2025–26 European Aquatics Euro Cup

For the equivalent women's tournament, see 2025–26 European Aquatics Women's Euro Cup.
European Aquatics Euro Cup
2025–26
Tournament information
SportWater polo
DateQualification round:
3–5 October 2025
Group stage:
16 October 2025 – 12 February 2026
Knockout stage:
25 February – 6 June 2026
Tournament
format(s)
Round Robin and Knockout stage
TeamsQualification round: 12+4 [A]
Group stage: 16 [B]
Knockout stage: 8+8
Total: 19+12 (from 12 countries)
WebsiteOfficial website

The 2025–26 European Aquatics Euro Cup is the 34th edition of European Aquatics's secondary competition for men's water polo clubs, and the 15th edition since being rebranded from the Trophy to the Euro Cup. The season begins on 3 October 2025 and ended on 6 June 2026 with the Final.

This will be the third straight season under the new format, however, this season will witness a change in slot allocation, with only the third and fourth from domestic leagues being allowed to take part.

The winners of the European Aquatics Euro Cup automatically qualify for next season's Champions League and also qualify for the 2026 Super Cup.

Pro Recco are the defending champions.

Format

  • Qualification round

16 teams will participate in the qualification round in October 2025. The fourth place teams from national leagues ranked 1–10 plus the champions and runners-up of the national leagues ranked 11–12 (if they choose to enter) take part. The teams are divided into four separate groups, held in centralised venues. After round robin play, the group winners plus the three best runners-up progress to the group stage.

  • Group stage

Sixteen teams will play in the group stage which is held between October 2025 to February 2026. The third place teams of national leagues ranked 1–10 can enter this round alongside the seven clubs who advanced from the qualification round. The participants are distributed into four groups of four. After home and away double round robin play, the top two from each group qualifies to the knockout stage.

  • Knockout stage

The 8 teams left, plus the 8 teams that were eliminated at the Champions League group stage, go into the knockout stage. There will be an Eighth-finals, Quarter-finals, Semifinals and Final. Each tie is a home and away two legged affair where the aggregate winners advance.[1][2]

Rankings

The results were based on the results of the past four seasons.[3]

  • Associations 1–10 can have two teams ranked 3rd and 4th qualify.
  • Associations 11–12 can have two teams ranked 1st and 2nd qualify.

Apart from the distribution based on the rankings, countries could have additional teams participating in the Euro Cup, as noted below:

  • (CL) – Additional teams dropping down from the Champions League

Ranking facts

Teams

Starting this season, only the third and fourth teams from national leagues ranked 1–10 and champions and runners-up from national leagues ranked 11–12 are permitted to enter. Starting this season, champions from countries ranked below the top 12 are not permitted to enter.

Unlike last season, in the event that a club decides not to enter, the next best team is not allowed to take their place.[1]

Qualified teams

The labels in the parentheses show how each team qualified for the place of its starting round:

  • CL: Champions League title holders
  • EC: Euro Cup title holders
  • 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th,: League positions of the previous season
  • CL: Transferred from the Champions League
    • QR: Transferred from the Champions League qualification round
    • GS: Transferred from the Champions League group stage
Entry round Teams
Knockout stage Team (CL GS) Team (CL GS) Team (CL GS) Team (CL GS)
Team (CL GS) Team (CL GS) Team (CL GS) Team (CL GS)
Group stage RN Savona (3rd) BVSC Manna ABC (3rd) CN Barcelona (3rd) VK Šabac Elixir (3rd)
Panathinaikos AC (3rd) VK Jug AO (3rd) ASC Duisburg (3rd) PVK Budućnost Podgorica (3rd)
CS Dinamo București (3rd)
Qualification round Steaua București (CL QR) Pays d'Aix Natation (CL QR) Spandau 04 (CL QR) NC Vouliagmeni (CL QR)
Pallanuoto Trieste (4th) Szolnoki Dozsa Praktiker (4th) CN Terrassa (4th) BVK Crvena zvezda (4th)
GS Apollon Smyrnis (4th) VK Solaris (4th) Montpellier Water Polo (4th) OSC Potsdam (4th)
CS Rapid București (4th) A-Polo Sport Management (1st) WPC Dinamo Tbilisi (2nd) ZV De Zaan (1st)

Name changes

The following teams' names were changed during the season.

Round and draw dates

Phase Round Draw date Round date
Qualification round All rounds 28 July 2025 3–5 October 2025
Main round Matchday 1 16 October 2025
Matchday 2 30 October 2025
Matchday 3 13 November 2025
Matchday 4 20 November 2025
Matchday 5 4 December 2025
Matchday 6 12 February 2026
Eighth-finals First leg 25 February 2026
Second leg 7 March 2026
Quarter-finals First leg 18 March 2026
Second leg 28 March 2026
Semi-finals First leg 25 April 2026
Second leg 9 May 2026
Finals First leg 23 May 2026
Second leg 6 June 2026

Qualification round

Main article: 2025–26 European Aquatics Euro Cup qualification round

The group winners and three best runners-up qualify for the group stage, while everyone else drops down to the Conference Cup qualifiers, bar the teams that took part in Champions League qualification. The draw was on 28 July 2025 in Zagreb, Croatia.[6][7] The seeding is based off the club rankings.[8][9]

