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2006 European Men's Handball Championship

The 2006 EHF European Men's Handball Championship was the seventh tournamentof the tournament and held in Switzerland from 26 January to 5 February 2006, in the cities of Basel, Bern, Lucerne, St. Gallen and Zürich. France won the tournament, going through unbeaten after an early defeat to Spain. France's defence conceded the fewest goals per game in the entire tournament, with 192 conceded goals in eight matches. The hosts Switzerland were knocked out at the first group stage, while Denmark finished third and Croatia fourth to qualify directly for the 2007 World Championship, along with France.

2006 EHF European Men's Handball Championship
Handball-Europameisterschaft 2006 (in German)
Championnat d'Europe de handball 2006 (in French)
Campionato europeo di pallamano 2006 (in Italian)
Logo of the EC 2006
Tournament details
Host country  Switzerland
Venue(s)5 (in 5 host cities)
Dates26 January – 5 February
Teams16 (from 1 confederation)
Final positions
Champions France (1st title)
Runner-up Spain
Third place Denmark
Fourth place Croatia
Tournament statistics
Matches played47
Goals scored2,783 (59.21 per match)
Attendance182,600 (3,885 per match)
Top scorer(s)Slovenia Siarhei Rutenka
(51 goals)
Best playerCroatia Ivano Balić
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Qualification edit

Country Qualified as Previous appearances in tournament
   Switzerland Host 2 (2002, 2004)
  Croatia Semifinalist of 2004 European Championship 6 (1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004)
  Denmark Semifinalist of 2004 European Championship 5 (1994, 1996, 2000, 2002, 2004)
  Germany Semifinalist of 2004 European Championship 6 (1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004)
  Slovenia Semifinalist of 2004 European Championship 5 (1994, 1996, 2000, 2002, 2004)
  Russia Fifth place of 2004 European Championship 6 (1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004)
  France Playoff winner 6 (1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004)
  Hungary Playoff winner 4 (1994, 1996, 1998, 2004)
  Iceland Playoff winner 3 (2000, 2002, 2004)
  Norway Playoff winner 1 (2000)
  Poland Playoff winner 2 (2002, 2004)
  Portugal Playoff winner 4 (1994, 2000, 2002, 2004)
  Serbia and Montenegro Playoff winner 4 (1996, 1998, 2002, 2004)
  Slovakia Playoff winner 0 (Debut)
  Spain Playoff winner 6 (1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004)
  Ukraine Playoff winner 3 (2000, 2002, 2004)

Note: Bold indicates champion for that year. Italic indicates host for that year.

Preliminary round edit

Group A edit

This group was played in the Kreuzbleichhalle, St. Gallen (capacity: 4,500). Poland qualified first, winning the first match and then drawing the second against Switzerland despite an equaliser with 15 seconds to go, and two hours later they were joined by Slovenia, who came back from a two-goal deficit in the last ten minutes to beat Ukraine by 33–31. Switzerland and Ukraine thus played off for the last place in the main round, and the Swiss got behind from the start, trailing by 21–14 at half time. Ten minutes into the second half, Ukraine were 28–16 up, before allowing Switzerland somewhat back into it near the end. They still won 37–30, however, qualifying for the second round with zero points. Slovenia beat Poland 33–29 to carry forward four points, while Poland got two.

