2022 European Men's Handball Championship
The 2022 EHF European Men's Handball Championship was the 15th edition of the tournament and the second to feature 24 national teams. It was co-hosted in two countries – Hungary and Slovakia – from 13 to 30 January 2022. For the matches in Slovakia the spectator capacity was only 25% due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In Hungary the capacity was 100%.
Sweden won their first title in 20 years after defeating defending champions Spain in the final. Denmark captured the bronze medal after defeating France. Hosts Hungary and Slovakia finished 15th and 18th.
Bidding process
Bids
On 4 May 2017 it was announced that the following nations had made an official expression of interest:- Belgium, Spain & France
- Czech Republic, Hungary & Slovakia
- Denmark, Germany & Switzerland
- Macedonia
- Russia & Belarus
- Lithuania
Host selection
On 20 June, at the 14th ordinary EHF Congress held in Glasgow, Hungary and Slovakia were selected to host the competition.| Country | - |
| Country | Votes |
| & | 32 |
| , & | 14 |
| & | – |
| Total | 46 |
Venues
Following is a list of all venues and host cities which were used.Qualification
The qualification for the final tournament took place between January 2019 and May 2021. The two host teams, Hungary and Slovakia, and the two best placed teams from the previous championship, Spain and Croatia, qualified automatically, leaving a total of 40 national teams to compete for the remaining 20 places in the final tournament.The competition consisted of three rounds: two qualification phases and a relegation round. The first qualification phase involved teams that did not participate in the second round of the 2020 qualification tournament. The two best teams advanced to a relegation round, where they were joined by the best European team from the 2019 IHF Emerging Nations Championship and the three worst ranked fourth-placed teams from the second round of the 2020 qualification. The three winners of the two-legged relegation round matches advanced to the second and last qualifying phase, joining the remaining 21 teams that participated in the 2020 championship and the remaining eight teams that were eliminated in the second round of the 2020 qualification. Those 32 teams were divided into eight groups by four teams, with top two teams and four best ranked third-teams qualifying.
Qualified teams
Note: Bold indicates champion for that year. Italic indicates host for that year.Marketing
The official logo and slogan was unveiled on 25 January 2020 at the EHF Extraordinary Congress in Stockholm. The logo included the national colours of both host nations – red, green, white and blue, forming the handball and an eye. This relates to the event's motto "Watch Games, See More", highlighting opportunities for fans around the six venues.Draw
The draw took place in Budapest on 6 May 2021.Seeding
The seedings were announced on 3 May 2021. The organizing countries had the right to allocate one team to each of the groups they were hosting due to potential spectators' interest. Hungary selected Croatia and Slovenia, while Slovakia selected Germany and the Czech Republic.| Pot 1 | Pot 2 | Pot 3 | Pot 4 |
Referees
The referee pairs were selected on 10 September 2021. Two more pairs were selected on 10 January 2022.Squads
Each team consists of up to 20 players, of whom 16 may be fielded for each match.Preliminary round
''All times are local.''Group A
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Group B
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Group C
David Mandić received a blue card in the 47th minute for a punch against the head of Kentin Mahé. He received a one game suspension from the EHF and he missed the next game against Serbia.----
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Group D
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Group E
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Group F
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Main round
Points and goals gained in the preliminary group against teams that advanced were transferred to the main round.Group I
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Group II
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Knockout stage
Semifinals
----Ranking and statistics
Final ranking
The teams ranked fourth in each group after the completion of the preliminary round matches were ranked 19 to 24, while teams ranked third in each group after the completion of the preliminary round matches were ranked 13 to 18 according to the number of points won in the preliminary round. Places seven and eight were attributed to the two teams ranked fourth in the groups, places nine and ten to the two teams ranked fifth in the groups and places eleven and twelve to the two teams ranked sixth in the group according to the number of points won by the respective teams after completion of the main round matches. Places five and six were decided by a play-off, and the top four places by knock-out.Entry stages
| Q | Qualified directly to a main tournament |
| q2 | Enters part 2 of qualification phase 2 |
| q1 | Enters part 1 of qualification phase 2 |
Method of qualification
| Qualified for the phase indicated based on this tournament | |
| Qualified for the tournament as a host nation | |
| Qualified for the World Championship as defending title holder | |
| Qualified for the 2023 World Championship as co-Host |
All-Star team
The All-Star team and most valuable player were announced on 30 January 2022.| Position | Player |
| Most valuable player | Jim Gottfridsson |
| Best defender | Oscar Bergendahl |
| Goalkeeper | Viktor Gísli Hallgrímsson |
| Right wing | Aleix Gómez |
| Right back | Mathias Gidsel |
| Centre back | Luc Steins |
| Left back | Mikkel Hansen |
| Left wing | Miloš Vujović |
| Pivot | Johannes Golla |
Statistics
Top goalscorers
| Rank | Name | Goals | Shots | |
| 1 | Ómar Ingi Magnússon | 59 | 80 | 74 |
| 2 | Mikkel Hansen | 48 | 69 | 70 |
| 3 | Arkadiusz Moryto | 47 | 62 | 76 |
| 4 | Kay Smits | 45 | 62 | 73 |
| 4 | Hampus Wanne | 45 | 56 | 80 |
| 6 | Hugo Descat | 44 | 58 | 76 |
| 7 | Sander Sagosen | 43 | 71 | 61 |
| 8 | Sebastian Barthold | 42 | 54 | 78 |
| 9 | Aleix Gómez | 41 | 54 | 76 |
| 9 | Miloš Vujović | 41 | 57 | 72 |
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