2025–26 European Aquatics Challenger Cup Final Eight

2025–26 European Aquatics Challenger Cup Final Eight
Tournament information
SportWater polo
Date12–15 March 2026
Host Istanbul
Teams8 (from 6 countries)
WebsiteOfficial website
Final positions
Champion Galatasaray SK
Runner-up EVK Zaibas
Tournament statistics
Matches played20

The 2025–26 European Aquatics Challenger Cup Final Eight is played between 12 and 15 March 2026 to determine the champions of the 2025–26 European Aquatics Challenger Cup.[1] The Final Eight is being held by Enka Sport Club in Istanbul.[2]

Format

The 8 teams were placed into two groups of four. In each group, teams will play against each other once in a round-robin format. The top two in each group advance to the semifinals.

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.

Draw

External videos
2025–26 European Aquatics Challenger Cup Final Eight – Draw
Draw

The draw was on 16 February 2026 in Zagreb, Croatia.[1] The draw started with, in order, pots 1 and 2 being drawn. The position for the team within the group would then be drawn (for the purpose of the schedule).

Seeding

The pots were decided by as follows:

Pot 1
Team
Sliema ASC Nexawin
San Giljan ASC
Enka Sport Club (H)
Vitória SC
Pot 2
Team
EVK Zaibas
AVK Branik Maribor
Galatasaray SK
Heybeliada ASC

Draw results

Group A
Pos Team
A1 Enka Sport Club (H)
A2 AVK Branik Maribor
A3 EVK Zaibas
A4 Vitória SC
Group B
Pos Team
B1 Sliema ASC Nexawin
B2 Galatasaray SK
B3 Heybeliada ASC
B4 San Giljan ASC

Groups

Group A

Pos Team Pld W PSW PSL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification ZAI ENK MAR VIT
1 EVK Zaibas 3 3 0 0 0 47 34 +13 9 Semi-finals — — — 16–14
2 Enka Sport Club (H) 3 2 0 0 1 49 38 +11 6 11–16 — 21–13 17–9
3 AVK Branik Maribor 3 1 0 0 2 40 52 −12 3 5th place match 9–15 — — —
4 Vitória SC 3 0 0 0 3 39 51 −12 0 7th place match — — 16–18 —
Source: European Aquatics Challenger Cup
(H) Host
12 March 2026
13:00 		Report Enka Sport Club 17–9 Vitória SC Enka Sport Club Pool, Istanbul
Referees:
Lukasz Krol (POL), Peter Radic (SVK)
Score by quarters: 2–3, 4–2, 4–3, 7–1
Duzenli 6 Goals four players 2
12 March 2026
15:30 		Report AVK Branik Maribor 9–15 EVK Zaibas Enka Sport Club Pool, Istanbul
Referees:
Andreja Stanojevic (SRB), Jakub Necas (CZE)
Score by quarters: 3–4, 1–4, 5–4, 0–3
Kačič 3 Goals Vrdoljak 3
13 March 2026
08:45 		Report Enka Sport Club 11–16 EVK Zaibas Enka Sport Club Pool, Istanbul
Referees:
Ruben Garcia (SUI), Roeland Sonnemans (NED)
Score by quarters: 2–5, 3–6, 2–3, 4–2
Dervisis 7 Goals Vrdoljak 6
13 March 2026
10:30 		Report Vitória SC 16–18 AVK Branik Maribor Enka Sport Club Pool, Istanbul
Referees:
Vlaho Radicevic (CRO), Manuel Manea (ROU)
Score by quarters: 4–5, 5–5, 4–3, 3–5
Ramos 5 Goals Brcic, Pevec 4
13 March 2026
16:45 		Report Enka Sport Club 21–13 AVK Branik Maribor Enka Sport Club Pool, Istanbul
Referees:
Andreja Stanojevic (SRB), Vlaho Radicevic (CRO)
Score by quarters: 4–1, 7–4, 3–6, 7–2
Dervisis, Duzenli 7 Goals Pevec 4
13 March 2026
18:30 		Report EVK Zaibas 16–14 Vitória SC Enka Sport Club Pool, Istanbul
Referees:
Jakub Necas (CZE), Lukasz Krol (POL)
Score by quarters: 2–3, 5–4, 4–2, 5–5
Andrejaitis, Petrovski 3 Goals Ferreira, Lopes 3

