Eighteen teams determined their final placement in the standings at the 2025 European Men’s Lacrosse Championship after Friday action in Wroclaw.
England overcame Ireland in a fierce bronze medal matchup and Latvia defeated Czechia in a battle of quarterfinalists.
The Netherlands and Slovakia ended their campaign with exciting one-goal wins over Greece and Switzerland, while Poland, Portugal, Finland and Ukraine closed out comfortable victories.
Saturday features three decisive matches, starting with 21st place game between Denmark and Sweden with a spot in the 2027 World Lacrosse Men’s Division II Championship on the line at 13:00 CEST.
Then, Germany takes on France in another direct battle for qualification for the 2027 World Lacrosse Men’s Championship in Japan. France has made four previous appearances in the event while Germany has appeared in the last seven editions.
To close out the day, Italy and Israel face off for the gold medal in a blockbuster clash of two top-ten finishers at the 2023 WL Men’s Championship. The winner will be a first-time holder of the European Men’s Championship, with Israel having made one trip to the gold medal game in 2016.
The current standings are displayed below:
- Italy/Israel
- Italy/Israel
- England
- Ireland
- Latvia
- Czechia
- France/Germany
- France Germany
- Netherlands
- Greece
- Slovakia
- Switzerland
- Scotland
- Wales
- Poland
- Spain
- Portugal
- Norway
- Finland
- Croatia
- Denmark/Sweden
- Denmark/Sweden
- Ukraine
- Bulgaria
Jump to game: BGR-UKR | FIN-CRO | POR-NOR | POL-ESP | WAL-SCO | SVK-SUI | LAT-CZE | GRE-NED | IRL-ENG
Ukraine ended its time in Wroclaw with its first win in the 23rd place game over Bulgaria, 11-6. Andrew Tymkiv recorded five points and goalkeeper Jay Blasko made nine saves.
After seven games, Michael Melnychenko led Ukraine with 14 goals and five assists.
Finland took 19th place with a 14-7 win over Croatia. Emmett Edwards notched five points and nine different Finns scored.
Finland ended its campaign with three wins. Edwards led the team with 23 goals and four assists in seven games, and Alex Kiviniemi totaled 24 points. Lauri Uusitalo also finished with a 54% save percentage on 99 shots faced.
Croatia finished with two wins overall, and goalkeeper Thomas Trgo made 64 saves at a 60% save percentage.
Both Croatia and Finland qualified for the 2027 Men’s Division II Championship.
Portugal completed its strong showing in Wroclaw with a 13-7 win over Norway to take 17th place, reversing Norway’s win over Portugal in both teams’ championship opener and cementing a four-game winning streak.
Michael Hawkins posted six goals and finished his seven-game swing with 32 points on 23 goals and nine assists, the fourth best total among all attackers after the conclusion of Friday.
Gunde Otnes finished with 16 points for Norway.
Both teams qualified for the 2027 Men’s Division II Championship.
The host Poland wrapped its home campaign with a 9-3 win over Spain to take 15th place.
Lucas Hucal had three points on a day when seven Poles combined for nine goals.
Over eight games, Hucal paced Poland with 18 points while Sebastian Rzeczyck had 17. Both goalkeepers Christian Dzwilewski and Alexander Zborowski finished with save percentages over 50%.
Mattew Napolitano totaled 20 points in eight games for Spain and goalkeeper Paul Alexandro Walter Diaz made 77 saves.
Both teams qualified for the 2027 Men’s Division II Championship.
Scotland closed on a high note with a 10-7 win over Wales in the 13th place game.
Daniel McQuade and Christian MacKinnon each had four points as Scotland notched its fourth win in eight games.
McQuade racked up 24 points and MacKinnon ended with 19. Tobias Ross-Cleaver made 50 saves in 7 games in net.
Wales had three wins in seven games and Josh Simpson Pink finished with 19 goals.
Both teams advanced to the play-in round out of pool play and ultimately qualified for the 2027 Men’s Division II Championship.
Slovakia answered a furious Switzerland comeback in the 11th place game with an overtime goal to win 10-9.
Slovakia led 9-4 minutes into the fourth quarter and Switzerland ripped off five goals, including two in a madcap final minute to tie the game.
But to stem the tide, Jacob Nanosky scored two and a half minutes into overtime to send Slovakia home on a thrilling note.
Slovakia had a flair for the dramatic in Wroclaw, winning three games by just one goal, with two in overtime against Poland and Switzerland, and a last-minute go-ahead goal over Greece.
The Slovaks captured five wins in eight games and advanced to the play-in round. Griffin Schutz dazzled throughout and had 28 points. Anthony John Babony made 66 saves on 142 shots faced.
Switzerland had four players finished with over 10 goals in its eight games, led by Casey Realini’s 20 points. Andre Bremgartner also finished with a save percentage over 60%.
Both teams qualified for the 2027 Men’s Division II Championship.
Latvia capped off one of the most memorable runs out of the entire field in Wroclaw with a 9-6 win, its sixth out of eight games, to take fifth place over Czechia.
Latvia’s 4-0 third quarter made the difference and Vinsents Entonijs Faciponti helped control the game with a dominant 17 of 19 showing on face offs.
Through eight games, the trio of Dzeimss Edvards Moens, Eli Lazda and Austin Blumbergs all finished with over 15 points.
Czechia’s impressive sixth place finish featured five wins, including a crucial victory over Germany.
Tomas Knotek had 19 points and both goalkeepers Josef Slavik and Jacob Malasek finished with save percentages over 50%.
Both teams qualified for the 16-team field at the 2027 World Lacrosse Men’s Championship in Japan, with a series of wins over teams that had finished above them at the last edition in 2023.
The Netherlands’ go-ahead-goal with two minutes capped an exciting encounter with Greece in a 9-8 win in the ninth place game.
Netherlands led 7-3 in the second half, but Greece answered with a four goal run before a the two teams traded haymakers in the final six minutes. Alderik Rafiq van der Heyde scored the winner and had three points.
Goalkeeper Urney Russel Lambertus Albertsz also made 12 saves on 20 shots, including four stops in the last quarter.
The Netherlands finished with six wins out of eight games and closed with a five-game winning streak. Jake Bowman had one of the most productive individual campaigns at the tournament with 14 goals and 17 assists, the fifth-best point total among attackers. Albertsz had 36 saves in five games.
Greece had four wins in its last five and came minutes away from its fifth on Friday. Antony Tsakos was one of the most exciting attackers to watch in Wroclaw and had 22 goals and 11 assists for Greece, the second-best point total ahead of the last day.
Both teams will be in the field for the 2027 Men’s Division II Championship.
England rebounded from its semifinal defeat to hold off Ireland 7-4 for the bronze medal.
Ireland was within one in the second half twice, the second time with 20 minutes to go, but England delivered a 2-0 fourth quarter to lock in for the medal.
Blair Pachereva scored the goal to restore England’s two-goal lead late and Daniel Hilditch stepped on the day with three goals.
England finished with six wins in seven games and took home its 11th medal in 11 editions of the event, as well as a qualification spot in the 2027 Men’s Championship.
Four different players amassed over 20 points for England in Drew Bickerton, Hilditch, Alex Russell and Daniel Watson.
Ireland took home five wins out of seven and qualified for the 2027 Men’s Championship with a 12-6 win over Germany. Conor Foley finished with 28 points with Patrick Corbett at 20 points, and goalkeeper Joe Walsh was outstanding as usual for the Irish with a 69% save percentage.