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1   Slovenia 3 3 0 0 95 85 +10 6
2   Poland 3 1 1 1 93 88 +5 3
3   Ukraine 3 1 0 2 92 96 −4 2
4    Switzerland (H) 3 0 1 2 86 97 −11 1
Source: EHF
(H) Hosts
26 January 2006
17:30 		Poland   33–24   Ukraine Kreuzbleichhalle, St. Gallen
Attendance: 3,000
Referees: Višekruna, Stanojević (SRB)
Bielecki 8 (19–13) Shelmenko, Stetsyura 7
3×  2×  Report 3×  1× 
26 January 2006
20:15 		Slovenia   29–25    Switzerland Kreuzbleichhalle, St. Gallen
Attendance: 3,500
Referees: Kékes, Kékes (HUN)
Rutenka 7 (16–13) Gautschi 7
3×  4×  Report 2×  4× 
28 January 2006
16:15 		Switzerland   31–31   Poland Kreuzbleichhalle, St. Gallen
Attendance: 3,500
Referees: Arnaldsson, Viðarsson (ISL)
Engeler 9 (16–17) Obrusiewicz 6
4×  3×  Report 3×  4× 
28 January 2006
18:30 		Ukraine   31–33   Slovenia Kreuzbleichhalle, St. Gallen
Attendance: 2,800
Referees: Dolejš, Kohout (CZE)
Prudius 7 (17–16) Rutenka 9
3×  11×  1×  Report 3×  8× 
29 January 2006
14:00 		Slovenia   33–29   Poland Kreuzbleichhalle, St. Gallen
Attendance: 2,800
Referees: Hansson, Olsson (SWE)
Rutenka 10 (16–10) Bielecki 9
3×  6×  Report 2×  6× 
29 January 2006
16:15 		Switzerland   30–37   Ukraine Kreuzbleichhalle, St. Gallen
Attendance: 3,500
Referees: Laursen, Nielsen (DEN)
Engeler, Kurth 6 (14–21) three players 7
3×  3×  Report 3×  4× 

Group B edit

The matches in this group were played in St. Jakobshalle, Basel (capacity 8,500). Germany became the first team to qualify, drawing their first match with Spain before overcoming Slovakia (who ended up by conceding 100 goals, the most in the group stage) in their second game. Spain followed soon after, beating France by 29–26 after a 17–9 lead at half time, but the French were also through as they would be ahead of Slovakia on head-to-head if the two were to end on two points each. Thus, their last match with Germany only determined how many points they would carry forward to the main round; France risked going through with nil, but after prevailing 27–25 they finished the group in second place and took two points.

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1   Spain 3 2 1 0 94 82 +12 5
2   France 3 2 0 1 88 75 +13 4
3   Germany 3 1 1 1 87 84 +3 3
4   Slovakia 3 0 0 3 72 100 −28 0
Source: EHF
26 January 2006
15:45 		Germany   31–31   Spain St. Jakobshalle, Basel
Attendance: 5,900
Referees: Laursen, Nielsen (DEN)
Hens 9 (16–15) three players 6
4×  5×  Report 2×  2× 
26 January 2006
18:00 		France   35–21   Slovakia St. Jakobshalle, Basel
Attendance: 4,800
Referees: Arnaldsson, Viðarsson (ISL)
Abati 6 (19–9) three players
3×  2×  Report 3×  4× 
28 January 2006
14:00 		Slovakia   26–31   Germany St. Jakobshalle, Basel
Attendance: 6,300
Referees: Višekruna, Stanojević (SRB)
Antl 6 (15–18) Klimovets 7
3×  3×  Report 3×  6× 
28 January 2006
16:15 		Spain   29–26   France St. Jakobshalle, Basel
Attendance: 5,900
Referees: Kékes, Kékes (HUN)
Romero 10 (17–9) Karabatić 10
3×  3×  Report 4×  2× 
29 January 2006
15:15 		Germany   25–27   France St. Jakobshalle, Basel
Attendance: 6,600
Referees: Dolejš, Kohout (CZE)
Klimovets 6 (11–13) Guigou 6
2×  4×  Report 3×  4× 
29 January 2006
17:30 		Spain   34–25   Slovakia St. Jakobshalle, Basel
Attendance: 5,450
Referees: Reisinger, Kaschütz (AUT)
Garabaya 8 (15–10) Straňovský 9
2×  5×  1×  Report 3×  6× 

Group C edit

The matches in this group were held in the Sursee Stadthalle in Sursee/Lucerne. Denmark and Iceland opened with wins, and with a draw in the second round both teams qualified for the main round. Serbia and Montenegro joined them due to the head-to-head encounter rule; despite finishing level on points with Hungary after losing to Denmark in the last match, Serbia and Montenegro had beaten Hungary and thus finished ahead. Iceland lost their last match, but nevertheless carried through three points to the main round, as did Denmark.

