Germany's handballers have averted a historic group stage exit at the EM 2026 and defeated Spain 34:32. As group winners, they advance to the main round with maximum points. Coach Alfred Gislason praised his team as relieved and proud.
In Herning, Denmark, Germany's handballers delivered a strong response on Monday evening to their 27:30 loss against Serbia. Thanks to Austria's 26:25 win over Serbia, a draw against Spain would have sufficed for advancement, but the DHB team prevailed 34:32 (17:15) and became group winners. Before 9,526 spectators, including over 8,000 Germans, they created a home-game atmosphere in the Jyske Bank Boxen.
Before the start, both teams observed a minute of silence for the victims of the train accident in Spain, where at least 39 people died and over 159 were injured. The initiative came from the Spanish delegation.
Germany started aggressively in defense with Johannes Golla and Tom Kiesler in the middle block. Goalkeeper Andreas Wolff made crucial saves, though not his best day. Renārs Uščins shone with eight goals and was named player of the match, supported by Justus Fischer (five goals) and Julian Köster (six). After 40 minutes, coach Gislason switched to David Späth in goal, who held key parries. A Kempa trick from Lukas Mertens to Uščins secured the 29:26 lead in the 51st minute.
After the Serbia defeat, Juri Knorr had criticized the coach, but Knorr directed the attacks and Gislason discussed calmly with him. Efficiency was 74 percent, with pace and few errors.
Gislason hugged his players: "I am relieved and proud of the guys. Attack and defense were outstanding." Captain Golla said: "We believed in ourselves, discussed many things and implemented them today. Now it gets tough."
In the main round, Germany meets the Group B winner (Denmark or Portugal) on Thursday as group first, then France and Norway. The semifinals are the DHB's EM goal.
