2026 Men's European Water Polo Championship Qualifiers

2026 Men's European Water Polo Championship Qualifiers
Tournament details
Host country	Kranj; Istanbul; Tbilisi; Gzira
Dates	8–11 June
Teams	18
Tournament statistics
Matches played	32
Goals scored	953 (29.78 per match)
	← 2024 2028 →

The 2026 Men's European Water Polo Championship Qualifiers were organised by European Aquatics and held between 8 and 11 June 2025 in four different centralised locations.^[1] The qualifiers determined the eight men's water polo national teams that would join the eight automatically qualified teams, including hosts, Serbia, at the final tournament.

Qualified teams

Team	Qualification method	Date of qualification	Appearance(s)				Previous best performance^[A]	Rank^[2]
Team	Qualification method	Date of qualification	Total	First	Last	Streak	Previous best performance^[A]	Rank^[2]
Serbia	Host nation	13 May 2022	31th	1927^a	2024	16	Champions (Eight times)^[B]	TBD
Croatia	Top eight in 2024	8 January 2024	17th	1993		17	Champions (2010, 2022)	TBD
Hungary			36th	1926		30	Champions (Thirteen times)^[C]	TBD
Italy			35th	1927		34	Champions (1947, 1993, 1995)	TBD
Spain			31st	1927		27	Champions (2024)	TBD
Montenegro		10 January 2024	10th	2008		10	Champions (2008)	TBD
Greece		11 January 2024	21st	1970		19	Fourth place (1999, 2016)	TBD
Romania		11 January 2024	27th	1954		14	Fourth place (1993, 2006)	TBD
Slovakia	Top two in Group B	9 June 2025	12th	1993		6	Seventh place (2003)	TBD
Georgia	Top two in Group C	10 June 2025	6th	2016		6	Eighth place (2022)	TBD
Israel	Top two in Group C		3rd	2022		3	Twelfth place (2022)	TBD
Netherlands	Top two in Group A		31st	1927		6	Champions (1950)	TBD
Slovenia	Top two in Group A		6th	1999		3	Eleventh place (1999)	TBD
France	Top two in Group D		20th	1927		7	Runners-up (1927)	TBD
Malta	Top two in Group D		6th	2016		6	Fourteenth place (2022)	TBD
Türkiye	Top two in Group B	11 June 2025	8th	2016	2020	1	Twelfth place (2020)	TBD

^a Competed as SFR Yugoslavia from 1956 to 1970 and as Serbia and Montenegro from 1998 to 2006, 11 appearances as Serbia since 2006.

Format

The 18 teams were split into four groups of four or five teams. The tournament was played at a single venue with the group winners and the second-ranked teams qualified for the final tournament.^[1]

Draw

The draw took place on 3 March 2025 in Zagreb.^[1]

Seeding

Pot 1	Pot 2	Pot 3	Pot 4
France Georgia (H) Netherlands (H) Germany	Slovakia Slovenia Malta (H) Israel	Portugal Türkiye (H) Switzerland Ukraine Poland Finland Bulgaria Great Britain	Czechia Sweden

Pot 1 with teams ranked from 9th to 12th at 2024 Men's European Water Polo Championship
Pot 2 with teams ranked from 13th to 16th at 2024 Men's European Water Polo Championship
Pot 3 with teams eliminated in 2024 Men's European Water Polo Championship Qualifiers
Pot 4 with teams did not participated to 2024 Men's European Water Polo Championship Qualifiers

Draw results

Bold text indicates who qualified.

Group A
Team
Netherlands
Slovenia
Poland
Great Britain
Czechia

Group B
Team
Germany
Slovakia
Türkiye
Finland
Sweden

Group C
Team
Georgia
Israel
Switzerland
Bulgaria

Group D
Team
France
Malta
Ukraine
Portugal

Referees

Thirteen referees were selected to officiate at the Qualifiers.^[3]

Group A
Referees
Georgia	Levan Berishvili
Israel	Tal Shildan
North Macedonia	Risto Damchevski
Sweden	Fredrik Månsson
Switzerland	Ruben Garcia

Group B
Referees
Czechia	Karel Dvořáček
France	Aurely Blanchard
Malta	Massimo Angileri
Portugal	Eurico Silva
Ukraine	George Makharadze

Group C
Referees
Finland	Jarkko Virtanen
Germany	Ralf Müller
Slovakia	Peter Radič
Türkiye	Akif Uz

Group D
Referees
United Kingdom	Maxim Gerasimov
Netherlands	Rik Evers
Poland	Lukasz Król
Slovenia	Tomaž Kavčič

Summary

Group winners and runners-up qualified directly for 2026 Men's European Water Polo Championship

Other teams were eliminated

Group A	Group B	Group C	Group D
Netherlands Slovenia	Slovakia Türkiye	Georgia Israel	France Malta
Great Britain	Germany	Bulgaria	Ukraine
Poland	Sweden	Switzerland	Portugal
Czechia	Finland	N/a

Groups

All times are local.