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1   Denmark 3 2 1 0 90 82 +8 5
2   Iceland 3 1 1 1 95 94 +1 3
3   Serbia and Montenegro 3 1 0 2 89 93 −4 2
4   Hungary 3 1 0 2 84 89 −5 2
Source: EHF
26 January 2006
18:00 		Serbia and Montenegro   31–36   Iceland Stadthalle, Sursee
Attendance: 2,500
Referees: Falcone, Rätz (SUI)
Krivokapić 7 (11–16) Sigurðsson 10
4×  9×  Report 3×  6× 
26 January 2006
20:15 		Denmark   29–25   Hungary Stadthalle, Sursee
Attendance: 2,500
Referees: Vakula, Ljudovik (UKR)
Boldsen 6 (12–8) Buday 9
3×  5×  Report 3×  3× 
27 January 2006
18:00 		Hungary   24–29   Serbia and Montenegro Stadthalle, Sursee
Attendance: 2,500
Referees: Hansson, Olsson (SWE)
Iváncsik 6 (12–13) Milosavljević 8
2×  5×  1×  Report 3×  9× 
27 January 2006
20:15 		Iceland   28–28   Denmark Stadthalle, Sursee
Attendance: 2,500
Referees: Lemme, Ullrich (GER)
Guðjónsson 10 (15–14) Boldsen, Leegård 6
4×  4×  Report 4×  4× 
29 January 2006
18:00 		Hungary   35–31   Iceland Stadthalle, Sursee
Attendance: 2,400
Referees: Bord, Buy (FRA)
Buday, Gál 9 (16–14) Guðjónsson 10
3×  3×  Report 3×  5× 
29 January 2006
20:15 		Denmark   33–29   Serbia and Montenegro Stadthalle, Sursee
Attendance: 2,500
Referees: Breto, Huelin (ESP)
Stryger 9 (19–12) Sudžum 5
2×  6×  Report 4×  8× 

Group D edit

This group was played out in the Wankdorfhalle, Bern. Russia became the first team to qualify for the main round when they beat Portugal on 27 January. Croatia joined them later that day with a 32–28 win over Norway, and Norway and Portugal played off for the last main round spot on Sunday 29 January. Norway won that match by ten goals, thus proceeding to the main round with zero points; Russia got a full score with four points, despite nearly throwing away a five-goal lead in the last five minutes against Croatia.

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1   Russia 3 3 0 0 89 82 +7 6
2   Croatia 3 2 0 1 85 79 +6 4
3   Norway 3 1 0 2 86 83 +3 2
4   Portugal 3 0 0 3 80 96 −16 0
Source: EHF
26 January 2006
17:00 		Croatia   24–21   Portugal Wankdorfhalle, Bern
Attendance: 2,000
Referees: Reisinger, Kaschütz (AUT)
Džomba 8 (11–11) R. Costa 6
3×  5×  Report 4×  6× 
26 January 2006
19:10 		Russia   24–21   Norway Wankdorfhalle, Bern
Attendance: 2,000
Referees: Breto, Huelin (ESP)
Ivanov 7 (12–10) Buchmann 7
2×  7×  Report 3×  9×  1× 
27 January 2006
18:00 		Portugal   32–35   Russia Wankdorfhalle, Bern
Attendance: 2,400
Referees: Falcone, Rätz (SUI)
R. Costa 6 (12–18) Kokcharov, Peskov 6
4×  5×  Report 4×  7× 
27 January 2006
20:15 		Norway   28–32   Croatia Wankdorfhalle, Bern
Attendance: 2,500
Referees: Bord, Buy (FRA)
Kjelling 6 (14–20) Balić 8
4×  6×  Report 2×  4× 
29 January 2006
17:00 		Croatia   29–30   Russia Wankdorfhalle, Bern
Attendance: 2,500
Referees: Lemme, Ullrich (GER)
Balić 9 (12–17) Rastvortsev 10
3×  5×  Report 3×  6× 
29 January 2006
19:10 		Portugal   27–37   Norway Wankdorfhalle, Bern
Attendance: 2,000
Referees: Ljudovik, Vakula (UKR)
Carneiro 7 (12–17) Løke 8
3×  5×  Report 4×  5× 

Main round edit

Results from the first group stage were carried forward into the main round. The first and second placed teams from each group advance to the semifinals. The third placed team of each group advance to play for the fifth place in the tournament.

