Spain’s victorious run spanned across three tournaments and including them winning the last two editions, in Croatia in 2018 and in 2020, held across Austria, Norway and Sweden.

Spain’s attacking efficiency only reached 59 per cent, while Norway’s Sebastian Barthold top scored for his side with six goals and was consequently named player of the match.

Elsewhere in Group II, played at the Ondrej Nepela Arena, Sweden defeated a Germany side depleted by coronavirus cases 25-21.

Germany conceded 13 turnovers and after losing three successive main round matches have now been eliminated.

The match also included Sweden scoring their 2,500^th goal in European Handball Championship history, with the milestone goal managed by Hampus Wanne, the Swedes top scorer in the game with five.

The day’s other match in the group was a dramatic 29-29 draw between Russia and Sweden, with left-back Sergi Mark Kosorotov scoring in the final seconds to earn a point for Russia.

Arkadiusz Moryto scored six goals for Poland, while their keeper Mateusz Zembrzycki saved ten shots, with a 67 per cent save efficiency.

Despite salvaging a draw in the final seconds Russia have been eliminated from the competition, as due to tiebreaker rules, they cannot now finish in the group’s top two.

Norway, Sweden and Spain all have six points heading into the final round of games, scheduled for Tuesday (January 25) and will be competing for the two semi-final berths from this group.

Norway and Sweden face each other, while Spain will take on Poland earlier in the day.