Hungary claimed their first-ever title at the Men's Under-20 European Championship, coming from behind to defeat Sweden 34:32 in a dramatic final. Slovenia secured the bronze medal, edging out Denmark in a tightly contested third-place match to complete the podium.
This edition introduced a restructured competition format, with the 24 participating teams first going through the preliminary round before being split into two distinct groups for the next phase. 

Twelve teams advanced into the main round, setting off on the direct path towards the title, while the remaining 12 teams were routed into the intermediate round, still fighting to secure one of the top-15 finishes needed to qualify for the 2027 IHF Men's Junior World Championship.

The 12 teams in the main round were divided into three groups of four teams each, with each team taking the points from the preliminary round into the new phase. Eight of the 12 teams – the top two sides in each group and the two best three-placed sides – progressed to the quarter-finals.

In Group I, Germany, which secured the world title at the 2025 IHF Men’s Youth World Championship with this generation, extended their winning run to five matches, after taking a 32:30 win against Switzerland and a 34:30 win against the Faroe Islands.

Switzerland finished second, after their 29:26 win against France, as France’s big win against the Faroe Islands, 38:23, was enough to boost their goal difference enough to make it to the quarter-finals.

In Group II, Spain also extended their run of wins with a 25:24 win against Denmark and a 29:26 win against Croatia, topping the table, with Denmark finishing second thanks to their 31:29 win against Iceland, with Croatia ending up third.

However, Croatia ended up the odd team out in the battle for the quarter-finals, as Slovenia progressed from the third place in Group III, after a 32:33 loss against Sweden and a dominating 53:32 win against hosts Romania.

Sweden beat Hungary, 40:24, to secure the first place, while Hungary ended up second, thanks to their 41:28 win against Romania, with both teams advancing to the quarter-finals.

Last year, at the 2025 IHF Men’s Youth World Championship, four European teams made it into the semi-finals: Germany, Spain, Denmark and Sweden. The line-up was almost identical at the M20 EHF EURO 2026, albeit with a huge shock on the cards: favourites Spain, runners-up in the world competition last year, headed for a shock exit in the quarter-finals and out of the medal race, due to a 23:30 loss against Slovenia, led by a magnificent Aljuš Anžic, who scored 10 times in the match.

The second shock was Germany’s elimination at the hands of Hungary, which properly dominated the match and secured a 27:25 win, earning them the chance to fight for the second medal in their history, after the bronze in 1998.

Sweden (39:28 against France) and Denmark (36:29 against Switzerland) earned comfortable wins to continue their quest for a medal.

 

It was not Anžic this time who had a good performance for Slovenia, but Tjaž Štaleker’s 13 goals were not enough for his team against a motivated and strong Hungary side, which allowed only 24 goals in a dominating performance in the semi-final, where they took a 31:24 win.

In the rematch of the bronze-medal match from the 2025 IHF Men’s Youth World Championship, Sweden and Denmark combined for 73 goals, with Sweden taking a 38:35 win, as Liam Hultberg scored 10 goals.

The final was a topsy-turvy match, with Sweden leading the way, but Hungary never backing down. At the break, the Scandinavian side had a 16:15 lead, and they looked like they were pulling away late in the second half, leading by two goals, 25:23, with 12 minutes left, and 28:26 with three minutes left.

Hungary scored twice in the remaining minutes, 28:28, pushing the match in overtime, and on the back of a 14-goal performance from Péter Gazsó, they managed to snatch the win, 34:32, and crown themselves champions of Europe.

In the bronze-medal match, Slovenia beat Denmark, 30:28, to secure their fourth bronze medal and their sixth in total at the M20 EHF EURO.

Sweden’s Liam Hultberg was the MVP of the competition, while Latvia’s Valdis Kalnins was the top scorer, with 104 goals, including a match with 20 goals scored against Serbia.

15 teams made it to the 2027 IHF Men’s Junior World Championship via the M20 EHF EURO 2026.

Hungary, Sweden and Slovenia were joined by Denmark, France, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, Portugal, Norway, Austria, Iceland, Romania and Israel for the next edition of the world handball flagship competition at the junior level.

M20 EHF EURO 2026 - All-Star team

Goalkeeper: Viggo Håkansson (SWE)
Right wing: Alfred Arnelin (SWE)
Right back: Måns Fredriksson (SWE)
Centre back: Márkó Eklemovic (HUN)
Left back: Aljuš Anžic (SLO)
Left wing: Simon Sejer Kristensen (DEN)
Line player: Arvid Andreasson (SWE) 
Defender: Máté Mészáros (HUN)
MVP: Liam Hultberg (SWE)
Top scorer: Valdis Kalnins - 104 goals (LAT)

Photo credit: FRH / EHF / Sebastian Tătaru