Group I edit

The matches in this group were played in St. Jakobshalle, Basel. Slovenia had gone through their group with four points from their two matches, but lost initially to France, who were second after two matches. Indeed, Group B teams dominated this group; all nine matches in the second round were won by teams from Group B, and Germany's 36–22 win over Ukraine in the first round of main round play was the largest all tournament. Ukraine were thus knocked out of the semis with two games to play.

Germany continued on the winning path the following day, taking a four-goal lead at half-time against Slovenia in a rerun of the 2004 final, before Slovenia pegged them back to 27–27 midway through the second half. The following nine minutes gave the Germans a five-goal advantage, with keeper Henning Fritz conceding one goal in those nine minutes, and with five minutes to spare Slovenia could only come back to a three-goal deficit. Nevertheless, Germany were still third in the group, as France beat Poland by ten goals and Spain were eventually pegged back to 31–29 by Ukraine after conceding five goals without reply in the last seven minutes. However, Ukraine missed a penalty shot from and Spain prevailed.

The final round of matches opened with Germany beating Poland by eight goals, winning the first half by 16–7 and controlling from there, as their keeper Johannes Bitter saved 21 shots. By contrast, the two Polish keepers had an aggregate of six saves. However, Germany needed either France or Spain to lose their matches, and France would not oblige; they beat Ukraine by 30–20 to qualify for the semi-finals. Spain needed a draw against Slovenia to qualify, and the teams were within two goals of each other for most of the first half. The Spanish goalkeeper made four saves in the final five minutes of the first half, allowing Spain to get a 19–16 lead, and Slovenia never came closer than two goals after that. Spain thus qualified for the semi-finals in first place, ahead of France, while Germany played off for fifth place and a spot at the 2008 European Championship.

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
  Spain 5 4 1 0 164 144 +20 9
  France 5 4 0 1 148 125 +23 8
  Germany 5 3 1 1 160 137 +23 7
  Slovenia 5 2 0 3 162 169 −7 4
  Poland 5 1 0 4 132 154 −22 2
  Ukraine 5 0 0 5 126 163 −37 0
Source: EHF
31 January 2006
15:15 		Ukraine   22–36   Germany St. Jakobshalle, Basel
Attendance: 2000
Sergiy Shelmenko 5
Yuriy Petrenko 5 (1) 		(13–15) Florian Kehrmann 9 (1)
Pascal Hens 5
3×  4×  report 2×  4× 
31 January 2006
17:30 		Slovenia   30–34   France St. Jakobshalle, Basel
Attendance: 1900
Miladin Kozlina 8
Siarhei Rutenka 6 (1) 		(11–20) Luc Abalo 8
Joel Abati 5
Nikola Karabatic 5
Bertrand Gille 5
3×  5×  1×  report 3×  3× 
31 January 2006
20:00 		Poland   25–34   Spain St. Jakobshalle, Basel
Attendance: 1800
Marcin Lijewski 5
Karol Bielecki 5 (1) 		(15–16) Albert Rocas 11 (5)
Alberto Entrerríos 7
Rolando Urios 5
3×  5×  report 3×  3× 
1 February 2006
15:15 		Slovenia   33–36   Germany St. Jakobshalle, Basel
Attendance: 3100
Siarhei Rutenka 10 (5)
Renato Vugrinec 7 		(16–20) Christian Zeitz 8
Torsten Jansen 7 (1)
Florian Kehrmann 7
2×  3×  1×  report 2×  7× 
1 February 2006
17:45 		Poland   21–31   France St. Jakobshalle, Basel
Attendance: 3000
Marcin Lijewski 7 (2 pen)
Dawid Nilsson 6 		(9–18) Olivier Girault 7 (2)
Luc Abalo 5
3×  1×  report 3×  1× 
1 February 2006
20:00 		Ukraine   25–34   Spain St. Jakobshalle, Basel
Attendance: 1800
Sergiy Shel'menko 5
Mykola Stesyura 5 		(15–16) Juan García [es] 10 (4)
Julio Fis 6
3×  5×  report 3×  3× 
2 February 2006
15:15 		Poland   24–32   Germany St. Jakobshalle, Basel
Attendance: 3100
Karol Bielecki 8 (4 pen)
Leszek Starczan 5 		(7–16) Florian Kehrmann 9 (1)
Torsten Jansen 6
Pascal Hens 5
3×  2×  report 3×  2× 
2 February 2006
17:45 		Ukraine   20–30   France St. Jakobshalle, Basel
Attendance: 3000
four players 3 (10–16) Joel Abati 7 (2)
Michael Guigou 5
3×  4×  report 3×  4× 
2 February 2006
20:00 		Slovenia   33–39   Spain St. Jakobshalle, Basel
Attendance: 3100
Siarhei Rutenka 9 (2)
Uroš Zorman 5 		(16–19) Alberto Entrerríos 8
Rolando Urios 8
Albert Rocas 6 (1)
Iker Romero 6
3×  6×  report 3×  5× 

