2014 European Women's Handball Championship
The 2014 European Women's Handball Championship was the eleventh continental tournament for women's national teams, organized by the European Handball Federation. The second jointly hosted edition in the competition's history took place in Hungary and Croatia from 7 to 21 December 2014.
Norway won their sixth title after beating Spain 28–25 in the final. Sweden defeated Montenegro 25–23 to capture the bronze medal.
Norway's victory ensured their qualification for the 2016 Summer Olympics. However, they later won the 2015 World Women's Handball Championship, vacating the European champion Olympic berth which fell to Spain as the runner-up. The two next-best placed teams, Sweden and Montenegro, earned spots in the Olympic Qualification Tournaments.
Host selection
Initially there were two applicants for the tournament, Slovenia and Turkey, with none of them having the experience of organizing a continental event before. However, both candidates withdrew their offers later, thus the host nation could not be selected on the 10th Ordinary EHF Congress between 24 and 25 September 2010 as it was planned.Instead, the European Handball Federation re-launched the bidding process. As a result, six federations showed intention to host the championship. Until the final deadline of 28 January 2011, EHF received three bids from four federations:
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Seeding
The draw was held on 19 June 2014 at 13:00 local time in Zagreb, Croatia.| Pot 1 | Pot 2 | Pot 3 | Pot 4 |
Referees
12 referee pairs were selected:Preliminary round
The playing schedule was released on 4 June 2014.''All times are local.''
Group A
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Group B
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Group C
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Group D
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Main round
''All times are local.''Group I
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Group II
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Knockout stage
Bracket
''All times are local.''Semifinals
----Final ranking
| Rank | Team |
| 4 | |
| 5 | |
| 6 | |
| 7 | |
| 8 | |
| 9 | |
| 10 | |
| 11 | |
| 12 | |
| 13 | |
| 14 | |
| 15 | |
| 16 |
| Qualified for the 2015 World Championship | |
| Qualified for the 2016 Summer Olympics | |
| Qualified for the Olympic Qualification Tournament |
Note: As Norway later qualified for the olympics as World Champions, the qualification slot went to the runner up instead and Montenegro qualified for the qualification tournament instead of Spain.
Awards
The all-star team and awards were announced on 21 December 2014.All-Star Team
- Goalkeeper:
- Right wing:
- Right back:
- Centre back:
- Left back:
- Left wing:
- '''Pivot:'''
Other awards
- Most Valuable Player:
- '''Best Defensive Player:'''