W19 EHF EURO 2023 to start with a 16-team line-up in Romania

The top 16 women’s junior teams in Europe will face off in the W19 EHF EURO 2023, set to be played in Romania between 6 and 16 July, with two venues hosting the competition, Pitești and Mioveni.

The teams are the ones which featured last year at the IHF Women’s Youth World Championship, where the Republic of Korea were the first Asian team to clinch the trophy, taking a 31:28 win over Denmark in the final.

The Scandinavian side will be one of the favourites in the competition, as they boast a star-studded squad led by left back Julie Mathiesen Scaglione, the top goal scorer of the 2022 IHF Women’s Youth World Championship, who also made the All-Star team as the best left back in the competition. Denmark will be playing in Group D in Mioveni, facing Montenegro, the Czech Republic and North Macedonia.

Hungary, the reigning champions, who won the past two editions of the W19 EHF EURO, in 2019 and 2021, are also a team to be reckoned with and will be on a collision course with Denmark, provided both sides will qualify from the preliminary round.

Yet Hungary have arguably the hardest task in the first matches, meeting Norway, France and Serbia, having already won against the first two sides last year in North Macedonia, 24:19 against Norway and 22:21 against France.

Hosts Romania, which finished 14th at the 2022 IHF Women’s Youth Championship, are also one of the top favourites, as they face Germany, Portugal and Iceland in the preliminary round, losing against the first two sides in North Macedonia but aiming to avenge those losses on their home court.

The top two sides from each group will make it into the main round, with the other two progressing in the intermediary round. The top two sides at the end of the main round in each group qualify for the semi-finals.

The top 13 teams in the competition, plus hosts North Macedonia, will qualify for the 2024 IHF Women’s Junior World Championship. If North Macedonia finish in the top 13 teams in the final standings, the 14th side will also earn their tickets to the world handball flagship competition.

The last two sides, which will end up on the 15th and 16th places, are due to feature in a play-off for the last spot available for European sides, with the two winners of the W19 EHF Championships, hosted in Kosovo and Lithuania, joining.

W19 EHF EURO 2023 groups
Group A (in Pitești): Croatia, Switzerland, Sweden, Netherlands
Group B (in Pitești): Germany, Romania, Portugal, Iceland
Group C  (in Mioveni): Hungary, Norway, France, Serbia
Group D (in Mioveni): Denmark, Montenegro, Czech Republic, North Macedonia