The Paris 2024 Women’s Olympic Qualification Tournaments will throw off on Thursday, in Debrecen, Torrevieja and Neu-Ulm, with a huge challenge on their hands for the 12 teams, who will all be vying to clinch the coveted ticket to Paris 2024.

With six matches on the cards, all of them could prove pivotal for qualification, as the heavyweights involved will try to secure their maiden wins on their way to Paris.

Olympic Qualification Tournament #1 (in Debrecen, Hungary)

15:30 CEST Hungary vs Great Britain

A late addition to the Olympic Qualification Tournament #1, replacing Cameroon, who failed to obtain the needed visas for the players, Great Britain will face a daunting challenge, being the least experienced side in the competition.

The British side appeared in the Qualifiers for major international competitions only once in the past decade, conceding a 30:83 aggregate loss against Türkiye in the Qualification Europe – Part 1 for the 2023 IHF Women’s World Championship, with a 14:39 loss in Ankara and a 16:44 home loss in London.

Therefore, with little to no experience at the highest level and with dwindling chances of contending for a place at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, their objective is to learn and gain invaluable experience in Debrecen, as they are due to face Hungary, Japan and Sweden.

Hungary have been one of the most consistent teams when it comes to the Olympic Games, with three medals – bronze at Montreal 1976 and at Atlanta 1996 and silver at Sydney 2000 – and no finish outside of the top 10, with the seventh place at Tokyo 2020 being the worst finish in seven appearances.

Tokyo 2020 has also marked the return of Hungary, after the European side missed out at London 2012 and Rio 2016, prompting a rethink throughout the whole pyramid and a new strategy coming in, with the focus on developing young talents, as Hungary became a true powerhouse in the younger age categories.

Titles at the IHF Women’s Junior World Championship and at the IHF Women’s Youth World Championship in recent years helped Hungary create a pipeline of talent and even the coach, Vladimir Golovin, came through the ranks of that system, having previously coached the younger age category teams before being propelled to this role.

On the other hand, Hungary are coming after a painful loss, 18:33, against Norway, and a win against Austria, 36:30, in the EHF EURO Cup 2024, where they finished second, behind reigning European champions Norway.

18:00 CEST Sweden vs Japan

Japan are looking for their second consecutive appearance at the Olympic Games, but they will need to punch above their status once again, as they face three European sides in Debrecen, Hungary.

Since 2019, when Japan took their clearest-ever win against an European side, 37:20 against Romania, the Asian team has always challenged European sides, with a win against Croatia and Austria in 2021, with close losses against Spain (26:28) in 2021, Germany (30:31), Poland (30:32) and Romania (28:32) in 2023.

Yet the biggest win came against Denmark, when Japan delivered an absolutely fantastic performance at the 2023 IHF Women’s World Championship, handing the hosts in Herning one of the biggest losses in history, 26:27, helping Japan to finish 17th, as they doubled down with a win against Serbia.

First stop is Sweden, who have one of the best appearance streaks at the Olympic Games, as they are now trying to secure their fifth qualification in a row in the competition. But Japan will be left wondering what happened in the last two friendly matches against Denmark, played a week ago, when they conceded two painful losses, 19:33 and 17:40.

The Scandinavian side had never qualified to the Olympic Games before Beijing 2008, where they finished eighth, but they made it to London 2012, where they were 11th, Rio 2016, as they finished seventh, and Tokyo 2020, where they secured their best-ever finish, the fourth place, winning their group, but losing against France in the semi-finals and Norway in the bronze medal match.

Over the last decade, Sweden have been one of the most consistent teams in the world, but failed to secure a medal at 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.

“Our goal is to get to the Olympics. And that journey starts tomorrow. If we win that match, we have a good chance of making it to the Olympics. So it's a key match,” says Sweden’s assistant coach, Johanna Wiberg, for the official website of the Sweden Handball Federation.

The European side also has a 100% record against Japan, with a win, 27:14, in the IHF Women’s World Championship.
 
Olympic Qualification Tournament #2 (in Torrevieja, Spain)

18:30 CEST Czechia vs Spain

“Play a great game.” This was the simple request from Spain coach Ambros Martín ahead of his side facing Czechia in the opening game of six at the Paris 2024 Olympic Qualification Tournament #2 in Torrevieja.

“They are a fairly complete team, who are very aggressive in defence and go up very quickly on the counter-attack, which makes them very fearsome,” added Martin about their early evening clash, to  rfebm.net.

Both teams come into the Paris 2024 qualifiers with two competitive wins in the past week, thanks to the final rounds of the EHF European Championship qualification phase.

Spain, already qualified, ended on a high, defeating Lithuania 34:20 away and Azerbaijan 42:16 at home, while Czechia secured their progression through to the continental championships with a 43:23 win in Finland and home victory in Pilsen over Portugal, 25:22.

“From Monday we'll be working on our dream again – to get to the Olympics,” said Czechia’s Veronika Mala to handball.cz after the victory against the Portuguese and looking forward to the clash against the hosts. “It will be a key match.”

