1,450 Referees: Vranes, Wenninger (AUT) |
| 11 May 2024 18:00 | Nestaker, Obaidli 9 | (12–16) | Sajka 7 | Raiffeisen Sportpark, Graz Attendance: 1,450 Referees: Vranes, Wenninger (AUT) |
| 11 May 2024 18:00 | 3× | Report | 6× | Raiffeisen Sportpark, Graz Attendance: 1,450 Referees: Vranes, Wenninger (AUT) |

### Third place game

| 12 May 2024 15:00 | HC Dunărea Brăila | 38–39 | Neptunes de Nantes | Raiffeisen Sportpark, Graz Attendance: 1,600 Referees: Merisi, Pepe (ITA) |
| 12 May 2024 15:00 | three players 6 | (14–18) | Ondono, Sajka 6 | Raiffeisen Sportpark, Graz Attendance: 1,600 Referees: Merisi, Pepe (ITA) |
| 12 May 2024 15:00 | | Report | 3× | Raiffeisen Sportpark, Graz Attendance: 1,600 Referees: Merisi, Pepe (ITA) |
| Raiffeisen Sportpark, Graz Attendance: 1,600 Referees: Merisi, Pepe (ITA) |||

### Final

| 12 May 2024 18:00 | CS Gloria Bistrița | 27–29 | Storhamar Håndball Elite | Raiffeisen Sportpark, Graz Attendance: 1,800 Referees: Ünlü, Simsek (TUR) |
| 12 May 2024 18:00 | Lima, Laslo 6 | (15–14) | Obaidli 9 | Raiffeisen Sportpark, Graz Attendance: 1,800 Referees: Ünlü, Simsek (TUR) |
| 12 May 2024 18:00 | 1× 3× 2× | Report | 2× 3× | Raiffeisen Sportpark, Graz Attendance: 1,800 Referees: Ünlü, Simsek (TUR) |

## Top goalscorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Anniken Obaidli | Storhamar HE | 82 |
| 2 | Csenge Kuczora | Praktiker-Vác | 59 |
| 3 | Tamara Horacek | Neptunes de Nantes | 58 |
| 4 | Cristina Laslo | CS Gloria Bistrița | 57 |
| 5 | Katarina Ježić | HC Dunărea Brăila | 55 |
| 6 | Camilla Herrem | Sola HK | 54 |
| 6 | Lucie-Marie Kretzschmar | HSG Bensheim-Auerbach | 54 |
| 8 | Kristina Liščević | HC Dunărea Brăila | 51 |
| 8 | Oriane Ondono | Neptunes de Nantes | 51 |
| 10 | Kristina Novak | Sola HK | 50 |