The Swedish handball masters continue to deliver in the home European Championship. The opening victory against the Netherlands (36–31) in Malmö Arena was followed up with a 38–29 win against Georgia, and thus Sweden has already qualified for the intermediate round.
Of course, it was nice to win - and by many goals. But honestly we should have won by a larger margin. We were sloppy at times and we can't accept sloppy play, says Jim Gottfridsson.
Wednesday's match against Croatia will be a pure group final. A victory there is needed for the Blue and Yellows to take two points into the intermediate round. Croatia, who took World Cup silver a year ago, has, like Sweden, secured a place in the next phase of the tournament with two straight victories.
It will be a physical match, we will certainly face an aggressive 5–1 defence, which is their strength. It is a complete national team. But we will do what we can to get two points into the intermediate round, says Gottfridsson.
Georgia is making only its second European Championship and Sweden was also waiting in the group in its debut in 2024. Then the Blue and Yellow won with a crushing 42–26.
Showed the way again
In this year's European Championship, the Georgians hung in there until the final minutes of the opener against Croatia, but fell 29–32.
They are difficult to read and played a great match against Croatia, says midfielder Felix Claar to Viaplay.
In the opening match against the Netherlands, Claar scored eight goals - now Sweden's playmaker once again showed the way. The star in Magdeburg - the Germans won the Champions League in the spring of 2025 - was responsible for Blågult's first three goals in the match.
However, Sweden failed to shake off Georgia. It was not until after fifteen minutes that goalkeeper Mikael “Äpplet” Appelgren made his first save of the match and from then on both penalties and free throws were missed.
Three straight goals
When trailing 8–9, national captain Michael Apelgren called a timeout. A tactical break that lifted Sweden.
They're physical and shoot well from outside, but now “Äpplet” has started to make a few saves and then we get the ball up, says Claar.
Through three straight goals, Sweden was able to take control of the match and when the team “won” the final minutes 4–1, Blågult was able to go into the break with a 20–15 lead.
It was a deficit that Georgia could not overcome. Sweden marched to a 38–29 victory in the second half.
