Macedonia's cadets start the European Championship in Belgrade today

The EHF EURO for under-18 handball players begins in Belgrade today, and Macedonia's men's cadet team is there with coach Goran Kuzmanoski. Group A forgives nothing: the first match is today at 12:00 against Slovenia at the Voždovac sports centre, on 30 July comes France, and on 1 August Sweden. The top two from each group go to the main round, the third and fourth continue in the placement playoffs. The tournament runs until 9 August with 24 national teams taking part - only the second time in history there have been so many. This is a generation with no television contracts and no transfer fees, just three opponents in four days. If anyone is looking for where the future of Macedonian handball begins, it throws off in Belgrade today.

Eurofarm Pelister back in Europe: Group G, Gummersbach and Gdańsk

The draw for the EHF European League 2026/27 put Eurofarm Pelister in Group G, alongside Germany's Gummersbach, Spain's Logroño La Rioja and Poland's Gdańsk. The group stage runs over six rounds from 29 September to 2 December, with two teams from each of the eight groups advancing to the playoffs, where the third and fourth-placed sides from the Champions League will be waiting for them. The Bitola side are not tourists in this company - they have Champions League experience too. The group isn't unwinnable, but it isn't a gift either: Gummersbach have resources Pelister cannot match, so everything will be decided in the two or three matches where the home hall has to be worth more than the budget.

The Champions League changes format: 24 teams and a completely new structure

The EHF is redrawing the men's Champions League for the first time since the 2020 reform. Instead of the current system, the new season starting on 9 September brings four phases: a group stage with 24 teams - eight more than before - split into six groups of four, then a main round with two groups of six, quarter-finals and the Final Four on 12 and 13 June 2027. Two teams from each group go through, the remaining 12 drop into the European League playoffs. The logic is equalisation: now everyone at the Final Four will have played 18 matches, instead of the current situation where some played 18 and others 20. More teams also means more television money. Equalisation is a nice argument, but it is rarely the first one.

Montenegrin Marković takes over the women's national team before the Euros

The handball federation has appointed Igor Marković as the new coach of the women's senior national team. Born in Cetinje in 1981, as a player he represented Lovćen, Budućnost, Kuwait's Al-Qurain and Hungary's Komlói Bányász, played for Montenegro from 2007 to 2018 and was his country's best handball player four years running. As a coach he led Montenegro's youth team to sixth place at the Euros in Podgorica, worked as first assistant at Rapid Bucharest, and this year took Montenegro to a historic fifth place at the Under-20 World Championship in China. Ahead of him are the Macedonia Trophy and preparations for the European Championship. The CV is serious - which is good news. The question is how long the patience will last, because here a national coach's term rarely survives into a second cycle.

Vardar with seven newcomers, Kumanovo with six, the Super League with a new system

The domestic season is being assembled on the move. Vardar enters with seven new players, among them left back Leon Ljevar, and coach Ivan Čupić stated the goal openly: a domestic double and the best possible run in the Champions League. MRK Kumanovo began preparations under Saša Radosavljević with six signings, while in Bitola the legendary Stojanče Stoilov took over the bench at Butel Skopje. Captain Filip Kuzmanovski extended his contract with Pelister despite foreign offers, citing the arrival of Lino Červar as his motivation. And from the 2027/28 season the Super League gets a new system: the number of teams stays at 12, but after 22 rounds in the regular season the field splits for the playoffs. A reform on paper, which here is the first and easiest part.