The 2006 EHF European Women's Handball Championship was held in Sweden from 7 to 17 December. It was won by Norway after beating Russia 27–24 in the final match. This championship was also the European qualifying event for 2008 Olympics, and Norway earned a spot at the 2008 Games for being the European champion. If Norway also becomes the 2007 World champion, the 2nd place team will qualify for the Olympics. In addition, the 1 or 2 (if Europe finishes in the top 2 continents at the world championship) best ranked teams in this championship, which are outside top 7 at the world championship, will participate at the Olympic qualifying tournament.

Venues

The European Championships will be held in the following cities:

Qualification

Note: Bold indicates champion for that year. Italic indicates host for that year.

Draw

The draw was held on 6 July 2006 in Göteborg, Sweden.

Competition format

Squads

Preliminary round

Group A

Group B

Group C

Group D

Main round

Group I

Group II

Knockout stage

Bracket

Fifth place game

Semifinals

Third place game

Final

Ranking and statistics

Final ranking

All-Star team

Source: EHF

Top goalscorers

Source: EHF

Top goalkeepers

Source: EHF