2024 is the third time Spain have found themselves in the last-chance competition to grab a ticket to an Olympic Games – and the third time they will play it on home soil. In their previous two, in 2012, and 2021, they qualified both times.

These two teams last met at the 2023 IHF Women’s World Championship, with Czechia taking an impressive 30:22 main round victory on their way to a history-equalling eighth-place rank and they will look to cap off an impressive period with a confirmed debut Olympic appearance.

21:00 CEST Netherlands vs Argentina

These two teams also met at that 2023 IHF Women’s World Championship with the Netherlands taking a 15-goal, 41:26 victory over their South American rivals.

And they have also met at an Olympic Qualification Tournament before, in Guadalajara, Spain. Back in 2012 with a place for the London 2012 Olympic Games available, the Netherlands defeated Argentina 30:21, but eventually lost out on an Olympic place due to goal difference.

Netherlands’ coach Per Johansson had already guided his team to qualification through to the 2024 EHF European Championship ahead of their final two qualification phase games earlier this week, so took the opportunity to use their first game against Portugal as a warm-up for Torrevieja, with his side taking a 36:25 win, Angela Malestein top-scoring on 10.

The coach and his entire squad then moved to Malaga, Spain for a Torrevieja preparation camp, with a completely changed Dutch team seeing off Finland (35:22) in their final European Championship qualifier a few days later.

For their opponents on Thursday, Argentina, the Women’s Olympic Qualification Tournament and Spain as host nation do not provide the best omen, with the South Americans failing to qualify from both their attempts in the competition, both in Spain, for the 2012 and 2020 Olympic Games.

Currently 12 of the 16 named in the Argentina squad play their club handball in Spain, so know the country well, but they will be up against the trio of strong European nations, starting with one of the best in recent years.

Olympic Qualification Tournament #3 (in Neu-Ulm, Germany)

17:45 CEST Germany vs Slovenia

Slovenia women’s national team have never qualified for the Olympic Games, but they have a great chance to write history in the Olympic Qualification Tournament #3 in Neu-Ulm, Germany, where they throw off in a tough battle against the hosts.

Germany and Slovenia have not met since 2006, and only played against each other twice, at the 2003 IHF Women’s World Championship, where Slovenia took a 29:28 win, while Germany took a 31:30 win at the EHF EURO 2006.

But now, this has all the settings for a do-or-die match, with the winners heavily improving their chances of progression, before facing Montenegro and Paraguay in the next two matches.

“Slovenia has a very, very smart coach who analyses well and always gives his team his signature. Slovenia also has the individual quality of its players, all of whom play in top teams in the Champions League,” says Germany’s captain, Emily Bölk.

Germany will have to wait and see if centre back Alina Grijseels, another crucial player for the team, is ready to go, after suffering an injury in one of the three matches played in the EHF EURO 2024 Qualifiers before the Olympic Qualification Tournament, where Germany beat Israel, 46:9 and 35:12, as well as Ukraine, 43:21.

On the other hand, Slovenia have also won two matches in the EHF EURO 2024 Qualifiers, 35:21 against Italy and 34:16 against Latvia, coming fully motivated for this crucial step in their development.

"The expectations are known. Over the last three years, our girls have worked hard to secure qualification for the Olympic Games. There is pressure and tension between our players, but it is no different in the German camp. We have worked a lot to know how to nullify this excessive desire and pressure that we impose on ourselves. I believe that we will be the first to manage to establish balance and stability in the game, and at the same time show the most of what we are capable of,” said Slovenia’s coach, Dragan Adzic, for the official website of the Slovenian Handball Federation.

20:15 CEST Montenegro vs Paraguay

After finishing third at the 2023 Pan American Games, Paraguay secured their maiden trip to the Olympic Qualification Tournaments, an excellent performance for the South American side, who featured only five times at the IHF Women’s World Championship, with a 21st place as their best performance.

Yet they will be underdogs here, against three European teams, Montenegro, Slovenia and Germany. In total, Paraguay have won only nine of the 34 matches played in the world handball flagship competition, never secured a win against an European opponent, and always had a negative goal difference, with lopsided losses against stronger sides.

Nevertheless, the ambition is there and Paraguay have been improving in the last years, at least on a continental level, where they finish third – winning the bronze medal – at the SCAHC Women’s South and Central American Handball Championship in 2018 and 2021 and winning the Central American Women’s Handball Championship in 2023.

Since its formation in 2006, after obtaining its independence, Montenegro have been present at three editions of the Olympic Games – London 2012, Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020. The European side’s best performance was the silver medal 12 years ago, when they lost the big final against Norway.

Now they aim for a fourth appearance in a row, starting with a match against Paraguay, where they will be overwhelming favourites.

"The Olympic Games are the dream of every athlete, especially for a new generation like ours. The motivation is never greater, we are aware that the next opportunity is only in 4 years, whether in this composition or not we will not think about it", said Montenegro’s centre back, Itana Grbić.

"Heart, courage and character must not be missing. "We need to play our game, to transfer the game and energy from defence to attack, to have the help of the goalkeeper and to help them with our defence," added Grbić.