Group A

8–11 June, Kranj, Slovenia.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Netherlands	4	4	0	110	19	+91	12	Final tournament
2	Slovenia (H)	4	3	1	57	44	+13	9	Final tournament
3	Great Britain	4	2	2	33	57	−24	6
4	Poland	4	1	3	40	63	−23	3
5	Czechia	4	0	4	27	84	−57	0

Source: European Aquatics
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) Host

8 June 2025 17:00	Report	Great Britain	3–27	Netherlands	Aquatic Centre, Kranj Referees: Risto Damchevski (MKD), Fredrik Månsson (SWE)
		Score by quarters: 0–6, 0–4, 1–8, 2–9
		three players 1	Goals	S. Hessels, Te Riele 4

8 June 2025 19:00	Report	Slovenia	19–8	Czechia	Aquatic Centre, Kranj Referees: Tal Shildan (ISR), Ruben Garcia (SUI)
		Score by quarters: 6–0, 5–1, 3–4, 5–3
		Troppan 5	Goals	Bohutínský, Dittmer 3

9 June 2025 17:00	Report	Great Britain	13–5	Czechia	Aquatic Centre, Kranj Referees: Fredrik Månsson (SWE), Tal Shildan (ISR)
		Score by quarters: 3–3, 5–2, 1–0, 4–0
		Blenkinship 4	Goals	Rameš 3

9 June 2025 19:00	Report	Slovenia	13–11	Poland	Aquatic Centre, Kranj Referees: Levan Berishvili (GEO), Ruben Garcia (SUI)
		Score by quarters: 4–2, 1–4, 4–1, 4–4
		Troppan 4	Goals	Kowalewski 4

10 June 2025 10:00	Report	Great Britain	11–9	Poland	Aquatic Centre, Kranj Referees: Ruben Garcia (SUI), Risto Damchevski (MKD)
		Score by quarters: 1–4, 4–3, 3–1, 3–1
		Blenkinship 4	Goals	Ozga 3

10 June 2025 12:00	Report	Netherlands	35–4	Czechia	Aquatic Centre, Kranj Referees: Fredrik Månsson (SWE), Levan Berishvili (GEO)
		Score by quarters: 10–1, 6–1, 9–0, 10–2
		Van der Weijden 6	Goals	Pechman 2

10 June 2025 18:00	Report	Slovenia	16–6	Great Britain	Aquatic Centre, Kranj Referees: Levan Berishvili (GEO), Risto Damchevski (MKD)
		Score by quarters: 5–2, 3–0, 4–3, 4–1
		Troppan 4	Goals	Hunt 3

10 June 2025 20:00	Report	Netherlands	29–3	Poland	Aquatic Centre, Kranj Referees: Tal Shildan (ISR), Fredrik Månsson (SWE)
		Score by quarters: 5–0, 10–1, 7–1, 7–1
		S. Hessels 6	Goals	Maciejewski 2

11 June 2025 17:00	Report	Czechia	10–17	Poland	Aquatic Centre, Kranj Referees: Ruben Garcia (SUI), Levan Berishvili (GEO)
		Score by quarters: 2–4, 4–5, 1–3, 3–5
		Rameš 3	Goals	Maciejewski 6

11 June 2025 19:00	Report	Slovenia	9–19	Netherlands	Aquatic Centre, Kranj Referees: Tal Shildan (ISR), Risto Damchevski (MKD)
		Score by quarters: 0–4, 4–7, 2–4, 3–4
		Troppan 3	Goals	Ten Broek 5

Group B

8–11 June, Istanbul, Turkey.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Slovakia	4	4	0	70	39	+31	12	Final tournament
2	Türkiye (H)	4	3	1	92	42	+50	9	Final tournament
3	Germany	4	2	2	84	38	+46	6
4	Sweden	4	1	3	37	94	−57	3
5	Finland	4	0	4	32	102	−70	0

Source: European Aquatics
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) Host

