+ Reigning champion
France won their fourth European Championship in Cologne two years ago after an extra-time victory over Denmark. But should the French even have played in the final? You may remember how Sweden led the semi-final against France, who managed to equalize with an illegal goal from a free kick in the last second of the second half. Sweden filed a protest, but in vain.
+ The gold favorite
Denmark won the 2024 Olympics and the 2025 World Cup and now has the chance to become the reigning champions in all three championships at the same time. But then the Danes must break what has developed into a bit of a European Championship curse. Despite Denmark's great dominance in recent years – including four straight World Cup gold medals – there has been no European Championship gold since 2012.
+ The Challengers
Sweden – only 14th in the World Cup a year ago – avoids both France and Denmark in their half, which on paper gives them a fairly affordable path to the semi-finals. At the same time, there are many obstacles on the way there and even the first group game, with the Netherlands and Croatia among the opponents, could be scary if Sweden is not on its toes from the start.
+ Home advantage
Norway will play at home in the first group stage, Sweden in both the first and second, while Denmark will be at home all the way to a possible European Championship final. But for this blue-and-yellow national team generation, home championships have not meant any success. Euro 2020 (Gothenburg and Malmö) ended in failure and elimination in the intermediate round, while the most recent result was fourth place in the 2023 World Cup (Gothenburg and Stockholm) after two final losses.
+ Sweden's squad
Goalkeepers: Andreas Palicka, Mikael Appelgren, Fabian Norsten.
Left wing: Hampus Wanne, Felix Montebovi.
Pivots/line players: Max Darj, Oscar Bergendahl, Felix Möller.
Left backs: Jonathan Carlsbogård, Eric Johansson, Nikola Roganovic.
Centre/back (playmakers): Felix Claar, Jim Gottfridsson, Axel Månsson.
Right backs/wing: Albin Lagergren, Lukas Sandell.
+ The groups
Group A (Herning): Germany, Spain, Austria, Serbia.
Group B (Herning): Denmark, Portugal, North Macedonia, Romania.
Group C (Oslo): Norway, France, Czech Republic, Ukraine.
Group D (Oslo): Slovenia, Faroe Islands, Montenegro, Switzerland.
Group E (Malmö): Sweden, Croatia, Netherlands, Georgia.
Group F (Kristianstad): Hungary, Iceland, Poland, Italy.
+ How the European Championship is played
The top two teams in each group advance to the intermediate round, taking points from their head-to-head matches. There, teams from A, B and C form a six-team group in Herning, while teams from D, E and F do the same in Malmö.
The top two from each group in the intermediate round will then play for the medals in Herning. The European Championships run from January 15th to February 1st.
+ The opener
Groups A and C are first out on Thursday evening. Among other matches, Norway will host Ukraine. Denmark enters the European Championship tournament against North Macedonia on Friday, while Sweden must wait until Saturday evening for its opener against Staffan Olsson's Netherlands.
+ Sweden's matches
January 17: Netherlands (8:30 p.m., Malmö).
January 19: Georgia (8:30 p.m., Malmö).
January 21: Croatia (8:30 p.m., Malmö).
+ Marathon table
The European Championship was played for the first time in 1994 and Sweden won the inaugural edition. Gold also in 1998, 2000 and 2002 meant that Blågult had an iron grip on the marathon table early on. The fifth and most recent European Championship gold came in Budapest four years ago.
+ Television
TV6 and Viaplay are broadcasting.
