RRI Sports Club – Women’s handball
This weekend, two Romanian women's handball teams will compete in the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals.
Florin Orban, 15.04.2026, 13:45
The Romanian women’s national handball team has qualified for the Final Four of the EHF EURO Cup 2026. In the decisive match of qualifying group G1, the Romanian handballers defeated the Polish national team on Sunday in an away match in Radom, score 38-34. To advance, the Romanian team was required not to lose by more than four goals. Ovidiu Mihăilă’s trainees led on the scoreboard throughout the entire match. At halftime, their advantage stood at six goals, with a score of 21-15. The most efficient Romanian player was Elena Roșu, who scored 7 goals. In the group’s other match, Norway outclassed Slovakia 38-19. The Nordic side won the group with a total of 12 points, followed by Romania with 8, Poland with 4 and Slovakia with zero points. From the other group, Denmark and Hungary have qualified for the EHF EURO Cup 2026 Final Four tournament, scheduled for September.
This weekend features the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals. Both teams representing Romania will play on Saturday. Gloria Bistrița will face the French team Brest Bretagne at home. The Transylvanians reached the quarterfinals after defeating the Danish side Ikast in the play-offs, winning both at home and away. The French club advanced directly to the quarterfinals after winning Group A, where they suffered only three defeats, the last of which was against CSM Bucharest in February.
Shortly after the game in Bistrița, the match between Esbjerg and CSM Bucharest will take place in Denmark. In recent years, the Danish club has prevailed head to head, but CSM now enters the match as the favorite. They reached the quarterfinals directly after securing second place in Group A. The Nordic side required a play-off round, in which they advanced with two victories over the Croatian side Podravka Koprivnica. In the return leg, both Romanian teams will play on Sunday, April 26. Since 2018, no Romanian team has managed to progress past the Champions League quarterfinals. In 2016, 2017 and 2018, CSM Bucharest reached the Final Four. They won the League in 2016, and in the following two editions, they finished 3rd. (VP)