Group II edit

This group's matches took place in the Kreuzbleichhalle, St. Gallen.

Iceland took an early lead in this group after beating Russia 34–32 in the first match, which sent Russia down from first to third place. Croatia went second in the group after beating Denmark, left winger Goran Šprem settling the match when he scored two seconds before the end, while Norway were the only team without a point in this group after losing their match with Serbia and Montenegro. With 25 seconds remaining, Kristian Kjelling scored a penalty to equalise, but Milorad Krivokapić scored his only goal of the match just as the buzzer sounded to give Serbia and Montenegro the victory.

Russia quickly recovered from the loss against Iceland, with their keeper Alexei Kostygov saving 14 of 34 shots as Serbia/Montenegro were beaten 29–21, and went top of the table ahead of Croatia – who beat Iceland by one goal, though Iceland's last two goals came in the very last minute. In the last match on 1 February, Denmark kept their semi-final hopes alive with a 35–31 win over Norway, to stay within one point of the leaders.

The following day saw Croatia become the first team to qualify for the semi-finals when they beat Serbia and Montenegro by 34–30; the teams followed each other until 20–20 ten minutes into the second half, when wingers Goran Šprem and Mirza Džomba scored five of six successive Croatian goals. Goalkeeper Vlado Šola saved 19 of 43 shots from Serbian players. Iceland needed a win against Norway, who had failed to win a match thus far in the tournament, and led 16–14 at half time after Norway threw away the ball on their last attack of the half and Iceland countered in a last goal. Norway came back, equalising eight minutes into the second half, and with ten minutes to go they took a three-goal lead which they never relinquished, eventually winning 36–33 to knock Iceland out of the championship. Norwegian back player Kjetil Strand scored 19 goals in the match, eight more than any other player had done in a match thus far in the tournament, and more than half of Norway's goals.

The final match between Russia and Denmark was now a virtual quarter-final. Russia gained a 6–3 lead after ten minutes, but were pegged back, and by the end of the half it was 13–13. In the second half, Russia suffered three two-minute suspensions within a minute, and during the three-minute period of Danish numerical superiority they went from 19–17 to 22–17. The lead never shrunk below five goals again, Denmark eventually scoring 22 goals in the second half to win 35–28 and qualify for the semi-finals in second place.

