Scandinavian trio on the hunt for semi-final spots

The three Scandinavian sides have the chance to get closer to the final weekend – however, maximum two of them could make it.

Norway are unbeaten for 15 straight EHF EURO matches when they take on neighbours Sweden, while Denmark eye revanche for their defeat to Croatia in the 2020 bronze medal match on home court.

GROUP I

Croatia vs Denmark
Saturday 12 November, 18:00 CET, live on EHFTV

• Denmark won their main round opener (against Hungary) and are on four points; Croatia lost (against Slovenia) and have two – another defeat would see the 2020 bronze medallists out of the race for the final weekend
• Croatia beat Denmark in the bronze medal match two years ago, 25:19
• while their overall head-to-head comparison is in the balance with five wins each, Croatia have won the three last encounters
• this is the duel between the current EHF EURO and World Championship bronze medallists, as the Danes finished third at last year’s World Championship for their first medal since 2013
• Emma Friis (24 goals) and Trine Østergaard (19) are currently Denmark’s leading scorers, while Valentina Blazevic has netted 17 times for Croatia
• If she scores twice, Anne Mette Hansen will be Denmark’s all-time third-best scorer at EHF EURO events with 88 goals; six goals would even lift her into second place behind leader Stine Jørgensen, who has 99
• Already the Danish all-time record holder, goalkeeper Sandra Toft is set to play het 40^th EHF EURO match

Croatian line player: Katarina Jezic: “We played against Denmark already a few times and we know each other. But the main thing is that we need to be ourselves and play our game again.”

Denmark head coach Jesper Jensen: “This is a championship where everything can happen. They are a strong team and they play with big hearts. Hopefully we can do even better and improve to see if we can get the two points.”

Norway vs Sweden
Saturday 12 November, 20:30 CET, live on EHFTV

• both were group winners in the preliminary round; Norway start with the maximum four points; Sweden have two
• if Norway win, they would only need only one more point from their next to matches to secure a semi-final spot
• Norway have won all their 15 EHF EURO matches since 7 December 2018
• the Scandinavian teams also duelled in the EHF EURO 2010 final, the EHF EURO 2014 semi-final, and the 2020 Olympic bronze medal match – all won by Norway
• overall, Norway have won 13 times against Sweden and lost just three times; the last time they met, at the 2021 World Championship, their encounter ended in a 30:30 draw
• Nora Mørk will match Norway’s all-time top scorer Linn-Kristin Riegelhuth Koren (190 goals) if she scores five times
• Sweden’s current top scorer Nathalie Hagman (19 goals) is four goals short of the 125-goal mark in her EHF EURO career

Norway centre back: Stine Oftedal: “Sweden have a good team with physically strong players. This match will bring smaller margins than in our previous encounters, but that is natural in that stage of a championship. Sweden appear to be far better now than a year ago, they are more stable.”

Sweden line player Linn Blohm: “Our aim is always to win every game we play. We are taking it step by step all the time.”