2025–26 European Aquatics Challenger Cup qualification round I
| 2025–26 | |
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Sport | Water polo |
| Date | 28–30 November 2025 |
| Host(s) | Valletta Maribor Istanbul Mouscron |
| Teams | 14 (from 10 countries) |
| Website | Official website |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 18 |
The 2025–26 European Aquatics Challenger Cup qualification round I is played between 28 and 30 November 2025 to determine the 8 teams advancing to the qualification round II of the 2025–26 European Aquatics Challenger Cup.
Format
The 14 teams were place into four groups in total, two with four teams and two teams with three. In each group, teams will play against each other once in a round-robin format. The top two in each group advance to the next round.
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.
Group composition
| External videos | |
|---|---|
| 2025–26 European Aquatics Challenger Cup qualification round I – Draw | |
| Draw |
There was no draw, rather the groups were pre-selected for geographical reasons on 11 August 2025 in Zagreb, Croatia.[1][2] (H) indicates which clubs is hosting a group.
| Key to colours |
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| Teams advancing to qualification round II |
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Groups
Group A
28–30 November 2025, Valletta, Malta.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | PSW | PSL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | SLI | GIL | HAP | APO | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sliema ASC (H) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 65 | 35 | +30 | 9 | Qualification round II | — | — | 18–13 | 28–9 | |
| 2 | San Giljan ASC | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 53 | 39 | +14 | 6 | 13–19 | — | — | — | ||
| 3 | Hapoel Palram Zvulun | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 40 | 44 | −4 | 3 | — | 10–14 | — | 17–12 | ||
| 4 | APOEL Nicosia | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 31 | 71 | −40 | 0 | — | — | 10–26 | — |
| 28 November 2025 18:30 |
Report | Sliema ASC | 18–13 | Hapoel Palram Zvulun | Cottonera Sports Complex, Cottonera Referees: Robert Prelovsky (SVK), Roberto Guarnieri (BEL) |
| Score by quarters: 5–2, 3–5, 6–4, 4–2 | |||||
| D. Zammit 6 | Goals | three players 3 | |||
| 28 November 2025 20:00 |
Report | APOEL Nicosia | 10–26 | San Giljan ASC | Cottonera Sports Complex, Cottonera Referees: Rok Vehovec (SLO), Luis Alves (POR) |
| Score by quarters: 3–7, 2–7, 3–5, 2–7 | |||||
| Nikolaou, Varga 2 | Goals | Vavic, N. Zammit 5 | |||
| 29 November 2025 16:30 |
Report | Hapoel Palram Zvulun | 17–12 | APOEL Nicosia | Cottonera Sports Complex, Cottonera Referees: Roberto Guarnieri (BEL), Rok Vehovec (SLO) |
| Score by quarters: 6–3, 6–0, 4–5, 1–4 | |||||
| Gros 5 | Goals | Varga 7 | |||
| 29 November 2025 17:45 |
Report | San Giljan ASC | 13–19 | Sliema ASC | Cottonera Sports Complex, Cottonera Referees: Luis Alves (POR), Robert Prelovsky (SVK) |
| Score by quarters: 3–7, 4–5, 3–3, 3–4 | |||||
| N. Zammit 3 | Goals | Engerer 6 | |||
| 30 November 2025 09:00 |
Report | Hapoel Palram Zvulun | 10–14 | San Giljan ASC | Cottonera Sports Complex, Cottonera Referees: Rok Vehovec (SLO), Robert Prelovsky (SVK) |
| Score by quarters: 3–4, 3–3, 3–5, 1–2 | |||||
| Gros, Klarfeld 2 | Goals | D. Zammit, N. Zammit 3 | |||
| 30 November 2025 10:30 |
Report | Sliema ASC | 28–9 | APOEL Nicosia | Cottonera Sports Complex, Cottonera Referees: Luis Alves (POR), Roberto Guarnieri (BEL) |
| Score by quarters: 5–2, 8–2, 7–3, 8–2 | |||||
| Cassar, Schembri 5 | Goals | Baglatzis 3 | |||
Group B
28–30 November 2025, Maribor, Slovenia.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | PSW | PSL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | MAR | CAR | SLO | NAV | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AVK Branik Maribor (H) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 58 | 31 | +27 | 9 | Qualification round II | — | 20–13 | 17–12 | 21–6 | |
| 2 | Carouge Natation | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 44 | 40 | +4 | 6 | — | — | — | — | ||
| 3 | VK Ljubljana Slovan | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 38 | 42 | −4 | 3 | — | 9–13 | — | 17–12 | ||
| 4 | Club Naval Povoense | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 29 | 56 | −27 | 0 | — | 11–18 | — | — |
| 28 November 2025 18:00 |
Report | VK Ljubljana Slovan | 9–13 | Carouge Natation | Pristan Pool, Maribor Referees: Bozo Duraskovic (MNE), Georg Schoen (AUT) |
| Score by quarters: 3–2, 2–5, 2–4, 2–2 | |||||
| Potocnik 5 | Goals | Blary, Roscio 4 | |||
| 28 November 2025 12:00 |
Report | AVK Branik Maribor | 20–13 | Club Naval Povoense | Pristan Pool, Maribor Referees: Erkan Turkkan (TUR), Alex De Raffaele (MLT) |
