Hungary’s women’s handball team has made a significant achievement by securing a spot in the semi-finals of the 2024 Women’s EHF EURO Championship, marking their first appearance in this stage of the tournament in 12 years.
This milestone was reached following a decisive 37-29 victory over Romania on December 8, 2024, which solidified their position after winning all six matches in the tournament thus far.
The Hungarian team showcased strong performances throughout the competition, including earlier victories against Sweden (32-25) and North Macedonia (29-19), demonstrating their dominance in the group stage.
Their consistent play has been attributed to effective teamwork and strategic adjustments made by coach Vladimir Golovin, who emphasized the importance of maintaining composure and focus during matches. Golovin said to EHF: “We are really happy that after the sixth game in this tournament we already know that we are in the semi-finals. We worked a lot, really hard, in the past few years, and we are really proud of the team and of the girls. Of course, we would like to thank the fans because the atmosphere was fantastic tonight and they pushed us.”
After the qualification, the national captain told NSO:
“It’s the same game as the others. Everyone knows what their job is, nothing is given for free to anyone, if we want something we have to get it. External factors obviously influence the team, but the main thing is that in those forty times twenty metres up on the pitch everyone just concentrates on what they have to do and we have managed to do that not only now but in all the matches so far. They know what they want, what they have to do to achieve it. Of course, you can’t always succeed, it’s not a machine, it’s not players, it’s people, but they keep supporting each other whatever happens. Nothing works without concentration, and we need that in the next game, and then the next one. France is the next task, the girls will get the video footage of them late at night, they will watch it in the morning and study it. On Monday afternoon we have a training session, we do video, we prepare as we have done so far, but we only deal with the French. I know that everyone is calculating who from the other semi-final group will make it to the semi-finals, but nothing is certain at the moment, it might only be the last round on Wednesday that decides whether it’s Denmark or Norway, but we’re not looking that far ahead.”
As they prepare for the semi-finals, Hungary will face Montenegro in Debrecen. The team has expressed gratitude to their fans for their support and looks forward to continuing their successful run in the championship.
| Group I. Standing | |||||||
| 1. MAGYARORSZÁG | 4 | 4 | – | – | 126–95 | +31 | 8 |
| 2. Franciaország | 4 | 4 | – | – | 127–97 | +30 | 8 |
| 3. Montenegró | 4 | 2 | – | 2 | 100–110 | –10 | 4 |
| 4. Románia | 4 | 1 | – | 3 | 104–117 | –13 | 2 |
| 5. Svédország | 4 | 1 | – | 3 | 108–113 | –5 | 2 |
| 6. Lengyelország | 4 | – | – | 4 | 96–129 | –33 | 0 |
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