European Men's Handball Championship to tie the game at full-time, and two 10-minute extra periods were required before Sweden won 32–31 after Magnus Wislander scored the deciding goal. Three-time champions Sweden were the next to host the European Championship, in 2002. This was the first tournament with 16 teams, an expansion from 12 in the previous four instalments. The Swedes won their first seven matches, and had already qualified for the semi-finals when they lost 26–27 to Denmark, having led 17–11 at half time. In the other main round group, Iceland became the third Nordic team to qualify after defeating Germany in the final
Football in Niger Football in Niger Association football is the most popular sport in Niger, a nation of 18 million. While popular, Niger have so far been unsuccessful in international football, never winning a major tournament and failing to qualify for any FIFA World Cup finals, though they did reach the quarterfinals of qualifying in 1982, before losing to Algeria, who qualified for the 1982 World Cup. They have either failed to qualify or been forced to withdraw from every African Nations Cup since 1969. As of 2008, there are no Nigerien nationals playing with top level European clubs. In 2004, a handful