The 2020 European Women's Handball Championship was held from 3 to 20 December 2020. The games were played in Herning and Kolding, Denmark.
Originally, this tournament would be held with 2 host countries: Norway and Denmark. However, lacking some time for the beginning, Norway renounced the right to seat, respecting the local legislation about the COVID-19 pandemic.
The tournament was also one of the qualification events for the 2021 World Women's Handball Championship. It was also played behind closed doors due to the pandemic.
Norway won the tournament for the eighth time after defeating France in the final. Croatia won the third place game to capture their first ever medal.
Bidding process
The bids were as follows: Denmark Norway Shortly after, Denmark and Norway decided to merge their bids. They were announced as the hosts in Dublin on September 20 2014.
Venues
On 9 September 2020, the Norwegian Handball Federation announced, that all games scheduled to take place in Norway, would be played in Trondheim, while on 6 November, the Danish Handball Federation announced, that all games scheduled to take place in Denmark, would be played in Jyske Bank Boxen, Herning. On 16 November, Norway withdrew altogether for health reasons. Danish Sydbank Arena then announced a wish to co-host the tournament together with Herning and this was approved of by the Danish government on 23 November 2020.
Qualification
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the qualification was cancelled and the 2018 final ranking decided the participants.
Qualified teams
Draw
The draw was held on 18 June 2020 in Vienna, Austria.
Seedings
The pots were announced on 7 May 2020.
Squads
Each squad consisted of 16 players, with a maximum of six players who could be replaced during the tournament. However, in regard to the COVID-19 pandemic and the potential risk of several players from the same team testing positive, there was no limit to the number of replacements for players testing positive.
Referees
10 referee pairs were selected on 9 October 2020. Two new pairs were added ahead of the main round.
Preliminary round
All times are local (UTC+1).
Group A
Group B
Group C
Group D
Main round
Points gained in the preliminary round against team that also advanced, were carried over.
Group I
Group II
Knockout stage
Bracket
Fifth place game
Semifinals
Third place game
Final
Final ranking and awards
Final ranking
All Star Team
The All Star Team and awards were announced on 20 December 2020.