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
  Croatia 5 4 0 1 155 146 +9 8
  Denmark 5 3 1 1 161 147 +14 7
  Russia 5 3 0 2 143 140 +3 6
  Iceland 5 2 1 2 159 156 +3 5
  Serbia and Montenegro 5 1 0 4 137 157 −20 2
  Norway 5 1 0 4 141 150 −9 2
Source: EHF
31 January 2006
15:45 		Iceland   34–32   Russia Kreuzbleichhalle, St. Gallen
Attendance: 2200
Guðjón Valur Sigurðsson 11
Ólafur Stefánsson 8 		(17–15) Eduard Kokcharov 8 (4)
Vasily Filippov 7
Oleg Frolov 5
3×  4×  report 2×  6× 
31 January 2006
18:00 		Denmark   30–31   Croatia Kreuzbleichhalle, St. Gallen
Attendance: 3000
Søren Stryger 8 (3)
Joachim Boldsen 6 		(14–15) Petar Metličić 10
Blaženko Lacković 6
2×  6×  report 2×  4× 
31 January 2006
20:15 		Serbia and Montenegro   26–25   Norway Kreuzbleichhalle, St. Gallen
Attendance: 2900
Ratko Nikolić 6 (15–16) Kjetil Strand 9
Kristian Kjelling 5 (2)
3×  5×  report 4×  5× 
1 February 2006
15:45 		Serbia and Montenegro   21–29   Russia Kreuzbleichhalle, St. Gallen
Attendance: 2800
(8–14) Denis Krivoshlykov 8
Timur Dibirov 5
3×  4×  report 3×  5× 
1 February 2006
18:00 		Iceland   28–29   Croatia Kreuzbleichhalle, St. Gallen
Attendance: 3500
Ólafur Stefánsson 8
Guðjón Valur Sigurðsson 8 		(13–13) Ivano Balić 9
Blaženko Lacković 9
3×  6×  report 3×  11×  2× 
1 February 2006
20:15 		Denmark   35–31   Norway Kreuzbleichhalle, St. Gallen
Attendance: 3000
Jesper Jensen 8 (5)
Lars Rasmussen 7 (4) 		(17–15) Kristian Kjelling 9
Håvard Tvedten 7
Frank Løke 6
3×  6×  1×  report 3×  9× 
2 February 2006
15:45 		Serbia and Montenegro   30–34   Croatia Kreuzbleichhalle, St. Gallen
Attendance: 3500
Marko Krivokapić 7 (4)
Milorad Krivokapić 5
Momir Ilić 5 (2) 		(16–16) Goran Šprem 9
Ivano Balić 8
3×  7×  2×  report 3×  5×  1× 
2 February 2006
18:00 		Iceland   33–36   Norway Kreuzbleichhalle, St. Gallen
Attendance: 3500
Ólafur Stefánsson 9 (4)
Guðjón Valur Sigurðsson 6
Snorri Guðjónsson 5 		(16–14) Kjetil Strand 19 (8)
Frank Løke 7
3×  7×  1×  report 3×  7× 
2 February 2006
20:15 		Denmark   35–28   Russia Kreuzbleichhalle, St. Gallen
Attendance: 3500
Michael Knudsen 10
Søren Stryger 6
Lars Christiansen 5 (1) 		(13–13) Vasily Filippov 6
Vitaly Ivanov 5
Eduard Kokcharov 5 (5)
2×  5×  report 3×  6× 

Final round edit

These took place in the largest stadium to be used in the tournament, the Hallenstadion in Zürich (capacity 11,500). The first match was the fifth-place play-off, determining the final direct qualifying spot for the 2008 European Men's Handball Championship; the other semi-finalists had already qualified directly. Russia took a two-goal lead through Oleg Frolov when he gave them 6–4 in the ninth minute, and Germany failed to catch up before half-time, though they won the last eight minutes 5–3. Russia went into the break with an 18–16 lead, but failed to score for eight minutes midway through the second half, while Christian Zeitz scored four successive goals for Germany to take them into a three-goal lead, which they kept for the remainder of the match despite Eduard Kokcharov scoring two penalties with five minutes to go. Zeitz ended up with 12 goals, eight of which came in the second half.

