The latest from Women’s Handball
CSM Bucharest has become one of Europe’s best four handball sides
Florin Orban, 29.04.2026, 13:45
The Romanian women’s handball sends another side to the top of the Champions League’s after an absence of eight years. In 2018, CSM Bucharest passed the league’s first stage and emerged as winner of Group A, which also included the Danish side Nykøbing Falster, Krim Ljubljana of Slovenia and Gdynia of Poland. CSM went to the main group and managed wins against the Hungarian side Győr, whose lineup included at that time the famous Nora Mørk of Norway. CSM’s lineup at that time included Cristina Neagu, the world’s best player. The Romanians won the third place in the group and qualified for the quarters, where they defeated the French side Metz, 34-21 in the home game and 20-27 in the return match.
The tournament was hosted by Hungary and in front of 12 thousand handball fans, CSM lost the semis to Gyor 20-26. Then they fought for the third place against the Russian side Rostov-Don whom they outperformed 31-30.
Győr won the finals against the North-Macedonian side, Vardar Skopje.
CSM has this year become one of the best four sides of the continent. The quarterfinals stage has pitted them against the Danish side Team Esbjerg, with Nora Mørk in the lineup, but also Europe’s best player, the Norwegian Henny Ella Reistad. Esbjerg won the first match 26 – 25 in Denmark. CSM failed to level the scoring in the last second but they managed a better show in Bucharest where they benefited from the high performance of the Swedish goalie Evelina Eriksson in great shape at that time. CSM won the match 37-27. The other Romanian side in the quarters Gloria Bistrița conceded defeat to the French side Brest Bretagne.
The Final Four tournament will be taking place over June 6 – 7 in Budapest. CSM will be up against Metz in the semis while Brest Bretagne will be playing Győr.
