2021 Men's IHF/EHF Trophy

The 2021 Men's IHF/EHF Trophy took place in Tbilisi, Georgia from 14 to 19 June 2021 and was a replacement for the cancelled 2021 IHF Emerging Nations Championship.^[1] After the 2021 IHF Emerging Nations Championship was cancelled, the EHF announced in March 2021 that the IHF/EHF Trophy would be held.^[2] The three best teams qualified for the relegation round of the 2024 European Men's Handball Championship qualification.^[3]

2021 Men's IHF/EHF Trophy

Tournament details
Host country	Georgia
Venue	1 (in 1 host city)
Dates	14–19 June
Teams	6 (from 1 confederation)
Final positions
Champions	Georgia (1st title)
Runners-up	Cyprus
Third place	Bulgaria
Fourth place	Moldova
Tournament statistics
Matches played	10
Goals scored	518 (51.8 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Giorgi Tskhovrebadze Roman Zacaciurin (36 goals)
Awards
Best player	Irakli Kbilashvili

Georgia defeated Cyprus in the final to win the tournament.^[4]

Preliminary round

All times are local (UTC+4).

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Cyprus	2	2	0	0	67	39	+28	4	Semifinals
2	Bulgaria	2	1	0	1	61	50	+11	2
3	Andorra	2	0	0	2	37	76	−39	0	Fifth place game

Source: EHF
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) goal difference.

14 June 2021 16:30	Cyprus	29–23	Bulgaria	Tbilisi Sports Palace, Tbilisi Attendance: 0[note 1] Referees: Ershov, Pavliukov (RUS)
	Paraskeva 7	(12–9)	Vasilev 6
	2× 5×	Report	2× 6×

---

15 June 2021 16:30	Andorra	16–38	Cyprus	Tbilisi Sports Palace, Tbilisi Attendance: 0[note 1] Referees: Rauchs, Linster (LUX)
	Soto 4	(10–20)	C. Argyrou 10
	1× 3×	Report	1× 4×

---

16 June 2021 16:30	Bulgaria	38–21	Andorra	Tbilisi Sports Palace, Tbilisi Attendance: 0[note 1] Referees: Mitrović, Kažanegra (MNE)
	Vasilev 9	(16–8)	Ruiz 7
	1× 5×	Report	1× 2×

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Georgia (H)	2	2	0	0	63	36	+27	4	Semifinals
2	Moldova	2	1	0	1	48	43	+5	2
3	Azerbaijan	2	0	0	2	32	64	−32	0	Fifth place game

Source: EHF
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head number of goals scored; 5) goal difference.
(H) Hosts

14 June 2021 19:00	Georgia	36–16	Azerbaijan	Tbilisi Sports Palace, Tbilisi Attendance: 0[note 1] Referees: Braseth, Sundet (NOR)
	Kbilashvili 12	(18–7)	Aydamirov 6
	1× 4× 1×	Report	1× 5×

---

15 June 2021 19:00	Moldova	20–27	Georgia	Tbilisi Sports Palace, Tbilisi Attendance: 0[note 1] Referees: Mitrović, Kažanegra (MNE)
	Zacaciurin 10	(10–11)	Tskhovrebadze 10
	1× 3× 1×	Report	4×

---

16 June 2021 19:00	Azerbaijan	16–28	Moldova	Tbilisi Sports Palace, Tbilisi Attendance: 0[note 1] Referees: Rauchs, Linster (LUX)
	Dubovyk 5	(7–13)	Savcenco 6
	5×	Report	2× 4×

Knockout stage

Bracket

	Semi-finals				Final
	18 June
	Cyprus	30
					19 June
	Moldova	28
					Cyprus	18
	18 June
					Georgia	32
	Georgia	32
	Bulgaria	19
					Third place
					19 June
					Moldova	25
					Bulgaria	26

Semifinals

18 June 2021 16:30	Cyprus	30–28	Moldova	Tbilisi Sports Palace, Tbilisi Attendance: 0[note 1] Referees: Braseth, Sundet (NOR)
	C. Argyrou 8	(14–11)	Zacaciurin 13
	1× 6×	Report	1× 3×

---

18 June 2021 19:00	Georgia	32–19	Bulgaria	Tbilisi Sports Palace, Tbilisi Attendance: 0[note 1] Referees: Rauchs, Linster (LUX)
	Tskhovrebadze 8	(22–11)	Neychev 5
	1× 7×	Report	1×

Fifth place game

Cancelled[note 2]	Azerbaijan	Cancelled	Andorra

---

Cancelled[note 2]	Andorra	Cancelled	Azerbaijan

Third place game

19 June 2021 16:30	Moldova	25–26	Bulgaria	Tbilisi Sports Palace, Tbilisi Attendance: 0[note 1] Referees: Mitrović, Kažanegra (MNE)
	Zacaciurin 9	(11–13)	Dimitrov 9
	1× 2×	Report	1× 3×

Final

19 June 2021 19:00	Cyprus	18–32	Georgia	Tbilisi Sports Palace, Tbilisi Attendance: 0[note 1] Referees: Ershov, Pavliukov (RUS)
	Argyrou 5	(6–14)	Tskhovrebadze 12
	2×	Report	6×

Final standings

Rank	Team
	Georgia
	Cyprus
	Bulgaria
4	Moldova
5	Andorra  Azerbaijan

Team advanced to the Relegation Round of qualification for EURO 2024

All-Star team

The all-star team was announced on 19 June 2021.^[4]

Position	Player
Goalkeeper	Zurab Tsintsadze
Right wing	Svetelin Dimitrov
Right back	Giorgi Tskhovrebadze
Centre back	Irakli Kbilashvili
Left back	Loucas Paraskeva
Left wing	Christos Argyrou
Pivot	Erekle Arsenashvili
MVP	Irakli Kbilashvili

Notes

1. The match was played behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
2. The matches, originally scheduled for 18 and 19 June, were cancelled due to several positive COVID-19 tests by the Andorran team.^[5][4]