2020 is a strange year for sport events. Many have been canceled, many have been moved.

The Women’s European Handball Championship is held every two years in December. The European federation ensures that preparations for this year’s championships are proceeding normally and that they will be played as planned.

If so, where, when, where to buy a ticket, how to get there? All the necessary information in the article below.

The 2020 European Handball Championship, basic information

When?

The tournament will take place on December 3-20, 2020.

Where?

The tournament will take place in two host countries: Denmark and Norway.

Initially, it was to take place in 5 cities, the Norwegian Trondheim, Oslo and Stavanger and the Danish Frederikshavn and Herning. A few days ago, however, the Norwegian side announced that due to the epidemiological situation, all matches scheduled in Norway (including the finals) will take place in the Trondheim hall.

Group phase

It is scheduled for December 3-08.

The tournament will be played according to the known rules. 16 teams will take part in it. They were divided into 4 groups: group A will play Herning, B will play Frederikshavn, C and D will play Trondheim.

The exact list of groups as well as the daily and hourly schedule can be found at this link.

Main round

3 teams from each group will qualify for the main round (12 in total).

They will be divided into two groups of 6 teams:

Group I will play games in Herning and these will be teams from groups A and B.

Group II will play their games in Trondheim and these will be teams from groups C and D.

The round is scheduled for December 10-15.

Finals

December 18-20

On Friday, 18/12/2020, three matches will be played: the match for the 5th place and both semi-finals. Saturday is a day off, and medal matches are played on Sunday.

All these matches will be played in one place and it will be Trondheim.

Tickets

Tickets are available on two different websites, depending on the country. Links lead to pages from here.

Tickets for the group match and the main round scheduled in both Danish cities are now available. Prices range from 285 to 535 crowns.

Tickets for the Norwegian (and therefore also the final) part of the tournament are not available at the moment. Due to recently announced halls changes, all tickets purchased so far are invalid and will be refunded. Due to the situation, only 200 fans will be able to enter each match. It is worth subscribing to the newsletter (at tickets website) to receive information about a possible sale as soon as possible.

Polish games

Polish team was drawn to group D and will play in Trondheim:

Norway – Poland, 03/12/2020, 20:30

Poland – Romania, 05/12/2020, 16:00

Germany v Poland, 07/12/2020, 18:15

If they get promoted to the next round, the matches of the main round will continue in Trondheim, and potential opponents will be teams from group C: the Netherlands, Hungary, Serbia and Croatia.

How to get

The closest Frederikshavn airport is Aalborg, to which there are no direct flights from Poland, there are from London.

You can also sail to Frederikshavn from Oslo (which takes about 9 hours) and Gothenburg, Sweden. This is shorter journey, a 2-3 hour cruise. Directly to Gothenburg you can fly with Ryanair from Gdańsk, Katowice, Kraków and Modlin as well as Wizzair from Gdańsk and Warsaw.

You can reach Herning by flying to Billund (Ryanair and Wizzair from Gdańsk and Kraków) or Aarhus (Ryanair from Gdańsk).

Trondheim offers flights by LOT / SAS with a change in Oslo or direct flights by Wizzair from Gdańsk or Kraków.

Halls

The championships will be held in 3 arenas.

Trondheim Spektrum is a new, interesting-looking hall with a capacity of about 9,000, which includes as many as 9 full-size pitches.

In Denmark, Group A and one group of the main rounds will be held at Jyske Bank Boxen in Herning with a capacity of 12,500. It is a multifunctional place which hosts concerts and competitions in many areas, such as swimming and gymnastics. The arena has already hosted several handball events: the Women’s Euro in 2010, the Men’s Euro in 2014 and the Men’s World Championships in 2019.

Arena Nord in Frederikshavn will host group B. It was opened in 2005, with a match capacity of 2,500 fans. It was one of the halls during the women’s world championship in 2015.

From touristic side – what to see before games

Herning and Frederikshavn are not typically associated with tourism. Herning is the largest exhibition center in Scandinavia, so it is very likely that there will be fairs or events. You can also visit the oldest city mansion and museums. It is worth remembering that if you fly to Billund you are very close … to Legoland!

Frederiskhavn is a port city that operates both passenger and cargo ferries. There are several islets nearby (one is inhabited), a viewpoint, a botanical garden and a beach with palm trees.

And Trondheim? It is probably associated with ski jumping, among other things? The tournament takes place in winter, so there is a chance for the Northern Lights!

The old town and the bridge, houses by the water, the fortress, the cathedral, beautiful views – it seems that Trondheim is really a place to see.

And although I have not been to these mentioned cities (yet), I managed to visit Norway and Denmark and I think it is very much worth it?

  • Oslo, view from opera roof
  • Copenhagen, port Nyhavn