European Handball Championship scare: Iceland dropped points against Switzerland

Two days after overrunning Sweden, Iceland came down to earth again.

After chasing for most of the second half, Iceland finally caught up with Switzerland, but not by much. Iceland had one last attack to decide the match with 30 seconds left but failed to get a meaningful finish.

Iceland no longer has European Championship qualification in its own hands ahead of the end of the intermediate round.

Instead, it's Croatia, who beat Slovenia 29–25 in the Balkan derby.

For Sweden, who face Hungary tonight and Switzerland tomorrow, two wins are still needed to safely reach the semifinals.

The difference is that Sweden, after Iceland's point drop, is now guaranteed to win the group (and probably avoid Denmark in the semis) with two straight wins.

Facts: The standings in the intermediate round

Group standings: 1) Croatia 6 points (+1 goal difference), 2) Iceland 5 points (+8), 3) Sweden 4 points (+4), 4) Slovenia 4 points (–2), 5) Switzerland 2 points (–7), 6) Hungary 1 point (–4).

Remaining matches, today: Sweden–Hungary (8:30 p.m.).

Tomorrow: Slovenia–Iceland (3:30 p.m.), Croatia–Hungary (6:00 p.m.), Sweden–Switzerland (8:30 p.m.).

The two best teams in the group will advance to the European Championship semi-finals in Herning, Denmark, on Friday.

If two or more teams end up with the same number of points, the results of head-to-head matches will decide.