The Swiss handball team start the European Championship tournament in Oslo with a 28:28 draw against the Faroe Islands. More would have been possible.
16.01.2026, 22:36
16.01.2026, 22:38
SDA
Schmid hoped that the opening game would be a can opener for a successful tournament. His wish did not come true. It was an annoying draw. After trailing 13:19 at one stage, the Swiss took the lead 28:27 with just under a minute and a half to go. Goalkeeper Nikola Portner then made a save against Elias Ellefsen a Skipagotu, but Manuel Zehnder made it 29:27 with 16 seconds remaining. Three seconds before the final buzzer, Vilhelm Poulsen equalized for the Faroe Islands to make it 28:28.
The lively Faroese, driven forward by their fantastic fans, posed major problems for the Swiss for a long time with their 7-on-6 tactics. The SHV team got off to a good start. They went ahead four times, but after the first two mistakes in attack, the score was 4:6 (8th). The Swiss were then only able to equalize four more times in the first 30 minutes - the last time at 12:12 (24'). They trailed 13:15 at half-time.
After the break, nothing went right at first and it took them more than seven minutes to score their first goal. Noam Leopold was successful with a penalty to make it 14:19. It was the start of a top phase for the Swiss, who scored the next seven goals to take a 21:19 lead in the 48th minute. This was also thanks to goalkeeper Nikola Portner making three strong saves (13 in total) during this phase.
The Swiss team's best scorer was Noam Leopold, who scored seven goals. Their next opponents on Sunday at 20:30 will be Olympic fourth-placed Slovenia, who beat Montenegro 41:40 in the first game.
Faroe Islands - Switzerland 28:28 (15:13)
Oslo. - 7216 spectators. - SR Erdogan/Özdeniz (TUR).
Faroe Islands: Jacobsen/Guttesen; I Selvindi, Mortensen (2), Nordberg, Mikkjalsson, Hansen, Av Teigum, Poulsen (4), Mikkelsen, Vedelsbol (1), Pauli Mittun (2), Elias A Skipagotu (9), Roi A Skipagotu (1), Oli Mittun (7), Horn, Rasmussen (2).
Switzerland: Portner (11 saves/1 goal)/Seravalli; Meister (1), Rubin (5), Manuel Zehnder (6), Aellen (2), Röthlisberger, Küttel, Maros, Steenaerts, Laube, Sigrist (3), Samuel Zehnder, Willecke (1), Leopold (7), Ben Romdhane (2).
Remarks: Switzerland without Kusio and Wanner (both overnumbered).
