Beach handball is set to come back in full force in Europe, with 37 teams – 18 for the women’s competition and 19 for the men’s tournament – having registered for the EHF Beach Handball EURO 2021, scheduled to take place in Varna, Bulgaria, between 13 and 18 July.

The number is the second largest in the history of the competition, only three teams less than the record set two years ago at Stare Jablonski in Poland, where 20 women’s teams and 20 men’s sides took part in the EHF Beach Handball EURO.

However, for the first time ever, there will be a qualification event to determine the 16 qualified teams for each event, replacing the two qualification tournaments initially scheduled for the summer of 2020 and cancelled due to the health situation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

For the men’s competition, 19 teams have registered, including title holders Denmark, who beat Norway 2-0, in the final two years ago. Silver medallists at the IHF Men’s Beach Handball World Championship in 2018, Croatia, the most decorated side in the history of the EHF Beach Handball EURO, are also on the list, as well as teams like Turkey, Hungary, Ukraine or Spain, who all have won medals at previous IHF Men’s Beach Handball World Championships.

18 teams are registered for the women’s EHF Beach Handball EURO 2021, with title holders Denmark and finalists Hungary on the list, as well as Greece, reigning world champions, and Norway, the silver-medallists at the same event.

Men’s teams registered for the EHF Beach Handball EURO 2021:

Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, Spain, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Switzerland, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine

Women’s teams registered for the EHF Beach Handball EURO 2021:

Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, Spain, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine

Prior to the senior championship, the Under-17 EHF Beach Handball EURO 2021 will take place in Varna (8 to 11 July), with 36 teams, 18 each for the men’s and the women’s competitions having already registered, all of them being automatically qualified for the final event in Bulgaria.

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