2026 European Women's Handball Championship


The 2026 EHF European Women's Handball Championship, commonly referred to as the EHF EURO 2026, will be the 17th edition of the EHF European Women's Handball Championship. It will be held from 3 to 20 December 2026.
The championship was originally scheduled to be held in Russia, but due to the invasion of Ukraine, they were stripped of the hosting rights. On 8 March 2024, the EHF announced Czech Republic, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Turkey as co-hosts.

Bid process

First bidding process

Bids

On 11 May 2021 it was announced that the following nations sent in an official expression of interest:
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On 20 October the final bids were presented. The Scandinavian bid was withdrawn, leaving Russia unopposed.

  • Host selection

As only the Russian bid remained it was unanimously selected at the 14th EHF Extraordinary Congress on 20 November 2021.

Second bidding process

On 4 July 2023, the EHF confirmed that Russia would not host the event due to the war in Ukraine, and thus reopened the bidding process. On 25 October, the EHF announced the official bids.
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The hosts were originally going to be announced on 28 January 2024 in Cologne, but the EHF decided to delay the announcement to April while also inviting every bidding nation to a meeting in mid-February.
During the meeting in mid-February, Romanian media reported that a possible five-country co-hosting plan was being negotiated by all five bidding countries and the EHF after it was reported that none of the three bids fulfilled all the requirements.
On 8 March 2024, the EHF announced all five countries, Czech Republic, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Turkey, as co-hosts. This marks the second time a European championship has been held in more than four countries, after UEFA Euro 2020.

Venues

Qualification

Qualified teams