Portugal Claims EHF Wheelchair EURO 2025 Title in Dramatic Shoot-Out Victory
LITHUANIA – portugal has been crowned champion of the EHF Wheelchair EURO 2025, defeating France in a thrilling final decided by a 7-0 shoot-out after a 2-1 tie (7:6, 9:10, 7:0) at the five-day championship held in Lithuania. The victory marks another milestone for the Portuguese team, adding to their existing European and world championship titles.
The match was a tense affair, with Portugal captain João Jerónimo acknowledging the team’s initial struggles with nerves. “We elaborate the game a lot; the nerves and anxiety of playing the final ended up hindering our game plan a bit,” Jerónimo told portal.fpa.pt.”We managed to win the first set when France already thought it was won. In the second set, we continued to be quite nervous, with some anxiety about wanting to finish, we didn’t make good decisions at the right time, and we ended up losing by one point.”
Portugal ultimately capitalized on a shift in momentum, aided by the exclusion of the French team captain and French fatigue.”In the third set, with the exclusion of the french team captain and with the physical exhaustion, it ended up becoming slightly easier because we managed to create more spaces to finish the 360º and leverage the advantage,” Jerónimo explained.
The tournament also saw Lithuania, as hosts and debutants, secure the bronze medal with a 2-1 (7:8, 5:4, 6:3) victory over Croatia.
Individual accolades were awarded to Maria Relvas of Portugal and Lorenzo Enzo Edjang of Spain, who shared the MVP honors, and Ricardo Queirós of Portugal, who finished as the tournament’s top scorer with 52 points.
Portugal coach Ferreira praised his team’s dedication, stating to portal.fpa.pt, “Congratulations to my athletes who are fantastic in their commitment, their desire, their attitude, both on and off the court.”
The championship opened a new era for wheelchair handball and served as a qualifier for the 2026 IHF Wheelchair Handball World Championship, with Portugal and France earning automatic berths.
A minute of silence was observed prior to the final in remembrance of Marc de Sousa, a prominent advocate for wheelchair handball and IHF Delegate, who passed away last September.
Final Ranking:
- Portugal
- France
- Lithuania
- Croatia
- Spain
- Norway
- Romania
- Hungary
- Netherlands
Qualified for the 2026 IHF Wheelchair Handball World Championship.
For complete rules of the game, visit: https://ihf.info/sites/default/files/2021-04/09%20-%20Rules%20of%20the%20Game_Wheelchair%20Handball_4-a-side_E_0.pdf
*Photo credit: Vidamantas Butrys / EHF
