The women's handball team of Ukraine has learned about its opponents in the qualifiers for Euro 2026.

The Ukrainian team has identified its opponents in the qualification for the European Handball Championship 2026

The Ukrainian team has learned who it will compete against in the qualifying round of the European Handball Championship in 2026: the teams will meet with Sweden, Serbia, and Lithuania. This was reported by 'Glavkom' citing 'Public Sport'.

The Ukrainian team intends to participate in the second consecutive continental championship and will hold the first part of the final qualification stage in October.

'The overall outlook is not bad. I am generally satisfied. I think the favorites are still Sweden. They play quite fast handball, and their team has many talented players', explained Smbatyan.

'I think playing against them will be difficult. Experienced handball players have returned: [the best volleyball player in the world in 2013 Andrea] Lekich, goalkeeper [Katarina] Tomasevic, and line player [Dragana] Cvijic. They had previously stated that they were ending their careers in the national team, but now they have returned. We will be watching, they will also have matches in April. By then, changes may occur. But still, I believe we can handle these opponents. We need to win against them and qualify for the European Championship,' said the Ukrainian.

According to the handball player, she expects that the battle for the second direct ticket will be between Ukraine and Serbia, which were semi-finalists in 2012 and constant participants in Euro.

Lithuania is also striving to compete in its first Euro since 1996. The team is showing an active series of four consecutive victories in all tournaments and will determine its fate in April in a match against the Faroe Islands, where a ticket to the World Championship, the second in the history of the national team, will be at stake.

At the same Time, the Ukrainian team continues its struggle for tickets to the World Championship 2025 - in April, the team will play the second qualifying round against the Czech Republic. According to the first player, the team is observing a positive trend towards successful qualification for major international handball competitions after a long absence from major tournaments.

It is worth noting that the Ukrainian team achieved a decisive victory over the Kosovo team in the fourth round of the qualification for the European Championship 2026 in handball.