The first tickets for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games can be sealed on Friday, when the attention moves to Debrecen and Torrevieja, where heavyweights collide in action-packed matches in the Olympic Qualification Tournaments.

The winning teams on the first matchday, Sweden and Hungary, rekindle their rivalry in Debrecen, while wins for Netherlands (against Czechia) and Spain (against Argentina) will see them book their tickets through to France, but nothing is guaranteed when so much is at stake.

Olympic Qualification Tournament #1

18:00 CEST Sweden vs Hungary

The two favourites of the Olympic Qualification Tournament #1, played in Debrecen, hosts Hungary and Sweden, are facing off in Friday’s first match in the Fonix Arena, with a battle between the winners of the first matches on Thursday being key for deciding one of recipients of a Paris 2024 Olympic Games berth.

Sweden have been one of the most consistent sides in women’s handball over the past years, lingering around the top 5 in the last editions of the IHF Women’s World Championship, finishing ninth at Denmark 2015, fourth at Germany 2017 and Denmark/Norway/Sweden 2023, seventh at Japan 2019 and fifth at Spain 2021.

An experienced, albeit aging roster is Sweden’s main weapon, as well as having the same coach for over four years now, as Tomas Axner took over in 2020 and even led his team to the semi-finals at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, where Sweden finished fourth.

So experienced is this Sweden squad, that right wing Nathalie Hagman scored her 800th goal for the national team and left back Jamina Roberts hit her 600th goal in the 35:28 win against Japan, with Hagman, the top goal scorer at the 2021 IHF Women’s World Championship being the fourth best scorer in Sweden’s history.

“We conceded too many goals, I think, against Japan, but we managed to execute our gameplan. Now, a tougher challenge awaits and we must be prepared for Hungary,” said Sweden’s coach, Tomas Axner.

But now, Sweden will have to face Hungary, a team that they beat three times in four matches at the IHF Women’s World Championship and the EHF EURO, most recently in December, 26:22, in the main round of the 2023 IHF Women’s World Championship.

Supported by over 2,000 fans in the Fonix Arena, Hungary took a clear 49:11 win over Great Britain in the first match, but a more balanced clash awaits them on Friday, in their bid to secure the eighth berth for the Olympic Games.

“We are happy with the win against Great Britain, but now we are going to move on and prepare for the match against Sweden.  They constantly finish in the top eight at the World and European Championships, so they are very strong,” said Hungary’s coach, Vladimir Golovin.

20:30 CEST Japan vs Great Britain

The two teams that lost their first matches in the Olympic Qualification Tournament #1 are facing off in the last match of the day, with the team that will have the second loss in a row in their column facing a daunting task to come back and fight for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games ticket.

Great Britain had less than two days to prepare for the Olympic Qualification Tournament #1 in Debrecen, but put up a fight against Hungary, conceding a 11:49 loss against the European side in their first match.

27 hours later, the European side, who have little to no experience and an average age of just over 21 years old for their squad, will face Japan, a plucky Asian side, whose only chance of survival in the competition is to win this match, after their 28:35 loss against Sweden.

“This is a steep learning curve for us, but we will use it to improve handball in Great Britain and learn, because we are facing some of the best teams in the world,” said Great Britain’s coach, Mark Hawkins, after the loss against Hungary.

Indeed, the British team conceded the largest number of goals after the first matchday in all the three Olympic Qualification Tournaments, 49, and had the largest number of turnovers, 32, as their fitness will be surely tested against a fast-paced Japanese side, whose fast breaks will deliver plenty of goals.

On the other hand, the Asian side will have the match against Hungary, scheduled for Sunday, to think of, but they will also try and score as many goals as possible, as they are heavily favoured in this match. A potential draw against Hungary would see Japan need a better goal difference than their European counterparts, which might force the Asian side to push the pedal until the end to try the better the 38-goal win secured by Hungary on Thursday.

Olympic Qualification Tournament #2 
18:30 CEST Netherlands vs Czechia

Just two months ago the Dutch narrowly beat Czechia 30:29 in their first 2024 EHF Women’s European Championship Qualification match, before losing by 17 four days later (42:25).

While this may cause issues with having any idea of how this clash will turn out, two differing, but not entirely smooth, results in their opening games in Torrevieja on Thursday could maybe foretell how this encounter will go.

Czechia were disappointing in their 31:21 loss to host nation Spain, while an indifferent first half from the Netherlands against Argentina, which saw them behind for most of the first half – including a 0:5 start – was wiped out by a dominant second half which ended with a 17-goal turnaround and 34:22 victory.

“Hopefully our team doesn't fall into that trap that we think that this is Czechia because we have played them other times where they are far better,” said Netherlands coach Per Johansson to ihf.info.

“They have a strong playbook. They have (Marketa) Jerabkova who we know can be extremely good. They have played together for a while and they are dangerous. We cannot give them any hope.

“Revenge is one of the strongest driving forces there is in the handball world and Czechia will not be happy with the result [against Spain],” he added. “Maybe they will play a little bit more relaxed because it will be better than [against Spain] and we are preparing for a Czechia much, much better than they were [on Thursday].”

For Czechia coach Bent Dahl, he will have to turn around his side quickly for them to keep their Olympic dream alive.

“We are sad now but tomorrow we can use this sadness to step up again, because a lot of young players need this experience,” said Dahl to ihf.info after their loss to Spain. 

“We are a bit of a rookie in this competition and have never been in an Olympic Qualification Tournament before. I know the disappointment, but it's also part of the learning and if you can accept it, then we can start to look forward. If you don't accept then we will never come to the next step.

“There are a lot of surprises in this world and there are bigger surprises than us beating Netherlands. One month ago we lost by one goal so it's always a possibility. We will never give up.”

21:00 CEST Argentina vs Spain

Argentina will be well aware that history is not on their side after losing to Spain in both of their previous Olympic Qualification Tournaments – both held in Spain. In 2012, they lost 31:15 and for Tokyo 2020 they lost 31:16.

While coach Ambros Martin said to ihf.info that “…we played a complete game in the day that we needed to play,” in their opening win against Czechia, he will not take Argentina lightly, as evidenced by that impressive first half performance against Netherlands.

“We have to try and play like we did [against Netherlands], not make a lot of mistakes, easy mistakes,” said Argentina captain Elke Karsten to ihf.info. “Against Spain it will be a new game, but we have the same goal; we will do our best and try to win. We know we can show very good handball.”

Spain put in a dominant first-half performance in their 31:21 victory over Czechia in their opening game in Torrevieja, coach Martin able to rotate his entire team, while the Netherlands were ineffective in their opening half against Argentina before a 17-goal turnaround saw them cruise to an eventual 34:22 win where they utilised almost all of their squad.