# 2026 European Women's Handball Championship qualification

This article describes the qualification for the 2026 European Women's Handball Championship.

## Qualification system

Nine teams played in phase 1 in a single round-robin system, with the group winners advancing to phase 2 and join the remaining teams.

## Qualification phase 1

The groups were played at a single venue.

### Draw

The draw took place on 20 December 2024.

### Seeding

| Pot 1 | Pot 2 | Pot 3 |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina Lithuania Luxembourg | Bulgaria Cyprus Great Britain | Belgium Estonia Malta |

### Groups
#### Group 1

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Bosnia and Herzegovina (H) | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 56 | 35 | +21 | 4 | Qualification phase 2 |
| 2 | Estonia | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 55 | 56 | −1 | 2 | |
| 3 | Great Britain | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 40 | 60 | −20 | 0 | |
| 7 March 2025 17:00 | Estonia | 20–31 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | KSPC Mejdan, Tuzla Attendance: 400 Referees: Pavićević, Martinović (MNE) |
| 7 March 2025 17:00 | Gorbatsjova 5 | (8–14) | Bošnjak 7 | KSPC Mejdan, Tuzla Attendance: 400 Referees: Pavićević, Martinović (MNE) |
| 7 March 2025 17:00 | 1× 4× | Report | 2× | KSPC Mejdan, Tuzla Attendance: 400 Referees: Pavićević, Martinović (MNE) |
| 8 March 2025 17:00 | Great Britain | 25–35 | Estonia | KSPC Mejdan, Tuzla Attendance: 100 Referees: Pavićević, Martinović (MNE) |
| 8 March 2025 17:00 | Luke 9 | (14–19) | Molkova 11 | KSPC Mejdan, Tuzla Attendance: 100 Referees: Pavićević, Martinović (MNE) |
| 8 March 2025 17:00 | 1× 1× | Report | 5× | KSPC Mejdan, Tuzla Attendance: 100 Referees: Pavićević, Martinović (MNE) |
| 9 March 2025 17:00 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 25–15 | Great Britain | KSPC Mejdan, Tuzla Attendance: 450 Referees: Pavićević, Martinović (MNE) |
| 9 March 2025 17:00 | Topčić 7 | (12–9) | Kesselring 4 | KSPC Mejdan, Tuzla Attendance: 450 Referees: Pavićević, Martinović (MNE) |
| 9 March 2025 17:00 | 3× | Report | 1× 4× | KSPC Mejdan, Tuzla Attendance: 450 Referees: Pavićević, Martinović (MNE) |

#### Group 2

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Lithuania | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 66 | 31 | +35 | 4 | Qualification phase 2 |
| 2 | Bulgaria (H) | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 60 | 41 | +19 | 2 | |
| 3 | Malta | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 22 | 76 | −54 | 0 | |
| 7 March 2025 17:30 | Bulgaria | 37–14 | Malta | Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 750 Referees: Bočáková, Jánošíková (SVK) |
| 7 March 2025 17:30 | Spasova 10 | (19–9) | Schiavone 5 | Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 750 Referees: Bočáková, Jánošíková (SVK) |
| 7 March 2025 17:30 | 1× 6× | Report | 2× | Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 750 Referees: Bočáková, Jánošíková (SVK) |
| 8 March 2025 15:00 | Malta | 8–39 | Lithuania | Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 150 Referees: Bočáková, Jánošíková (SVK) |
| 8 March 2025 15:00 | Petrella 3 | (3–17) | Andronik 7 | Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 150 Referees: Bočáková, Jánošíková (SVK) |
| 8 March 2025 15:00 | 3× | Report | 1× 3× | Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 150 Referees: Bočáková, Jánošíková (SVK) |
| 9 March 2025 13:00 | Lithuania | 27–23 | Bulgaria | Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 1,000 Referees: Bočáková, Jánošíková (SVK) |
| 9 March 2025 13:00 | Pilikauskaitė 8 | (16–11) | Panayotova 6 | Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 1,000 Referees: Bočáková, Jánošíková (SVK) |
| 9 March 2025 13:00 | 4× | Report | 1× 4× | Palace of Culture and Sports, Varna Attendance: 1,000 Referees: Bočáková, Jánošíková (SVK) |

#### Group 3

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Belgium | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 54 | 41 | +13 | 4 | Qualification phase 2 |
| 2 | Cyprus (H) | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 44 | 42 | +2 | 2 | |
| 3 | Luxembourg | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 44 | 59 | −15 | 0 | |
| 7 March 2025 18:00 | Cyprus | 18–21 | Belgium | Eleftheria Indoor Hall, Nicosia Attendance: 800 Referees: Peretz, Schwartz (ISR) |
| 7 March 2025 18:00 | Papa 8 | (12–12) | Antonissen 6 | Eleftheria Indoor Hall, Nicosia Attendance: 800 Referees: Peretz, Schwartz (ISR) |
| 7 March 2025 18:00 | 1× | Report | 1× 3× | Eleftheria Indoor Hall, Nicosia Attendance: 800 Referees: Peretz, Schwartz (ISR) |
| 8 March 2025 18:00 | Belgium | 33–23 | Luxembourg | Eleftheria Indoor Hall, Nicosia Attendance: 300 Referees: Peretz, Schwartz (ISR) |
| 8 March 2025 18:00 | Antonissen 8 | (17–10) | Dautaj 6 | Eleftheria Indoor Hall, Nicosia Attendance: 300 Referees: Peretz, Schwartz (ISR) |
| 8 March 2025 18:00 | 2× 3× 1× | Report | 5× | Eleftheria Indoor Hall, Nicosia Attendance: 300 Referees: Peretz, Schwartz (ISR) |
| 9 March 2025 18:00 | Luxembourg | 21–26 | Cyprus | Eleftheria Indoor Hall, Nicosia Attendance: 550 Referees: Peretz, Schwartz (ISR) |
| 9 March 2025 18:00 | Cilovic 6 | (8–17) | Konstantinidou 10 | Eleftheria Indoor Hall, Nicosia Attendance: 550 Referees: Peretz, Schwartz (ISR) |
| 9 March 2025 18:00 | 1× 3× | Report | 2× 1× 1× | Eleftheria Indoor Hall, Nicosia Attendance: 550 Referees: Peretz, Schwartz (ISR) |

## Qualification phase 2

The group winners of phase 1 will join the remaining teams.

## Qualified teams

| Team | Qualification method | Date of qualification | App | First | Last | Streak | Best placement in tournament |
| Czech Republic | Host nation | 8 March 2024 | 9th | 1994 | 2024 | 2 | Eighth place (1994, 2002) |
| Poland | Host nation | 8 March 2024 | 10th | 1996 | 2024 | 7 | Fifth place (1998) |
| Romania | Host nation | 8 March 2024 | 16th | 1994 | 2024 | 10 | Third place (2010) |
| Slovakia | Host nation | 8 March 2024 | 4th | 1994 | 2024 | 2 | Twelveth place (1994, 2014) |
| Turkey | Host nation | 8 March 2024 | 2nd | 2024 | 2024 | 2 | Twentieth place (2024) |