Group A

3–5 October 2025, Athens, Greece

Pos Team Pld W PSW PSL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification SPA APO MAN ZAAN
1 Spandau 04 3 2 0 0 1 46 35 +11 6[a] Group stage — — 11–16 21–9
2 GS Apollon Smyrnis (H) 3 2 0 0 1 47 41 +6 6[a] 10–14 — 14–12 23–15
3 A-Polo Sport Management 3 1 1 0 1 47 43 +4 5 — — — —
4 ZV De Zaan 3 0 0 1 2 42 63 −21 1 18–19[b] — — —
Source: European Aquatics Euro Cup
(H) Host
Notes:
  1. ^ a b Spandau 04 16–11 GS Apollon Smyrnis
  2. ^ Match ended 14–14. A-Polo Sport Management won 5–4 on penalties.

Group B

3–5 October 2025, Montpellier, France

Pos Team Pld W PSW PSL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification TRI VOU CRV MON
1 Pallanuoto Trieste 3 2 0 1 0 57 47 +10 7 Group stage — — — —
2 NC Vouliagmeni 3 1 1 1 0 62 48 +14 6 23–22[a] — 16–17[b] —
3 BVK Crvena zvezda 3 1 1 0 1 51 38 +13 5 11–12 — — —
4 Montpellier Water Polo (H) 3 0 0 0 3 32 69 −37 0 13–23 9–23 10–23 —
Source: European Aquatics Euro Cup
(H) Host

Group C

3–5 October 2025, Šibenik, Croatia

Pos Team Pld W PSW PSL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification SOL STE RAP DIN
1 VK Solaris Šibenik (H) 3 3 0 0 0 51 40 +11 9 Group stage — 13–12 21–14 17–14
2 Steaua București 3 2 0 0 1 45 31 +14 6 — — — —
3 CS Rapid București 3 1 0 0 2 39 51 −12 3 — 10–19 — —
4 WPC Dinamo Tbilisi 3 0 0 0 3 33 46 −13 0 — 8–14 11–15 —
Source: European Aquatics Euro Cup
(H) Host

Group D

3–5 October 2025, Terrassa, Spain

Pos Team Pld W PSW PSL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification TER SZO PAY POT
1 CN Terrassa (H) 3 3 0 0 0 50 21 +29 9 Group stage — 13–4 13–8 24–9
2 Szolnoki Dozsa Praktiker 3 2 0 0 1 41 33 +8 6 4–13 — — 14–10
3 Pays d'Aix Natation 3 1 0 0 2 31 44 −13 3 — — — 13–8
4 OSC Potsdam 3 0 0 0 3 27 51 −24 0 — — — —
Source: European Aquatics Euro Cup
(H) Host

Ranking of second-placed teams

Pos Grp Team Pld W PSW PSL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 B NC Vouliagmeni 3 1 1 1 0 62 48 +14 6 Group stage
2 C Steaua București 3 2 0 0 1 45 31 +14 6
3 D Szolnoki Dozsa Praktiker 3 2 0 0 1 41 33 +8 6
4 A GS Apollon Smyrnis 3 2 0 0 1 47 41 +6 6
Source: European Aquatics Euro Cup
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Group stage

Location of teams of the 2025–26 European Aquatics Euro Cup group stage.
Red: Group A; Blue: Group B; Yellow: Group C; Green: Group D.

The draw took place on the 28 July 2025 in Zagreb, Croatia.

The top 2 from every group advances to the Eighth-finals.

Teams are ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 2 points for a penalty shootout win, 1 point for a penalty shootout loss, 0 points for a loss), and if tied on points, the following tiebreaking criteria are applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings:

  • Points in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
  • Goal difference in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
  • Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
  • Goal difference in all group matches;
  • Goals scored in all group matches.

Nine countries are being represented, with Croatia, Greece, Hungary, Italy and Spain all having the most clubs with two each. CN Terrassa, CS Dinamo București and PVK Budućnost Podgorica are making their debut.

Group A

2025–26 European Aquatics Euro Cup group stage

Group B

2025–26 European Aquatics Euro Cup group stage

Group C

2025–26 European Aquatics Euro Cup group stage

Group D

2025–26 European Aquatics Euro Cup group stage

Notes

  1. ^ From 11 countries
  2. ^ From 9 countries
  1. ^ Match ended 17–17, NC Vouliagmeni won 6–5 on penalties.
  2. ^ Match ended 11–11, BVK Crvena zvezda won 6–5 on penalties.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Competition regulations
  2. ^ "European Aquatics unveils plans for 2025/26 water polo season - European Aquatics®". June 1, 2025.
  3. ^ "Water Polo Rankings - European Aquatics®". August 3, 2025.
  4. ^ "Men Clubs Country Ranking - European Aquatics®". August 3, 2025.
  5. ^ "Rankings PDF" (PDF).
  6. ^ "Champions League and Euro Cup water polo draws set for Monday - European Aquatics®". July 26, 2025.
  7. ^ "Dramatic clashes await after Champions League and Euro Cup draws - European Aquatics®". July 28, 2025.
  8. ^ "Men Club Ranking - European Aquatics®". February 20, 2023.
  9. ^ Curcic, Ivan (July 26, 2025). "Draw for European cups: 20 teams in Champions League, and 21 in Euro Cup pots".
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