Round 2 wraps up opening week of Men's EHF EURO 2028 Qualifiers
Just days after the midweek round 1, all 32 teams in the Men's EHF EURO 2028 Qualifiers return to the courts for round 2 this weekend. Scheduled are three matches on Saturday and 13 on Sunday, as former EHF EURO champions Germany, France and Sweden will all be looking for a second straight win. Iceland, one of the most impressive teams in round 1, will try to make a similar impression when they travel to Estonia. The derby between North Macedonia and Greece will certainly be one to look out for. In Prešov, handball fans will enjoy a packed afternoon, as Slovakia host 2016 winners Germany after the game between Ukraine and Serbia.
We need to put Thursday’s game behind us and focus on Saturday. Croatia will definitely come out strong, so we need to be ready. Our defence has to be better, and we need to be more physical than we were in the last game. It’s going to be a real battle, that’s for sure.
Against Germany, it was encouraging, as there were quite a few good moments. We need to carry that momentum into Saturday evening. We need to be even more determined and disciplined if we are to beat Italy at home. That is the most important thing.
I'm looking forward to what they will throw at us. I believe it will be a packed house, so we have to prepare really well and also play a physical style of handball. But I'm really curious what kind of match we will get against Lithuania.
The Norway match is more difficult than the Austria match. We know Norway is one of the top five teams in the world. We played against them two good matches last season, we want to repeat our performance now.
Playing at home gives us an important advantage, as we will have the support of our fans behind us. We know Austria are a strong opponent, but we are determined to learn from our previous game, give our best, and fight for a positive result.
This is going to be a really tough match. They’ve got a good team. Wednesday’s win against Türkiye was very important for us. It’s given us confidence. The players are fully focused and they want to take the next step.
We have a chance to battle for points. We must go out there and play tough in defence. The Serbian national team has highly skilled players; you can't say it will be much easier than against Iceland. All areas of the Serbian squad are very solid — from goalkeeping and defence right through to the attack. It is a very good team, at a very high level.
Iceland are a tough opponent, with a squad full of strong, high-quality players who are real fighters. We need to be much tougher in defence and significantly improve our shooting efficiency, which was just 36 per cent against Serbia. We must be brave and learn to compete with these top teams. Every time we put on the national team jersey, we have to give everything. Otherwise, it will be difficult to raise the standard of Estonian handball.
Hungary are one of the absolute best teams in Europe; every single player represents a top club and brings Champions League experience. It's a mountain to climb — but we are stepping onto the court to do everything in our power to shake them up at home.
We don’t know Kosovo since we haven’t met with them yet. We already started to analyse their match against the Faroe Islands after we finished our game against Montenegro. Kosovo scored many goals on Wednesday and did not lose the second half. We try to prepare the best we can and, of course, our goal is to win this away match.
On Sunday, we face the Czech Republic, a very strong opponent with a particularly powerful backcourt. However, we have been working hard to prepare for this challenge. We used the time available to analyse our performance against Slovenia, identify the areas where we need to improve, and prepare ourselves for the upcoming match. I truly believe that on Sunday we will show a completely different side of our team compared to our opening game against Slovenia.
On Sunday, we face a very tough and demanding opponent. When we played against Romania in the last qualifying campaign in Poland, we won by just one goal. Their players represent good clubs, including teams competing in the Champions League. Playing on their home court will make things even more difficult, so we are approaching this match with full commitment.
We do not only want to win in Slovakia, but to show a really good match. It is the last chances for the players to show themselves before we nominate our squad for the World Championship on home ground, and as the competition in the team is big, I hope for strong performances. We have to give 100 per cent, and mainly in defence we have to be there right from the start.
As this is our last match before we announce our World Championship squad, we have decided to give eight new players the chance to gain experience in a competitive match, and it will be interesting to see them in action. We are fortunate to have so many talented players to choose from. We haven’t played Luxembourg before, and it’s always enjoyable to face new opponents."
We want to continue showing the strong performances we have delivered in our home matches. We are well aware of the quality of our opponents, who have been steadily improving in recent years and have developed into a very competitive team. This is a key match in the group in terms of qualification, and I am confident that we will perform better than we did against Sweden.
We expect a tough match against a strong opponent. We have great respect for the Greek national team and the progress they have made as a team in recent times. Our goal is to execute our game plan as effectively as possible and deliver a high-quality performance. We expect a closely contested match, and may the better team win.
