Will the DHB team follow up against their nemesis?
The German team’s second game in the main round of Euro 2026 is coming up! After a successful revenge for their painful elimination from the World Cup a year ago against Portugal …
The recent success against the strong Portuguese team led by the two phenomenally talented Costa brothers has given coach Alfred Gíslason’s team a real confidence boost. After all, Portugal had previously beaten none other than four-time world champions Denmark, leaving the 15,000 fans in their home handball mecca, Jyske Bank Boxen, in shock!
The victory earned the Germans two important points, which means that the pressure on the DHB team in the predictably tight Group 1 has not increased, at least for the time being. Gislason’s team now even has four points, thanks to their victory over Spain in the preliminary round, which was carried over to the main round.
Their opponents, on the other hand, have only two points. However, they also made a successful start to the main round with a victory over Spain, and the Scandinavians usually play strongly against the DHB team. The prediction for the match between Germany and Norway is therefore that the Norwegians will lose by a maximum of three goals.
Gislason’s team’s upcoming opponent will also be relying on its veteran Sander Sagosen. The 30-year-old has been playing for the national team for more than twelve years and is currently once again very efficient.
One example was his gala performance in the last preliminary round match against defending champions France, scoring nine goals! However, August Pedersen is currently even stronger in coach Jonas Wille’s squad. The 31-year-old earns his living in Hanover in the Bundesliga and is clinical in front of goal at the European Championship.
After four appearances, he has an average of seven goals and a shooting percentage of just under 85 percent. In view of these figures, the odds for Pedersen to score more than 6.5 goals in the match between Germany and Norway also seem recommendable. This is further supported by the fact that he recently stepped up his game with no less than eleven goals against Spain!
Germany – Norway Head-to-head comparison / H2H record
The last direct duel took place around two years ago at the World Cup in the match for fifth place. Germany prevailed 28:24 against the two-time World Cup runners-up. Looking back at the last six encounters, including a test match, the balance sheet for the German team is negative, with a majority of defeats (4) (2-0-4).
Nevertheless, the betting odds favor the DHB team in the latest showdown between Germany and Norway.
Germany – Norway Tip
Both countries started the main round with a win and proved to be in stable form. We therefore expect a close match, although we slightly favor the DHB team led by captain Johannes Golla. This assessment is based, among other things, on their recent victory against Portugal, which we consider to be an even stronger team.
However, Germany benefited from their opponents’ personnel situation. Portugal had to do without their particularly strong pivot Victor Iturriza due to a suspension.
In addition, the third-placed team in the 2020 European Championship has often not been a good match for the Germans in the recent past. Only two of the last six matches (including a test match) ended in defeat for the Scandinavians.
So the two-time European champions are facing another tough game. Accordingly, we do not see sufficient value in the odds for a German victory by more than three goals in the match between Germany and Norway.
