Four more tickets for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games will be awarded on Sunday, as the three Men’s Olympic Qualification Tournaments in Granollers, Hanover and Tatabanya will be concluded with their last matches.

After Norway and Croatia sealed their berths, hosts Spain hold the advantage in the Men’s Olympic Qualification Tournament #1, while Brazil and Slovenia harbour hopes for the second qualification spot.

The Paris 2024 Olympic Games dreams of Germany and Austria will be decided over 60 minutes in front of 10,000 fans at the ZAG-Arena in Hanover as the final day of Olympic Qualification Tournament #2 is played out in Lower Saxony on Sunday.

In the Men’s Olympic Qualification Tournament #3 in Tatabanya, Hungary and Portugal go head-to-head, with the hosts facing a must-win match, while Portugal can also progress with a draw.

Men’s Olympic Qualification Tournament #1
15:15 CET Bahrain vs Slovenia

With two losses in their first two matches, Bahrain are as good as out of contention for a Paris 2024 ticket and their latest loss, against Brazil on Friday, 24:25, was heartbreaking for the Asian side, as the players’ faces showed how much it meant for them to try and be competitive and seal their second-ever appearance at the Olympic Games.

Still, they have an outside chance of progression, but that means they will need to beat Slovenia by two goals or more and Spain to secure a win against Brazil in the last match of the Men’s Olympic Qualification Tournament #1 in Granollers, therefore the Asian side’s fate is outside of their hands.

So is Slovenia’s, as even a win on Sunday would not be enough, were Brazil to deliver a win against Spain, after the European side conceded a 10-goal loss on Friday against “Los Hispanos”, which could be a poison pill for Slovenia, which could find themselves third in a three-way tie at the end of the group in this scenario.

"Even before the tournament, we knew that no match would be easy. The public may have had the impression that the group was easy, but that is far from the case. Both the Spanish national team, as well as Brazil and Bahrain, participated in the last Olympic Games. The latter are also at the top of the continental competitions, so there are no easy matches," said Slovenia’s coach, Uros Zorman.

Without right back Jure Dolenec, who suffered an injury in the crunch win against Brazil, 27:26, in the first day of the competition, Slovenia have some shoes to fill, but they have both the experience and the grit to clinch their first Olympic Games ticket since Rio 2016.

But Bahrain are no pushovers, especially after ushering back some key players into the team, like Husain Alsayyad, who was one of the Asian side’s best players against Brazil. Bahrain can still progress to Paris 2024 with a win here, combined with a Spain win against Brazil, but with a lack of experience or depth, they are underdogs once again in this match.
 
17:45 CET Spain vs Brazil

Only a devastating loss – by 19 goals or more against Brazil – would throw Spain out of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, after „Los Hispanos” recorded double-digits wins against Bahrain and Slovenia in their first matches.

Therefore, “Los Hispanos” have three options to seal that coveted ticket for the Olympics – a win, a draw or a loss by 18 goals or less against Brazil – which basically makes them a shoe-in for this summer’s competition.

Yet Spain are only thinking about finishing the Olympic Qualification Tournament #1 with a win, making it three out of three and securing the top spot, as they would announce their comeback after a disappointing outing at the EHF EURO 2024, where they ended up on the 13th place, eliminated in the preliminary round.

"We have achieved a good advantage, but in sport there is no need to speculate. We are going to try to go out and win the game for ourselves, for the image that we want to give, because it is the handball that we want to offer, for the people who come to see us,” said the hummel Player of the Match against Slovenia, Spain goalkeeper, Gonzalo Perez de Vargas.

Between the 12 teams taking part in the Olympic Qualification Tournaments, Spain have the best attack after two rounds, with 71 goals scored, as they fired on all cylinders, while the 49 goals conceded is also a top mark for the 12 participating teams, showing what a well-oiled machine Jordi Ribera’s side is.

Nevertheless, with Brazil aiming for a spot at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games themselves, this is the last chance for the South American side, which failed to secure the tickets from the Pan American Games last November, when they were beat in the final by Argentina.

A win would see Brazil through, irrespective of what happens in the previous match between Slovenia and Bahrain, as in a three-way tie, the South American side would have a better goal difference then Slovenia.

Yet in the last 25 years, Spain secured six wins in seven matches against Brazil, including a 32:25 win at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, with the other match ending in a draw, 29:29, in the opener of the preliminary round for the two sides at the 2021 IHF Men’s World Championship.

Men’s Olympic Qualification Tournament #2
14:10 CET Austria vs Germany

A repeat of the 1936 Olympic Games final when the sport was played outdoors sees neighbouring countries Germany and Austria face off with the winners directly booking their ticket to Paris 2024. 

Germany can qualify at the expense of Austria in the case of a draw but they will be keen to put the disappointment of their loss against Croatia on Saturday behind them.

1936 was the last time Austria qualified for an Olympic Games handball tournament with the current crop of players keen to update the history books of Austrian handball.

They have never had a better chance to do it, appearing in their first-ever Olympic Qualification Tournament and now just 60 minutes separates them from the ultimate sporting event.

For Germany coach Alfred Gislason the game means more than just the Olympic Games, a qualification for Paris will mean his contract with the team is extended until the 2027 IHF Men’s World Championship – hosted by Germany. 

“Nothing changes for us in terms of the starting position,” said Gislason to handball.net after the defeat to Croatia. “The game against Austria is, and remains, a final for us.”

