The European Championship ended with Sweden’s opposition in the qualifying round

Iceland, the Faroe Islands and Luxembourg will be the opponents for the Swedish women in the qualifiers for the European Championship 2024.

– We have to be favorites to win the group and we feel safe with that, says national team captain Tomas Agner.

In December, Sweden plays the WC at home and is directly qualified for the championship, but for next year’s EC, which is decided in Switzerland, Austria and Hungary, Sweden starts qualifying in October. The groups for the qualifiers were drawn tonight and the Swedish opponents are Iceland, the Faroe Islands and Luxembourg.

– From a sporting point of view, it’s a positive balance for us and it will be fun to come to amazing places like Iceland and the Faroe Islands. There are a couple of countries that want to go forward, and I especially like the journey that Iceland is taking with women’s activism. I have a good exchange with their national team captain and I think in four, five years they will be good in the women’s side as well. They have many players locked up at Scandinavian clubs and will be better prepared than when we met them in the last European Championship qualifiers, says the Swedish national team captain. Thomas Ochsner.

– The Faroe Islands are also progressing and have some players in the Danish first and second leagues. I had never been to Luxembourg before.

Qualifiers start with doubles in October and continue in February/early March and end in April. The top two nations in each group advance to the European Championships, as do the top four nations from eight group threes.

previous meetings

Sweden and Iceland met in a qualifier for the European Championship 2022, with Sweden winning 30–17 in Eskilstuna and 29–23 in Hafnarfjordur. In total, there are 23 wins, one draw and two losses in the previous 26 meetings with Iceland.

Sweden and the Faroe Islands have met on four previous occasions, and Sweden has clearly won all four meetings: 34–12 and 29–22 in the qualifiers for WC 2001 and 33–15 and 32–13 in the qualifiers for EC 2018.

Sweden and Luxembourg have never met before.

EC qualifying groups

Group 1: Croatia, Romania, Greece, Bosnia & Herzegovina
Group 2: Germany, Slovakia, Ukraine, Israel
Group 3: Netherlands, Czech Republic, Portugal, Finland
Group 4: France, Slovenia, Italy, Latvia
Group 5: Spain, North Macedonia, Lithuania, Azerbaijan
Group 6: Montenegro, Serbia, Turkey, Bulgaria
Group 7: Sweden, Iceland, Faroe Islands, Luxembourg
Group 8: Denmark, Poland, Kosovo
Group 8 consists of only three teams due to Great Britain’s late exit

Evening date

Round 1: 11–12 October 2023
Round 2: 14–15 October 2023
Round 3: 28-29 February 2024
Round 4: 2-3 March 2024
Round 5: 3-4 April 2024
Round 6: April 7, 2024

European Championship 2024

Date: 28 November–15 December 2024
Number of Teams: 24
Host Cities: Basel (Switzerland), Innsbruck (Austria), Vienna (Austria), Debrecen (Hungary)
Directly Qualifying Countries: Austria, Hungary, Switzerland, Norway

Text: Daniel Vandor
Photo: Bildbyrån