France, Spain, Iceland the first to qualify for main round at Denmark 2016

France, Spain, Iceland the first to qualify for main round at Denmark 2016

After two days of play at the Men's 20 EHF EURO 2016 in Denmark one question already emerges: Who can stop France?

After having beaten Serbia 33:22 on Thursday, the winners of the Men's 18 EHF EURO 2014 and the Youth World Championship produced another impressive performance in Group A on Friday, easing past Poland 34:20 to qualify for the tournament's main round.

However, they were not the only ones to make the step to the tournament's next phase as France were followed suit by Iceland and Spain.

Iceland, bronze medallists at the Youth World Championship 2015, beat Slovenia 23:19 in Group B to record their second win and book a place in the main, and Spain, bronze medallists at Men's 18 EHF EURO 2014, beat Russia 34:23 to achieve the same.

With Iceland and Spain qualifying, it also became certain that Slovenia, silver medallists at the Youth World Championship 2015, have forfeited all their medal chances and will place 9th at the very best.

Germany and Denmark edge close

In Groups C and D, tournament hosts Denmark as well as Germany are very close to their respective main round berth after they recorded a second event win on Friday. Denmark beat FYR Macedonia 23:18, while Germany beat Croatia 29:22.

Both need just one one more point in their last games against Norway (Denmark) and Hungary be sure of a place in the main round.

Saturday is a rest day at Denmark 2016. The entire preliminary round will come to an end on Sunday. The main round will then start on Tuesday, 2 August.

The first two teams from both main round groups qualify for the semi-finals on 5 August. The final and the match for third place will take place on 7 August.

Live streams for all matches are accessible via http://livestream.com/m20euro.