8 June 2025 18:30	Report	Finland	6–33	Türkiye	Maltepe University, Istanbul Referees: Karel Dvořáček (CZE), Massimo Angileri (MLT)
		Score by quarters: 0–8, 4–8, 1–7, 1–10
		Johnsson, Strontsev 2	Goals	Alkan, Kuloğlu 7

8 June 2025 20:30	Report	Slovakia	21–11	Sweden	Maltepe University, Istanbul Referees: Aurely Blanchard (FRA), George Makharadze (UKR)
		Score by quarters: 8–2, 4–3, 4–1, 5–5
		Baláž 6	Goals	Zdolsek 5

9 June 2025 10:30	Report	Germany	8–13	Slovakia	Maltepe University, Istanbul Referees: Eurico Silva (POR), Massimo Angileri (MLT)
		Score by quarters: 1–3, 1–4, 3–1, 3–5
		Küppers 3	Goals	Bielik 4

9 June 2025 12:30	Report	Sweden	16–13	Finland	Maltepe University, Istanbul Referees: Massimo Angileri (MLT), George Makharadze (UKR)
		Score by quarters: 4–4, 5–3, 4–2, 3–4
		Todorovic 3	Goals	Johnsson 4

9 June 2025 18:30	Report	Türkiye	12–13	Slovakia	Maltepe University, Istanbul Referees: Karel Dvořáček (CZE), Aurely Blanchard (FRA)
		Score by quarters: 0–4, 3–2, 5–3, 4–4
		Naipoğlu 4	Goals	Furman, Tisaj 4

9 June 2025 20:30	Report	Germany	30–3	Sweden	Maltepe University, Istanbul Referees: Eurico Silva (POR), Massimo Angileri (MLT)
		Score by quarters: 9–1, 3–0, 9–0, 9–2
		Küppers 6	Goals	Kuchler 2

10 June 2025 19:00	Report	Finland	5–30	Germany	Maltepe University, Istanbul Referees: Karel Dvořáček (CZE), George Makharadze (UKR)
		Score by quarters: 0–4, 1–10, 1–10, 3–6
		Lönnqvist, Ollila 2	Goals	Bozic 7

10 June 2025 20:00	Report	Sweden	7–30	Türkiye	Maltepe University, Istanbul Referees: Aurely Blanchard (FRA), Eurico Silva (POR)
		Score by quarters: 2–7, 2–8, 3–6, 0–9
		Kuchler, Zdolsek 2	Goals	Yutmaz 5

11 June 2025 10:30	Report	Slovakia	23–8	Finland	Maltepe University, Istanbul Referees: Massimo Angileri (MLT), Karel Dvořáček (CZE)
		Score by quarters: 7–0, 6–3, 7–2, 3–3
		Juhász 6	Goals	Ollila 4

11 June 2025 12:30	Report	Türkiye	17–16	Germany	Maltepe University, Istanbul Referees: Eurico Silva (POR), George Makharadze (UKR)
		Score by quarters: 5–4, 3–3, 3–5, 6–4
		Caner 5	Goals	Strelezkij 9

Group C

9–11 June, Tbilisi, Georgia.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Georgia (H)	3	3	0	89	24	+65	9	Final tournament
2	Israel	3	2	1	48	41	+7	6	Final tournament
3	Bulgaria	3	1	2	33	70	−37	3
4	Switzerland	3	0	3	31	66	−35	0

Source: European Aquatics
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) Host

9 June 2025 15:00	Report	Switzerland	13–23	Israel	Olympic swimming complex, Tbilisi Referees: Ralf Müller (GER), Jarkko Virtanen (FIN)
		Score by quarters: 4–6, 2–6, 2–3, 5–8
		Roscio 3	Goals	Buzaglo 4

9 June 2025 17:00	Report	Georgia	41–10	Bulgaria	Olympic swimming complex, Tbilisi Referees: Akif Uz (TUR), Peter Radič (SVK)
		Score by quarters: 10–3, 11–3, 10–2, 10–2
		Magrakvelidze 6	Goals	Ganchev, Venov 4

10 June 2025 15:00	Report	Israel	16–9	Bulgaria	Olympic swimming complex, Tbilisi Referees: Akif Uz (TUR), Jarkko Virtanen (FIN)
		Score by quarters: 3–1, 5–0, 4–5, 4–3
		Klarfeld 3	Goals	Ganchev 4

