The 15th edition of the European Men's U-20 Handball Championship will take place between 8 and 19 July in Cluj-Napoca and Turda, Romania, with 24 teams at the start, with the competition being a qualification event for the 2027 IHF Men’s Junior World Championship.

This will be the second consecutive edition with 24 teams at the start, with the format seeing six groups of four teams each. The top two teams in each group will progress to the main round, where three groups of four teams each are formed.

The top two sides in each group, plus the top two third-placed sides advance to the quarter-finals, with a traditional knockout round system following.

Nine of the top-10 teams at the 2025 IHF Men’s Youth World Championship, which this generation of players featured in last summer, will be at the start of the M20 EHF EURO 2026, with the podium sides – Germany, Spain and Denmark all vying for a place on the podium yet again.

World champions Germany will bring plenty of players back, but they will have their work cut out in Group A, where they face Portugal, France and Greece, with only two teams advancing to the next phase.

Spain, the runners-up at the 2025 IHF Men’s Youth World Championship and the reigning champions at the M20 EHF EURO, will also bring an experienced team to the competition, spearheaded by rising star Marcos Fis Ballester, the MVP at Egypt 2025, and will be favourites in Group C, against Iceland, Austria and Latvia.

Denmark, who were bronze medallists at the 2025 IHF Men’s Youth World Championship and bronze medallists at the previous edition of the M20 EHF EURO, will have a tough group, where they face Norway, Croatia and North Macedonia.

Hosts Romania are drawn in Group E, with Sweden, Israel and Bosnia Herzegovina, while Group B (Serbia, Switzerland, Faroe Islands and Türkiye) and Group F (Hungary, Slovenia, Czechia and Poland) look to be very balanced.

Slovenia will bring the top goal scorer of the 2025 IHF Men’s Youth World Championship, Aljuš Anžic, to the fore, with the 18-year-old left back ready to deliver once again some great performances.

The M20 EHF EURO 2026 is a qualification event for the 2027 IHF Men’s Junior World Championship, with the top 15 teams in the final standings securing their tickets for the world handball flagship competition.

M20 EHF EURO 2026 – preliminary round

Group A: Germany, Portugal, France, Greece
Group B: Serbia, Switzerland, Faroe Islands, Türkiye
Group C: Iceland, Spain, Austria, Latvia
Group D: Denmark, Norway, Croatia, North Macedonia
Group E: Sweden, Romania, Israel, Bosnia Herzegovina
Group F: Hungary, Slovenia, Czechia, Poland