For hometown player Renars Uscins – again voted hummel Player of the Match – he is clear what the team has to do differently.

“Against Austria, we have to work primarily on taking advantage of our chances and not let our heads down if things don't go well and we make two or three mistakes,” he said. “We just have to stay with ourselves and fight.”

Austria had nearly taken the opportunity to even afford a draw against Germany to qualify through to Paris in their victory against Algeria yesterday, but a long-ranger from Rabah Meddahi with two seconds remaining, despite the best efforts of the Austrian defence swarming their opponents, meant that the Austrians ended the second round of games with 70 goals scored and 61 conceded, meaning a goal difference of +9, while Germany also have a +9 difference but having scored one more with 71 and 62 conceded.

“We play against Germany and we have this chance to go to the Olympics, we just fight for that,” said Austria coach Ales Pajovic about the game ahead. “That’s something special for us.”

“It’s like a fairytale for us to play Germany in Germany for a place in the Olympic Games,” said Austria’s Tobias Wagner. “There can’t be a better story.”

In 28 games played across the years Austria have won just twice, drawing two and losing 24 but they will be buoyed by their 22:22 EHF EURO 2024 Main Round draw back in January and hope they can go one better on Sunday.

16:45 CET Croatia vs Algeria 

Croatia coach Dagur Sigurdsson is likely to use this match to get to know his team better and for them to get to know him better, having only taken charge of six training sessions and two matches since taking the job just over two weeks ago.

The result of this game will not affect the qualification status of the earlier game as Croatia had their qualification confirmed with Austria’s win against Algeria on Saturday, which also meant that Algeria could not progress.

“We were lucky not to get into more pressure because we didn't do it well enough at the back, but we’re very happy for the players,” said Sigurdsson after their 33:30 victory over Germany. “It's been a difficult period for me get to know them and select but it was really a great, great victory for us both to get.”

Captain Domagoj Duvnjak, who played his first minutes in Hanover on Saturday and first under Sigurdsson revealed it was his dream to compete in his fourth Olympics and that he “…hopes to stay healthy until then”.

For Algeria’s Abdeldjalil Zennadi his focus – and the rest of his team – will is now on the next IHF Men’s World Championship, in 2025.

“We must work a lot,” he said about rising up to the level of the European teams in Hanover. “We must do more preparation and have more games outside of Africa. Our objective is to prepare for the World Championship.”

Men’s Olympic Qualification Tournament #3
18:30 CET Tunisia vs Norway

For the second edition of the Olympic Games in a row, Norway are qualified, after securing crucial wins against Portugal (32:29) and Hungary (29:25), their main rivals for the coveted tickets to Paris 2024.

Now, in the last match of the Men’s Olympic Qualification Tournament #3, Norway can play without any pressure whatsoever, while their opponents, Tunisia, are also eliminated, as either Portugal or Norway will clinch the second berth for the Olympics.

“It is excellent in so many ways, especially after we finished ninth at the European Championship in January. We played well and dealt with adversity. We had a few slightly injured players along the way, some difficult moments against Hungary, but we pulled it off,” said Jonas Wille, Norway’s national team coach.

Norway do not have neither the best attack, nor the best defence in the Men’s Olympic Qualification Tournament #3, but they are still the most consistent team, boasting the best goal difference and securing the first place in the standings, as they aim to finish the competition on a high, with three wins in three matches.

On the other hand, Tunisia are fixed on the last place, regardless of this match, and have conceded the second largest number of goals between the 12 teams in the Olympic Qualification Tournaments, 70. A win would go a long way for their morale, yet facing a juggernaut like Norway, which constantly finds ways to win, it is always going to be a tough ask.

21:00 CET Hungary vs Portugal

With one win and one loss, Hungary and Portugal will now challenge for the last ticket for Paris 2024 in this Men’s Olympic Qualification Tournament, as the hosts face a must-win scenario, after their heart-breaking 25:29 loss against Norway on Saturday, which will be a serious dent to their morale.

As the two sides are tied on points and on goal difference (+5) after two matches, the next tie-breaking criteria would be enforced, which is the number of goals scored so far, with Hungary (58) being six goals down from Portugal (66).

Therefore, Portugal would be through with a draw, having two options in this case, win or draw, a better situation than in the previous Olympic Qualification Tournament they took part in three years ago, when they secured a last-gasp 29:28 win against France and qualified for their maiden Olympic Games edition.

Therefore, the pressure will be on Hungary to deliver, especially as they are playing on their home court in Tatabanya, with no room for mistake available in this scenario, as the expectations are huge.

“Against Portugal, we have to be sharper when we have a chance, we have to throw ourselves headfirst and put the ball in the net. If necessary, I would give half of my leg for the Olympics,” said Hungary’s right wing, Gergő Fazekas.

In the past 10 years, the two sides have met five times, with Portugal taking two wins, while Hungary won three times, including on their home court at the EHF EURO 2022, 31:30. But the last match between the two teams produced a clear-cut Portugal win, 27:20, at the 2023 IHF Men’s World Championship, in a game where Hungary were totally outplayed.

"We will plan the game the same way we were thinking because we knew we would always need to beat Hungary in the end, it was very difficult for this not to happen. The stars all had to be aligned for us to reach the end and not have to beat Hungary. So far we just haven't managed to beat a team like Norway," said Portugal's coach, Paulo Pereira.