U20 European Handball Championships Predictions Favor the Hosts

By: Eniko

Posted: July 8, 2022

Updated: July 8, 2022

European Men’s Under-20 Handball Championship is held 7-17 July in Portugal
Slovenia is the defending champion after winning its first title in 2018
The hosts, Spain, and record-winner Denmark are among the top favorites

Image source: Steindy (talk) 11:16, 20 January 2010 (UTC), CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The 2022 European Men’s Under-20 Handball Championship is held between the 7th and 17th of July in Porto, Portugal. The hosts are the top favorites in the U20 European Handball Championships predictions. But the previous winners, Spain, Denmark, and Germany can also get the trophy. Just like the defending champions, Slovenia whose team won the title in the last event in 2018.

The best 16 Under-20 men’s handball teams will compete in the next 10 days in Portugal for the European Championship title. The competition returns after a four-year break following the cancellation of the 2020 event. In 2018 Slovenia won the title after defeating France by one goal in the final. But Denmark has been the most successful team so far in the history of the event with four titles. Both nations belong to the top favorites again along with the hosts, Portugal who were the runner.-up in 2010. And their neighbors, Spain who has already won the gold medal twice before. Even though it’s a junior event we can still see some great players in action who can be the next stars of their teams. Let’s see which team has the biggest chance of winning now.

U20 European Handball Championships predictions mention Portugal and Spain as top favorites

The Portuguese U-20 men’s handball team’s best result so far has been a second-place finish in the 2010 European Championship. But they also got a bronze medal from the 1995 U-20 World Championship. They finished fourth both in the previous European and World Championships, which is a promising sign ahead of the home-based event. The Mota da Costa brothers, Martim and Francisco can lead the team to victory. Both of them have already made their debut on the senior team. After their great performances in the EHF European League at their club, Sporting CP. if they can perform on a similar level, Portugal has a great chance of winning their first title. Online sportsbooks in Portugal offer the smallest odds, 3.50 for their victory.

But very similar odds, 3.74 are offered for the victory of Spain in the U20 European Handball Championships predictions. The two-time European champions finished only fifth in 2018. But they won the bronze in the U-19 EHF European Championship last year. One of their key players in this competition can be right-wing Antonio Martinez Llamazares. The 19-year-old had a great season in the Spanish domestic league at Abanca Ademar Leon. While he also played well on the national team. Spain will play alongside Portugal in Group A besides Norway and Portugal. The first two teams from each group will advance to the main round but it can’t be a problem for either of them.

U20 European Handball Championships predictions

Previous winners, Denmark, Germany, and Slovenia can also fight for the title

The Danish team has won the title the most times, on four occasions. But they got their last victory quite a long time ago, in 2010. The team did much better in the World Championships though where they finished as a runner-up in 2015 and 2017. They will start in Group A besides Slovenia, Hungary, and the Faroe Islands. With the odds of 4.50 to win their fifth title. Slovenia can be their toughest rival in the group who can even go all the way to the final. They are the defending champions after winning the country’s first gold medal in 2018. But the team looks strong again with players such as Mitja Janc, the younger brother of Barcelona star Blaz Janc.

Mitja was the top scorer and the MVP of last year’s U-19 event and can shine again. Online gambling sites in Portugal offer odds of 10.00 for Slovenia’s second success. Another former winner, Germany has even better chances of winning according to the predictions. They won the European under-19 title last year. And also finished second behind Spain at the Airport Trophy last month. Led by head coach Martin Heuberger the German junior teams have won two gold medals at the World and at the European Championships in the last 14 years. In the current U-20 team, Renars Uscins is the captain who was voted in the All-Stars team last year. And he has only improved since according to his coach. Germany’s odds to win this event now are 7.00 on 22Bet.