10 June 2025 17:00	Report	Georgia	28–5	Switzerland	Olympic swimming complex, Tbilisi Referees: Ralf Müller (GER), Peter Radič (SVK)
		Score by quarters: 7–1, 8–1, 9–1, 4–2
		Dadvani 5	Goals	Domonkos 4

11 June 2025 13:00	Report	Bulgaria	14–13	Switzerland	Olympic swimming complex, Tbilisi Referees: Ralf Müller (GER), Jarkko Virtanen (FIN)
		Score by quarters: 4–3, 4–3, 4–4, 2–3
		Venov 5	Goals	Herzog 3

11 June 2025 17:00	Report	Georgia	19–9	Israel	Olympic swimming complex, Tbilisi Referees: Peter Radič (SVK), Akif Uz (TUR)
		Score by quarters: 4–2, 4–2, 4–2, 7–3
		Dadvani 4	Goals	Arazi 3

Group D

9–11 June, Gzira, Malta.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	PSW	PSL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	France	3	2	1	0	0	58	31	+27	8	Final tournament
2	Malta (H)	3	2	0	1	0	44	39	+5	7	Final tournament
3	Ukraine	3	1	0	0	2	35	50	−15	3
4	Portugal	3	0	0	0	3	33	50	−17	0

Source: European Aquatics
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) Host

9 June 2025 18:00	Report	France	19–7	Portugal	Tal-Qroqq Sports Complex, Gzira Referees: Rik Evers (NED), Tomaž Kavčič (SLO)
		Score by quarters: 4–1, 3–2, 7–2, 5–2
		Bouet 6	Goals	P. Sousa 3

9 June 2025 19:30	Report	Malta	13–11	Ukraine	Tal-Qroqq Sports Complex, Gzira Referees: Maxim Gerasimov (GBR), Łukasz Król (POL)
		Score by quarters: 5–2, 2–3, 2–4, 4–2
		Camilleri 4	Goals	Ashanin 5

10 June 2025 18:00	Report	Ukraine	10–24	France	Tal-Qroqq Sports Complex, Gzira Referees: Rik Evers (NED), Lukasz Król (POL)
		Score by quarters: 3–7, 2–3, 3–5, 2–9
		Labyk, Veklyuk 3	Goals	Bouet, Vernoux 4

10 June 2025 19:30	Report	Portugal	13–17	Malta	Tal-Qroqq Sports Complex, Gzira Referees: Rik Evers (NED), Maxim Gerasimov (GBR)
		Score by quarters: 0–4, 3–6, 5–3, 5–4
		P. Sousa 3	Goals	Camilleri 4

11 June 2025 18:00	Report	Ukraine	14–13	Portugal	Tal-Qroqq Sports Complex, Gzira Referees: Maxim Gerasimov (GBR), Lukasz Król (POL)
		Score by quarters: 2–4, 3–4, 3–3, 6–2
		Ashanin 5	Goals	Ramos 5

11 June 2025 19:30	Report	Malta	14–15 (PSO)	France	Tal-Qroqq Sports Complex, Gzira Referees: Tomi Kavčič (SLO), Rik Evers (NED)
		Score by quarters: 2–1, 4–2, 2–3, 2–4 PSO: 4–5
		Camilleri 3	Goals	Bouet 3

Notes

^ bold text indicates they hosted that edition.
^ Serbia and Montenegro and Serbia have won in 1991, 2001, 2003, 2006, 2012, 2014, 2016 and 2018
^ Hungary have won in 1926, 1927, 1931, 1934, 1938, 1954, 1958, 1962, 1974, 1977, 1997, 1999 and 2020.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c "Pathway to 2026 European Water Polo Championships decided". europeanaquatics.org. Retrieved 3 March 2025.
^ "Men Country Ranking - European Aquatics®". February 20, 2023.
^ "Qualification Tournaments for the Men's European Water Polo Championships 2026 – WWR – World Waterpolo Referee Association".

External links

Official website

[2] bold text indicates they hosted that edition.

[4] Serbia and Montenegro and Serbia have won in 1991, 2001, 2003, 2006, 2012, 2014, 2016 and 2018

[5] Hungary have won in 1926, 1927, 1931, 1934, 1938, 1954, 1958, 1962, 1974, 1977, 1997, 1999 and 2020.

[Format-1] "Pathway to 2026 European Water Polo Championships decided". europeanaquatics.org. Retrieved 3 March 2025.

[3] "Men Country Ranking - European Aquatics®". February 20, 2023.

[6] "Qualification Tournaments for the Men's European Water Polo Championships 2026 – WWR – World Waterpolo Referee Association".

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