The Swiss national handball team failed to kick off the European Championship qualifiers. They suffered a 26:35 away defeat against the favorites Germany.
07.11.2024, 20:02
SDA
From Switzerland's point of view, winning a point away from home against the Olympic silver medallists was not to be expected. They wanted to keep up and get a good feeling for their future tasks. However, the plan was ill-starred early on. The Swiss got off to a veritable false start in Mannheim and were already ten goals behind after 18 minutes.
They were able to reduce the deficit to 13:21 by the break, but failed to catch up in the second half. The Germans were too composed in defense, with goalkeepers Andreas Wolff and David Späth in particular repeatedly excelling.
As a result, Switzerland also had no chance in their second encounter with Germany this year. In January, the Swiss lost the opening game of the European Championship in Düsseldorf 14:27. The next clash will take place on January 17, 2025, when the two national teams play their second group match at the World Cup in Denmark.
Before that, the important second match of the European Championship qualifiers is on the agenda. On Sunday, Switzerland will host Austria in Schaffhausen, who celebrated a 31:28 home win against Turkey to kick off their campaign. Both nations have ambitions of finishing second in their group. The top two teams in the eight groups and the four best third-placed teams will qualify for the 2026 European Championship finals in Denmark, Sweden and Norway.
