The clash between Slovenia and Sweden marked two players’ 40th games at the Men’s EHF EURO: Sweden goalkeeper Andreas Palicka and Slovenia back Borut Mačkovšek.
With that, Palicka surpassed Stefan Lövgren and Staffan Olsson and joined Tomas Svensson and Magnus Wislander — all members of the legendary “Bengan Boys” generation and multi-time EHF EURO winners — at the top of the all-time EURO appearances list for the side. Meanwhile, Mačkovšek is one game shy of levelling his coach Uroš Zorman and Renato Vugrinec in first place for Slovenia.
With two goals in the match, Mačkovšek also moved into the top five all-time leading scorers for Slovenia at the EHF EURO. With 104 overall, he now sits level with Luka Zvizej in fourth position for most EURO goals for Slovenia.
While Palicka has won four medals with Sweden, including EHF EURO gold in 2022, Mačkovšek counts one — bronze at the 2017 IHF Men’s World Championship. Mačkovšek was also a key figure when Slovenia last reached the EURO semi-finals, in 2020.