Seven Parisians set to compete in the preliminary round of EHF Euro 2026!

Handball•15 Jan 2026 13:08

Thursday, 15 January 2026 will mark the start of EHF Euro 2026, a tournament in which seven capital club players are set to take part. Find out what awaits Elohim Prandi, Wallem Peleka and Karl Konan with France, Luc Steins with the Netherlands, Mateo Maras with Croatia, Sebastian Karlsson with Sweden, and Simen Lyse with Norway during the preliminary round of the competition taking place in Denmark, Sweden and Norway.

Les Bleus ready to defend their title

Two years after Guillaume Gille's men beat Denmark in Germany, France will have to be at their best to remain at the top of Europe. Elohim Prandi, Karl Konan and Wallem Peleka will play in the tournament's opening match against the Czech Republic on Thursday 15 January (18:00).

This will be followed by another important match at the Utility Arena in Oslo (Norway), where Les Bleus will face the Norway side of new recruit Simen Lyse on the third day of the preliminary round on Monday 19 January (20:30). In the meantime, there will be a match against the group's underdog, Ukraine, on Saturday 17 January (18:00).

The French and Norwegians are therefore the favourites in Group C, and the duel between our two Parisians, Elohim Prandi and Simen Lyse, promises to be particularly exciting. The newly signed Parisian will begin his tournament with a match against Ukraine on Thursday (20:30), before taking on the Czechs two days later and then defending champions France on Monday 19 January to conclude the preliminary round.

Luc Steins, Sebastian Karlsson and Mateo Maras in the same group!

While duels between Parisians are fairly common in the final stages of major tournaments, the 2026 edition of the Euro will be unique in that three of our Rouge et Bleus will face each other in the preliminary round. In Group E, Luc Steins' Netherlands, Sebastian Karlsson's Sweden and Mateo Maras' Croatia will battle it out with Georgia - making just their second-ever major tournament appearance - to qualify for the main round.

The Oranje are considered the underdogs against Sweden, who will be playing at home in the Malmö Arena at the start of the competition, and against Croatia, who will be looking to build on last year's run to the World Cup final. Luc Steins and his teammates have high ambitions, however, having made steady progress in recent years, but they will need to pull off a feat in their first two matches, as the match against Georgia, which should in theory be easier, will not take place until the third and final day.

Seven Parisians set to compete in the preliminary round of EHF Euro 2026!

Les Bleus ready to defend their title

Luc Steins, Sebastian Karlsson and Mateo Maras in the same group!

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Les Bleus ready to defend their title

Luc Steins, Sebastian Karlsson and Mateo Maras in the same group!