Denmark were crowned European men’s handball champions for the first time in more than a decade after beating Germany 34-27 in the final in Herning on Sunday. The hosts, who co‑organised the tournament and arrived as reigning world champions, started as favourites and rarely let Germany take control, falling behind for only one minute in the opening half.
Mathias Gidsel was the standout, netting seven goals in the final and finishing the championship with 68 strikes — a new European Championship record, topping Sander Sagosen’s previous mark of 65 from 2020. Germany spent much of the match trying to reel the Danes back in and were further disadvantaged when Tom Kiesler and Jannik Kohlbacher received red cards, complicating any comeback.
German captain Johannes Golla said he was proud of his side’s display across the tournament and pointed to clear improvement since their 26-39 defeat to Denmark in the 2024 Olympic final, but conceded the team came up short on the night. Germany took silver and had two players named to the tournament all‑star team: Golla and goalkeeper Andreas Wolff, who was selected ahead of Denmark’s Emil Nielsen.
Ingo Meckes, director of sport at the German Handball Federation, hailed the individual honours as recognition of both players’ leadership and of the collective effort from all 18 squad members. With handball the country’s most popular team sport after football, Germany now looks ahead to hosting the 2027 World Championship across Cologne, Munich, Kiel, Hanover, Magdeburg and Stuttgart.