Beaten narrowly 30–27 by Slovenia on Tuesday—even in the literal sense—the Faroese national team fell short of reaching the main round at the Men’s EHF Euro 2026.
The tight and fierce clash at Oslo’s Unity Arena saw the Faroese occasionally manage to take the lead. At halftime, tellingly, the Slovenians were ahead just 16-15.
However, the Faroese side lost as many as 19 of their attempts on goal whereas the Slovenians fully utilized all of theirs except for 8. Still, the end result was honorable for the Faroese.
Unfortunately for the Faroe Islands, the Slovenians were somewhat stronger, more experienced and, notably, tougher. Their rough style was no match for the Faroese and midway in the first half, as Óli Mittún was breaking through the thick Slovenian defense, opponent Matic Suholežnik made an outrageous foul by hitting him in the face without any chance otherwise of reaching the ball. Suholežnik was duly served a red card and won’t be allowed to play for Slovenia’s next two matches.
Owing to the fact that, elsewhere in Group D, Switzerland crushed Montenegro 43–26, the Swiss earned a place in the main round together with the Slovenians, with Faroe and Montenegro sent home.
Despite the obvious disappointment of failing to advance, the Faroese team managed to increase its international ranking to its highest so far.