Group B

Pos Team Pld W PSW PSL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification GAL SLI GIL HEY
1 Galatasaray SK 3 3 0 0 0 55 25 +30 9 Semi-finals — — — 18–7
2 Sliema ASC Nexawin 3 2 0 0 1 46 49 −3 6 5–23 — 16–15 25–11
3 San Giljan ASC 3 1 0 0 2 50 46 +4 3 5th place match 13–14 — — —
4 Heybeliada ASC 3 0 0 0 3 34 65 −31 0 7th place match — — 16–22 —
Source: European Aquatics Challenger Cup
12 March 2026
18:00 		Report Sliema ASC Nexawin 16–15 San Giljan ASC Enka Sport Club Pool, Istanbul
Referees:
Vlaho Radicevic (CRO), Ruben Garcia (SUI)
Score by quarters: 5–4, 2–4, 5–2, 4–5
Galea, Gitto 3 Goals Vavic 7
12 March 2026
20:30 		Report Galatasaray SK 18–7 Heybeliada ASC Enka Sport Club Pool, Istanbul
Referees:
Roeland Sonnemans (NED), Manuel Manea (ROU)
Score by quarters: 6–2, 3–5, 3–0, 6–0
Erdağ 4 Goals Demirel 3
13 March 2026
12:15 		Report Sliema ASC Nexawin 25–11 Heybeliada ASC Enka Sport Club Pool, Istanbul
Referees:
Andreja Stanojevic (SRB), Lukasz Krol (POL)
Score by quarters: 8–2, 6–0, 5–3, 6–6
Cachia 5 Goals Gedik 3
13 March 2026
14:00 		Report San Giljan ASC 13–14 Galatasaray SK Enka Sport Club Pool, Istanbul
Referees:
Jakub Necas (CZE), Peter Radic (SVK)
Score by quarters: 5–1, 3–5, 2–2, 3–6
Vavic 7 Goals Gak 3
13 March 2026
20:15 		Report Sliema ASC Nexawin 5–23 Galatasaray SK Enka Sport Club Pool, Istanbul
Referees:
Roeland Sonnemans (NED), Peter Radic (SVK)
Score by quarters: 3–4, 0–6, 2–6, 0–7
Cachia, Zammit 2 Goals Gak 3
13 March 2026
22:00 		Report Heybeliada ASC 16–22 San Giljan ASC Enka Sport Club Pool, Istanbul
Referees:
Manuel Manea (ROU), Ruben Garcia (SUI)
Score by quarters: 3–8, 5–3, 5–5, 3–6
Sonmez 6 Goals Plumpton 6

Knockout stage

7th place match

 
7th place match
 
  
 
14 March
 
 
 Vitória SC18
 
 
 Heybeliada ASC9
 
14 March 2026
13:00 		Report Vitória SC 18–9 Heybeliada ASC Enka Sport Club Pool, Istanbul
Referees:
Jakub Necas (CZE), Roeland Sonnemans (NED)
Score by quarters: 6–4, 3–1, 3–3, 6–1
Ramos 7 Goals Gulsoy, Sonmez 2

5th place match

 
5th place match
 
  
 
14 March
 
 
 AVK Branik Maribor9
 
 
 San Giljan ASC24
 
14 March 2026
15:30 		Report AVK Branik Maribor 9–24 San Giljan ASC Enka Sport Club Pool, Istanbul
Referees:
Andreja Stanojevic (SRB), Lukasz Krol (POL)
Score by quarters: 4–6, 2–4, 1–7, 2–7
Bucalo 3 Goals Plumpton 6

Bracket

 
Semi-finalsFinal
 
      
 
 
 
 
 EVK Zaibas13 (5)
 
 
 
 Sliema ASC Nexawin13 (3)
 
 EVK Zaibas11
 
 
 
 Galatasaray SK13
 
 Galatasaray SK20
 
 
 Enka Sport Club9
 
Third place
 
 
 
 
 
 Sliema ASC Nexawin17
 
 
 Enka Sport Club15

Semifinals

14 March 2026
18:00 		Report EVK Zaibas 18–16 (PSO) Sliema ASC Nexawin Enka Sport Club Pool, Istanbul
Referees:
Ruben Garcia (SUI), Peter Radic (SVK)
Score by quarters: 2–1, 3–3, 2–6, 6–3  PSO: 5–3
Jelača 7 Goals Ivović 6
14 March 2026
20:30 		Report Galatasaray SK 20–9 Enka Sport Club Enka Sport Club Pool, Istanbul
Referees:
Manuel Manea (ROU), Vlaho Radicevic (CRO)
Score by quarters: 5–3, 5–3, 5–2, 5–1
Naipoglu 6 Goals three players 2

Third place game

15 March 2026
10:00 		Report Sliema ASC Nexawin 17–15 Enka Sport Club Enka Sport Club Pool, Istanbul
Referees:
Manuel Manea (ROU), Roeland Sonnemans (NED)
Score by quarters: 4–6, 6–3, 5–3, 2–3
Cachia 4 Goals Duzenli 4

Final

15 March 2026
12:30 		Report EVK Zaibas 11–13 Galatasaray SK Enka Sport Club Pool, Istanbul
Referees:
Andreja Stanojevic (SRB), Vlaho Radicevic (CRO)
Score by quarters: 6–5, 2–4, 1–2, 2–2
Jelača 4 Goals Gak 3

Notes

See also

References

Matchday reports

Reference
Matchday 1
Matchday 2
Matchday 3
Matchday 4
  1. ^ a b "Challenger Cup Men: Final Eight promises several thrilling match-ups after Monday's draw | European Aquatics®". February 16, 2026.
  2. ^ "Instagram". www.instagram.com.
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