In the first of the two semi-finals, France faced Croatia, and after Croatia won the first 20 minutes by 10–8 the French goalkeeper Thierry Omeyer shut the goal. Nine saves were recorded before half-time, as France went into a 12–10 lead, and a further two in the first five minutes of the second half allowed France to build a four-goal lead. They never gave it away again, as Michael Guigou netted six times in the second half to ensure a 29–23 victory.

Spain became the second team from preliminary group B to qualify for the final, coming back from a 15–16 deficit at half time when Iker Romero scored four successive goals for Spain to bring them from 20–19 to 24–20. Denmark came within one goal, when Lars Rasmussen netted on a fast break, but three Spanish goals and two saves followed, and the Danes never came back in the match.

Denmark won the third place play-off, however, coming back from 2–5 down to lead 16–9 at half time against Croatia and eventually winning by five goals, before France went into the final against the defending World Champions Spain. France had lost the group stage match by three goals, and Spain took a 4–1 lead after five minutes, before a four-minute rally from France brought them back in the lead. Spain were catching up for the most part of the first half, equalising four times but not taking the lead until Iker Romero scored a penalty shot in the 21st minute. France then won the last nine minutes of the half by 6–1, and went into the break with a four-goal lead.

Coming out of the break, Spain came within two goals, trailing by 20–22 when ten minutes had passed. However, they then went nearly fifteen minutes without a goal, which included a period of playing with six men against four. When Rolando Urios finally scored, France still led by 28–21 with six minutes to go, and France eventually won the match by 31–23 to win their first European Championship.

Bracket edit

 
Semi-finalsFinal
 
      
 
4 February – 14:15 (Zürich)
 
 
  France29
 
5 February – 16:00 (Zürich)
 
  Croatia23
 
  France31
 
4 February – 17:00 (Zürich)
 
  Spain23
 
  Spain34
 
 
  Denmark31
 
Bronze Match
 
 
5 February – 13:30 (Zürich)
 
 
  Croatia27
 
 
  Denmark32

Semifinals edit

4 February 2006
14:15 		France   29–23   Croatia Hallenstadion, Zürich
Attendance: 11300
Michael Guigou 10 (6)
Jerome Fernandez 5
Bertrand Gille 5 		(12–10) Mirza Džomba 10 (5)
3×  6×  Report 3×  5× 
4 February 2006
17:00 		Spain   34–31   Denmark Hallenstadion, Zürich
Attendance: 10800
Iker Romero 10 (1)
Rolando Urios 5
Albert Rocas 5 (3) 		(15–16) Michael Knudsen 7
2×  1×  Report 3×  2× 

Fifth place game edit

4 February 2006
11:45 		Germany   32–30   Russia Hallenstadion, Zürich
Attendance: 6500
Christian Zeitz 12
Pascal Hens 10 		(16–18) Eduard Kokcharov 10 (7)
Oleg Frolov 7
3×  7×  report 3×  5×  1× 

Third place game edit

5 February 2006
13:30 		Denmark   32–27   Croatia Hallenstadion, Zürich
Attendance: 11000
Lars Møller Madsen 9
Jesper Jensen 5
Søren Stryger 5 (1) 		(16–9) Blaženko Lacković 6
Mirza Džomba 6 (4)
Denis Špoljarić 5
2×  5×  report 3×  3× 

Final edit

5 February 2006
16:00 		Spain   23–31   France Hallenstadion, Zürich
Attendance: 11400
Juanín García 6 (13–17) Nikola Karabatic 11
Joel Abati 6
3×  3×  report 3×  3×  1× 

Ranking and statistics edit

References edit

  • eurohandball.com. "2006 Men's European Championship". Archived from the original on 24 January 2012. Retrieved 24 January 2011.
  • todor66.com. "Men Handball European Championship 2006". Archived from the original on 19 June 2011. Retrieved 24 January 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)

External links edit

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=2006_European_Men%27s_Handball_Championship&oldid=1216271799"