Will the DHB team struggle to win their opening game?

2026 marks the tenth anniversary of the German national handball team’s last triumph at the European Championships. In 2016, the Germans were awarded the gold medal after a memorable final victory against Spain (24:17) with an outstanding record of seven wins from eight games.

Then as now, Andreas Wolff was one of the team’s biggest pillars. Now 34, he is still one of the best goalkeepers in the world and, with his individual class, is likely to help the DHB team pay off on Thursday evening between Germany and Austria at the 2026 European Handball Championships in Denmark, Sweden, and Norway.

Although there are five teams with lower betting odds for the European Championship title, the protégés of long-time national coach Alfred Gislason must definitely be counted among the elite circle of co-favorites. As the reigning silver medalists at the 2024 Olympic Games and World Cup quarterfinalists last year, they were usually not far off from claiming the crown.

The German national handball team is clearly in good shape at the moment. In the last seven international matches, the two-time European champions celebrated five victories and only lost a friendly match against European Championship co-favorite Iceland at the beginning of November. The test matches immediately before this European Championship were positive. Croatia was defeated twice, once by three goals and once by six.

Austria has lost four times in a row and was therefore unable to build up confidence in the friendly matches before this European Championship. Admittedly, the Austrian team, which includes numerous Bundesliga players and is coached by former Spanish professional Iker Romero, faced some tough opponents. At times, they kept up well with Slovenia (31:36) and France (29:34), losing by “only” five goals in each case.

For the upcoming Group A match between Germany and Austria, the odds on the handicap (+5.5) in favor of the Austrians at 1.77 in the Bet365 app are, in my opinion, once again good value. Experience shows that the opening match of a major tournament often causes problems for the favorites. The offensive plays are not yet working perfectly, and the goalkeepers often need one or two games before they get into their flow. All of this points to an exciting match and possibly also to fewer goals.

Germany – Austria Head-to-head comparison / H2H record

Another indication that the game will potentially be closer than German fans in Denmark would like is provided by the head-to-head comparison. Just this spring, the two teams faced each other twice in three days in the European Championship qualifiers. In Vienna, the 2016 European champions only managed a 26:26 draw. At home, the DHB team prevailed 31:26.

In both cases, the under 57.5 would have been successful, which offers attractive betting odds of 2.30 at Bet-at-home for this Thursday’s European Championship match between Germany and Austria.

Germany – Austria Tip

Since 2022, the neighboring countries have faced each other five times in handball. The German team has never managed to win by more than five goals. It is quite possible that this series will continue on Thursday evening at the start of the preliminary round of the European Handball Championship. It is not without reason that DHB goalkeeper Andreas Wolff warns of the Austrians’ very aggressive style of play, which in his opinion is “anti-handball” and primarily aims to disrupt the flow of the opponent with fouls or long attacks. Added to this is Konstantin Möstl, a strong goalkeeper who has proven himself in the Bundesliga, knows the Germans from everyday league play, and could become the X-factor.

All in all, I expect a German victory, but it will not be a clear one. I’m therefore going for a Germany vs. Austria tip on the handicap (+5.5) in favor of the underdogs, who have managed to spring a few surprises in recent years. This was the case in the last World Cup finals with a victory against Spain and in March in the European Championship qualifiers with a draw against Germany!