| Score by quarters: 5–0, 7–3, 4–1, 5–2 | |||||
| three players 3 | Goals | Rodrigues Magalhaes 3 | |||
| 29 November 2025 17:00 |
Report | Club Naval Povoense | 11–18 | Carouge Natation | Pristan Pool, Maribor Referees: Bozo Duraskovic (MNE), Alex De Raffaele (MLT) |
| Score by quarters: 1–3, 2–5, 4–4, 4–6 | |||||
| four players 2 | Goals | Roscio 6 | |||
| 29 November 2025 19:00 |
Report | AVK Branik Maribor | 17–12 | VK Ljubljana Slovan | Pristan Pool, Maribor Referees: Erkan Turkkan (TUR), Georg Schoen (AUT) |
| Score by quarters: 6–3, 3–4, 3–4, 5–1 | |||||
| Miletic, Seljak 3 | Goals | Cetkovic 4 | |||
| 30 November 2025 10:00 |
Report | VK Ljubljana Slovan | 17–12 | Club Naval Povoense | Pristan Pool, Maribor Referees: Alex De Raffaele (MLT), Georg Schoen (AUT) |
| Score by quarters: 3–2, 7–2, 4–3, 3–5 | |||||
| Lipnik, Potocnik 5 | Goals | Jose Ferreira 5 | |||
| 30 November 2025 12:00 |
Report | AVK Branik Maribor | 20–13 | Carouge Natation | Pristan Pool, Maribor Referees: Bozo Duraskovic (MNE), Erkan Turkkan (TUR) |
| Score by quarters: 5–4, 3–1, 6–4, 6–4 | |||||
| Seljak, Troppan 4 | Goals | Roscio 5 | |||
Group C
28–30 November 2025, Istanbul, Turkey.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | PSW | PSL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | ENKA | HEY | WEL | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Enka Sport Club (H) | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 52 | 17 | +35 | 6 | Qualification round II | — | 21–7 | 31–10 | |
| 2 | Heybeliada ASC | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 29 | 33 | −4 | 3 | — | — | — | ||
| 3 | Welsh Wanderers | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 22 | 53 | −31 | 0 | — | 12–22 | — |
| 28 November 2025 12:00 |
Report | Enka Sport Club | 21–7 | Heybeliada ASC | Enka Sport Club Pool, Istanbul Referees: Jarkko Virtanen (FIN), Georgios Polychronopoulos (GRE) |
| Score by quarters: 7–1, 5–1, 5–2, 4–3 | |||||
| Alkan 5 | Goals | Gulsoy, Sonmez 2 | |||
| 29 November 2025 12:00 |
Report | Enka Sport Club | 31–10 | Welsh Wanderers | Enka Sport Club Pool, Istanbul Referees: Jarkko Virtanen (FIN), Tobias Laufer (GER) |
| Score by quarters: 8–3, 8–2, 8–1, 7–4 | |||||
| Kahraman 7 | Goals | Jenkins Delf, Laxton 3 | |||
| 30 November 2025 12:00 |
Report | Welsh Wanderers | 12–22 | Heybeliada ASC | Enka Sport Club Pool, Istanbul Referees: Tobias Laufer (GER), Georgios Polychronopoulos (GRE) |
| Score by quarters: 4–4, 1–6, 6–4, 1–8 | |||||
| Laxton 5 | Goals | Sonmez 10 | |||
Group D
28–30 November 2025, Mouscron, Belgium.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | PSW | PSL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | MOU | CET | PEN | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | RD Mouscronnois (H) | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 39 | 26 | +13 | 6 | Qualification round II | — | 15–12 | 24–14 | |
| 2 | Cetus Espoo | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 24 | 24 | 0 | 3 | — | — | 12–9 | ||
| 3 | West London Penguin | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 23 | 36 | −13 | 0 | — | — | — |
| 28 November 2025 20:30 |
Report | RD Mouscronnois | 15–12 | Cetus Espoo | Les Dauphins Olympic Swimming Pool, Mouscron Referees: Tal Shildan (ISR), Ioannis Soulos (CYP) |
| Score by quarters: 2–3, 3–1, 6–5, 4–3 | |||||
| Canonne 6 | Goals | Vasic 7 | |||
| 29 November 2025 20:30 |
Report | Cetus Espoo | 12–9 | West London Penguin | Les Dauphins Olympic Swimming Pool, Mouscron Referees: Roeland Sonnemans (NED), Tal Shildan (ISR) |
| Score by quarters: 3–4, 1–3, 3–0, 5–2 | |||||
| Lapins 3 | Goals | Hughes 3 | |||
| 30 November 2025 11:00 |
Report | RD Mouscronnois | 24–14 | West London Penguin | Les Dauphins Olympic Swimming Pool, Mouscron Referees: Ioannis Soulos (CYP), Roeland Sonnemans (NED) |
| Score by quarters: 5–1, 4–4, 8–4, 7–5 | |||||
| Canonne 5 | Goals | Kingsmill 4 | |||
Notes
See also
- 2025–26 European Aquatics Champions League
- 2025–26 European Aquatics Euro Cup
- 2025–26 European Aquatics Conference Cup
- 2025–26 European Aquatics Challenger Cup
- 2025 European Aquatics Super Cup
- 2025–26 European Aquatics Women's Champions League
- 2025–26 European Aquatics Women's Euro Cup
- 2025–26 European Aquatics Women's Conference Cup
- 2025–26 European Aquatics Women's Challenger Cup
- 2025 European Aquatics Women's Super Cup
References
Matchday reports
| Reference |
|---|
| Matchday 1 |
| Matchday 2 |
| Matchday 3 |
- ^ "2025/26 Conference Cup and Challenger Cup water polo qualification groups determined - European Aquatics®". August 11, 2025.
- ^ Curcic, Ivan (August 11, 2025). "Conference Cup draw: Two former European champions in same qualification group".
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to 2025–26 European Aquatics Challenger Cup qualification round I.