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
Josh McEachran the team, the last coming in a 3–1 victory over Russia in the opening match of the 2009 Montaigu Tournament. McEachran received his first call into the U17 squad for the final 2009 European U17 Championship elite qualification match versus Hungary on 30 March 2009, starting in a 2–0 victory which saw England qualify for the finals. After failing to make the cut for the tournament finals, McEachran was a regular in qualification for the 2010 European U17 Championship and was included in the squad for the finals in Liechtenstein. He scored in the opening group match against the Czech