Poland delivered a strong performance in Basel, Switzerland, finishing the group stage in second place behind France and advancing to the main round of the continental tournament for the first time since 2014.
Meanwhile, Spain and Portugal were eliminated and did not progress to the 12-team main round.
Poland left-wing Daria Michalak said after the match: "We had special power today from above, from my dad who unfortunately did not live to see this, but I know that he was with us and it is also thanks to him and for him."
Spain left-wing Jennifer Gutiérrez said: "It was a hard game for us. I think we didn’t find the key to break them. We started good, with good defence pressure then could run some fast breaks, but after we got stuck and we couldn't see the solution. Things didn't work out today and it's a bit sad because it was the last game now for us."
Poland, coached by Norwegian Arne Senstad, suffered a 22-35 defeat to France in their opening match of the tournament and beat Portugal 22-21 in their second group-stage match.
The championships, co-hosted by Switzerland, Austria and Hungary, run until December 15.
(gs)
Source: IAR, PAP, polskieradio24.pl, ehfeuro.eurohandball.com