Melsungen or Kiel? A new winner, but again from Germany

EHF / Björn Pazen

31 May 2026, 09:00

After the same semi-final pairings on Saturday like last year, the Winamax EHF Finals 2026 in Hamburg will see the same matches again also on Sunday. But what was the third place match in 2025, is the final this time as THW Kiel and MT Melsungen clash for the trophy at 18:00 CEST. And last year's final is now the 3/4 placement match, with Montpellier Handball playing dethroned champions SG Flensburg-Handewitt at 15:00 CEST.

FINAL

THW Kiel (GER) vs MT Melsungen (GER)

Sunday 31 May, 18:00 CEST, live on EHFTV
H2H: 2-1-0
Last match: THW Kiel vs MT Melsungen 25 May 2025 in Hamburg (37:31 (18:18))

after 2021 (SC Magdeburg beat Füchse Berlin) and 2024 (Flensburg beat Füchse), the EHF European League gets an all-German final for the third time
for the 20th time since 2004, a German team will win the second-tier men’s EHF competition
THW Kiel have won the EHF Cup four times (1992, 2002, 2004, 2019); each time they made the final, they won it
this is Kiel's first European final since winning the EHF Champions League for the fourth time in 2020
Melsungen play their first final in an EHF competition; they finished fourth at the EHF Finals last year, when they lost the third place match against Kiel
on the international stage, Melsungen have not beaten Kiel in three duels: two times Kiel won, one match ended in a draw
the semi-finals were quite different: Kiel edged out Montpellier 29:28, while Melsungen took a clear 37:30 win against Flensburg
in both semis, the goalkeepers were crucial: Kiel won thanks to a double save of goalkeeper Andreas Wolff in the last seconds (13 saves in total), while Melsungen was aided by Nebojsa Simić's 15 saves
Kiel have 12 wins and one defeat this EHF European League season; Melsungen (who went through the play-offs) have 10 wins and five defeats
the top scorers are Florian Drosten and Dainis Kristopans with 40 goals each for Melsungen, and Bence Imre, who netted 59 times for Kiel
in their Bundesliga meetings in 2025/26, both sides won their home match: 31:29 for THW in Kiel and 30:29 for MT in Melsungen
the two coaches met as players in three EHF Champions League finals: Roberto Parrondo (Melsungen) won in 2008 and 2009 as player of Ciudad Real against Filip Jicha (Kiel); Jicha and Kiel struck back in 2012, beating Atletico Madrid and Parrondo
both have also won the EHF Champions League as coaches: Jicha with Kiel in 2020 and Parrondo with HC Vardar in 2019