A historic weekend in the MVM Dome in Budapest saw Metz Handball clinch their maiden trophy in the EHF Champions League Women, and, in turn, become the French side to secure the title in the coveted premium club European competition.

Two French sides – Metz Handball and Brest Bretagne Handball – plus previous champions Györi Audi ETO KC and challengers CSM București lined up at the start of the  Raiffeisen Bank EHF FINAL4 2026, the winner-takes-all showdown in the European premium competition in Budapest on Saturday and Sunday.

The two semi-finals saw Metz take on CSM București and Györ face Brest, with a 100% French final possible, after Dijon won the EHF European League Women this season and ensure a perfect European season for the French teams.

Metz have previously played four times in the EHF FINAL4 and lost all four semi-finals, but this time around, the tide turned, with Emmanuel Mayonnade’s side shining against CSM București, which returned after an eight-year hiatus in the business end of the EHF Champions League.

With a bigger depth and a more efficient attack – scoring at 74% as opposed to CSM’s 53% - Metz also relied on a fantastic goalkeeper in Johanna Bundsen, who had 17 saves, for a fantastic 39.5% saving efficiency.

CSM could only manage to stay close for 20 minutes, as Metz ran riot in the second half, capitalising on their 17:13 lead at the break. Led by line player Sarah Bouktit, who scored eight goals, and with left wing Chloe Valentini scoring seven more, Metz secured their maiden semi-final win, 32:27, and advanced in the final, as they also outscored CSM on fast breaks 7:1.

Brest had already eliminated Györ in the semi-finals in Budapest in 2021, and they were close once again this time around, but the French side could only come so close and lost by a single goal, once again a close encounter which ended in a heartbreaking fashion for them against the most decorated team in the history of the competition.

Györ enjoyed a great all-around performance, but had a stellar outing from right back Dione Housheer, who scored nine goals, with all but three of their outfield players scoring at least one goal in the 31:30 narrow win.

But in the final, everything changed. While Györ had the experience of the big stage, Metz had the speed and the grit, while Bouktit, the All-Star line player of the 2025 IHF Women’s World Championship shone bright on the biggest of stages.

Her 12-goal outing provided the platform for Metz to shine, as the connection to the line player was fabulous between Metz’s back line and Bouktit. However, it was not all plain sailing, as Györ had the upper hand in the first 20 minutes of the match.

Slowly, Hatadou Sako’s saves started to dry up and Györ lost the lead for the first time close to the break, where Metz went up ahead, 18:17.

The start of the second half was the turning point of the match, as Metz totally outplayed their opponents, opening a six-goal lead, 28:22, with 15 minutes to go. While it was not the point of no return, Györ never had enough in the tank, especially as they were left in disarray by their absences on the line player position.

Bruna de Paula Almeida tried everything in attack, but eventually fell short, as Györ could only cut the gap to two goals, 28:30, with Metz expertly managing the clock in the dying seconds, with Lylou Borg, the MVP of the 2024 IHF Women’s Junior World Championship scoring the decisive goal, to set the final score, 31:29.

Bouktit was named the MVP of the competition, while the 2023, 2024 and 2025 IHF Female World Player of the Year, Henny Reistad, was the top goal scorer of the competition, with 131 goals, six more than Bouktit.

In the bronze medal match, CSM București beat Brest, 32:26, sealing their fourth podium place in four apperances, with one title, in 2016, and three third-place finishes, in 2017, 2018 and 2026.

Since the rebrand of the EHF Champions League Women in the 1993/94 season, Metz became the 15th different team to win the title and the first French team in history to secure the trophy.

Györ lost their third final from nine played since the current format of the EHF FINAL4 was introduced in the 2013/14 season, but still have seven titles in total in the European premium competition.

Photo credit: EHF / Kolektiff / Jozo Cabraja