What: Sweden's opening match at the Men's European Handball Championship.
Where: Malmö Arena.
When: Saturday at 8:30 p.m.
TV/radio: Viaplay/Viaplay Sport and P4 Radiosporten.
This applies: After the opening match against the Netherlands, Georgia awaits on Monday and Croatia on Wednesday in Group E. The top two teams advance to the intermediate round in Malmö - points from head-to-head matches are taken into account - for matches against four teams from Groups D and F. The top two teams advance from the intermediate round to the semi-finals.
The opposition: The Netherlands made their European Championship debut in 2020. Their best finish so far is tenth place in 2022. The team has been coached by Swedish handball legend Staffan Olsson since the fall of 2022.
Meetings over the years: Sweden has won ten matches, drawn one and lost one match against the Netherlands. The teams met in the 2024 European Championship group stage - when Sweden took bronze - and it was a narrow blue-yellow victory with 29–28.
Shared championship: In addition to Malmö, Kristianstad also has a group, while the others are played in Oslo and Danish Herning (two groups each). Herning is in charge of the second group in the intermediate round as well as the semifinals and medal matches. The European Championship runs from January 15 - February 1.
Sweden's squad:
Goalkeepers: Andreas Palicka, Mikael Appelgren, Fabian Norsten.
Left wing: Hampus Wanne, Felix Montebovi.
Pivots: Max Darj, Oscar Bergendahl, Felix Möller.
Right wing: Daniel Pettersson, Sebastian Karlsson.
Left back: Jonathan Carlsbogård, Eric Johansson, Nikola Roganovic.
Centre back: Felix Claar, Jim Gottfridsson, Axel Månsson.
Right back: Albin Lagergren, Lukas Sandell.
National team coach: Michael Apelgren.
