Can any team destroy Slovenia’s dream?

15 of the 16 spots at the Women’s EHF EURO 2016 are decided after five qualification rounds have been played. The only decision pending is the one about the best third ranked team.

Currently Slovenia is in prime position as their 24:23 win against Croatia granted them two valuable points because in the “best third ranked team”-ranking only the matches against the teams ranked first and second are taken into account.

This means that all other teams, who still have a chance to finish first, would first of all need a win, as Slovenia are the only team to have claimed points for the “best third team”-ranking to date. Second of all, they would have to hope that Slovenia loses to Montenegro and that they eventually also have a better goal difference than Slovenia.

Sounds impossible? Well, if not earlier than at the very latest Vive Tauron Kielce’s comeback in the final of the VELUX EHF Champions League has shown that very little is impossible in handball.

Here are the previews for Saturday, 4 June. The final tournament draw will take place in Gothenburg on 10 June and will be streamed live on ehf-euro.com.

Group 1: Romania vs. Belarus, 19:00 hrs local time in Piatra Neamt

If the Group 1 matches pan out as expected, Romania will finish second as they have lost the direct encounter against Norway on aggregate. However, the World Championship bronze medallists and their top star Cristina Neagu will be eager to finish the qualification on a high and with a victory in front of their home fans.

The first leg was quite equal, with Belarus showing strong resistance before they eventually succumbed to the Romanian pressure and lost 23:25. On home court Romania can be expected to have even fewer problems.

Belarus theoretically still have the chance to finish this qualification as the best third ranked team with a very clear win and if other results go their way, but in reality the chances are more …

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