A burst of pride at the European Men's Handball Championship » Spain beats France and messes up their calculations for the semi-finals!

The 30th official match between two of men's handball's leading nations upset France on their way to an eventual semi-final berth European Championship hosted by Denmark, Norway and Sweden. It had been 12 years since the result was reversed: in the same Jyske Bank Boxen, the Gauls beat the Iberians 30-27 in the EURO semi-final.

This time, his chosen one Jordi Riberastill licking his wounds after the painful results of the final tournament and with no chance of advancing into the top four, had a huge jolt of pride. They prevailed with 36-32 (20-14) in front of France, making their situation almost impossible.

The Roosters desperately need a win in their final main group game against Germany, but even so they depend on other results to achieve their goal.

But how did the Herning game go? Two contrasting developments: France no longer managed the same high-speed and efficient offensive presence as in the previous matches, while Spain, liberated, played very quickly, cleanly, with enthusiasm.

The Iberians led until the 12th minute, 7-6with Barrufet and Gurri the main scorers, then the French turned, 8-7.

Spain's assault in the first half: 7-1 in 7 minutes

But a relentless assault by the Spaniards followed, 7-1 within 7 minutes until the table showed 14-9bewildering to opponents. When they got closer, at 4 lengths, the keeper entered the equation Sergey Hernandezand the halftime score looked incredible: 20-14 for Spain.

This is Ian Barrufet's piece of art tonight. 😍#ehfeuro2026 #puregreatness @RFEBalonmano pic.twitter.com/oCfFvAw5tQ

— EHF EURO (@EHFEURO) January 26, 2026

The players led by Jordi Ribera displayed abundant variety in attack, from 6v6 to 7v6 with two pivots and other surprising combinations. Some schemes did not surprise the French, but in the first half, the counterattacks did.

In the second half, Remy Desbonnet to replaced on Charles Bolzinger in the Welsh goal and his interventions facilitated a 4-goal run and rekindled hope. When there were 14 minutes left, the score had increased dramatically, 26-25 for the Iberians.

After working so hard to come back, Mem & co once again became chaotic in attack, Hernandez walled up the Iberian goal and changes of schemes in attack, including the relentless 7v6 option, rewarded the Spaniards with a bittersweet victory.

“I'm proud of my team. It was very difficult to lose three games before coming here to play this one. I think we had a perfect first half both in defense and attack. We were together as a team and the team is the MVP for me today”, said Ribera at the end, although the designated player was Ian Barrufet, author of 10 goals.

“There's a lot of disappointment and frustration now. We warned the players before the game that we should play it in our comfort zone, that Spain has nothing to lose and that we're going to change things tactically. And that's exactly what they did,” highlighted Guillaume Gille.

“I feel that we as a staff were not able to keep the players on their toes and individually they were not prepared for this duel“, he concluded.

Spain players celebrating victory over France at EURO 2026 Photo: Imago Images

Main scorers for Spain: Barrufet 10, Gurri, Gomez 5, Tarrafeta, Serdio 4, and for France Minne 7, Descat 5 and Tournat 4.

14Sergey Hernandez had successful interventions, 32.56% efficiency

In another match of the main group I, Norway and Portugal they ended in a tie, 35-35 (18-17). The first ever draw between the two nations does not help either in the race for eventual qualification to the semi-finals.

Ranking main group I