Vardar is the only club in Europe with a hundred percent home record

The specialist site Data Handball published a figure worth more than any official's statement: Vardar is the only handball club in Europe to win every one of its home games last season. 22 official matches in front of its own crowd, 22 wins. No other European club managed it. Closest is Denmark's Aalborg with one defeat, Germany's Magdeburg and Sweden's Kristianstad have two each, while Barcelona and Veszprem lost three times at home. The analysis covered clubs with at least 20 home matches, including national championships and European competitions. Barcelona and Veszprem are clubs with budgets Vardar cannot even imagine, and yet on its own court the Macedonian champion was more flawless than either. A number that needs no interpretation.

Riga strengthens for 300,000 euros ahead of the return leg with Vardar

Ahead of next week's return leg in the second round of European Cup qualifying, the Macedonian champion's opponent is not sitting idle. Riga paid 300,000 euros for Portuguese player Alfa Balde, who until now wore the shirt of Radnicki Kragujevac. The deal was finalised in recent days and is expected to be formally signed early next week. Balde joined Kragujevac in January 2025 from Porto and played 48 matches for the Serbian club. Three hundred thousand euros for a single signing before one qualifying return leg is a budget domestic clubs can rarely match - and that is exactly why every European two-legged tie Vardar plays has a value that is not measured in goals.

Hungary won its first M20 EHF EURO trophy, Slovenia took bronze

In the final of the European Championship for handball players under 20, Hungary beat Sweden 34:32 after extra time to win its first trophy in this competition. Half-time belonged to Sweden (16:15), regular time finished 30:30, and in extra time the saves of goalkeeper Adam Kristof Balog proved decisive. Hungary's Peter Gazso was top scorer with 14 goals from 18 attempts, with Mons Fredriksson scoring 9 for Sweden. The biggest detail: in the main round that same Sweden thrashed Hungary 40:24, meaning this is a turnaround from a sixteen-goal deficit to the title in two weeks. Hungary waited 32 years for a medal at this level - the last was bronze in 1994. This year's bronze went to Slovenia, which beat Denmark 30:28, its fourth bronze in the competition's history.

The draw placed the Balkan clubs in the EHF European League

The group stage of the EHF European League for the 2026/27 season has been drawn - 32 clubs, seeded according to the latest EHF club ranking, with country protection. Croatia's Nexe landed in Group A with Elverum, Saint-Raphael and Hammarby. Bosnia's Izvidjac is in Group C with Kadetten Schaffhausen, Chambery and Romania's CSM Bucharest. Sesvete of Croatia is in Group D with Sävehof, Tatran Presov and Bergischer. Two-time champion Flensburg is in Group E, and Benfica, the 2021/22 winner, in Group F. Slovenia's Slovan is in Group H with Hungary's Tatabanya. The group stage runs from 29 September to 2 December, with the top two from each group going through to the play-offs. The Balkans have four representatives in one competition - a number worth remembering the next time somebody says the region no longer counts in handball.

Ohrid defends its European title, Gakidova heads to Poland

GRK Ohrid, winner of the EHF European Cup, has begun pre-season with a roll call at which coach Boris Rojevikj had eight new players. From the Macedonian players came Filip Taleski, Martin Karapalevski and Martin Ivanovski, and from abroad Shuichi Yoshida, Dominik Mate, Adama Keita, Nikola Zechevikj and Dino Slavikj. The goal is threefold - the domestic championship, the Cup and defending the European trophy. At the same time, the Polish connection in Macedonian women's handball continues: international Ivana Gakidova has signed for Kalisz after spending last season at Kobierzyce. She is the fifth Macedonian in the Polish league this season - Dragana Petkovska is already at Kalisz, and Marija Guguljanova, Jovana Kiprijanovska and Ivana Arsenievska also play there. "I am ready for new challenges and I will do everything I can to help the team," Gakidova said. Five Macedonian handball players in one foreign league is not a coincidence - it is a school producing players Polish clubs ask for by name.