2026 Men's European Water Polo Championship

For the women's tournament, see 2026 Women's European Water Polo Championship.

2026 Men's European Water Polo Championship
Европско првенство у ватерполу 2026 (in Serbian)
Power that unites
Tournament details
CountrySerbia
CityBelgrade
VenueBelgrade Arena
Dates10–25 January
Teams16 (from 1 confederation)
Final positions
Champions Serbia (9th title)
Runners-up Hungary
Third place Greece
Fourth place Italy
Tournament statistics
Matches played56
Goals scored1,490 (26.61 per match)
Top scorer Thomas Vernoux
Stylianos Argyropoulos (26 goals)
Most saves Hugo Fontani (30 saves)
Official website
Belgrade 2026

The 2026 Men's European Water Polo Championship is the 37th edition of the biannual continental tournament in men's national water polo teams, organised by Europe's governing aquatics body, European Aquatics. The tournament takes place from 10 to 25 January 2026. This edition will mark the 100 year anniversary of the championships. This edition is the first one ever to have a 25 meter swimming pool, down from 30 meters.[1]

The competition will be held in Serbia's capital, Belgrade, for the third time.[2] This will be the second edition to have different hosts for both genders after European Aquatics made the change permanent in March 2025. This edition will also witness a new format, introducing a second group stage as opposed to an extended knockout round.[3]

16 teams will take part for the sixth time. The top eight teams, including hosts Serbia, from the 2024 version qualified automatically, while the remaining eights teams progressed via qualification. Turkey qualified after a 6-year drought, while Germany failed to qualify on merit for the first time.

This tournament will act as a qualifier for the 2027 World Aquatics Championships in Budapest and 2028 European Championship.

Spain was the defending champions, beating Croatia, 11–10, in the final in Zagreb. However, they failed to defend their title after missing out on the semifinals. Host Serbia won their ninth title after beating Hungary 10–7 in the final.[4] Greece managed to be on the podium for the first time after beating Italy in the bronze medal game with an score of 12–5. Greece and Malta achieved their best placements, finishing 3rd and 13th respectively.

Host selection

Belgrade was given the hosting rights on 13 May 2022.[2] This will be Serbia's third time hosting after 2006 and 2016. Serbia had originally been given the women's event as well, but decided not to host it in order to focus on the men's championship.[5]

Preparations

  • A dedicated website was created on 25 August 2025.[6]
  • During the 14th Great Sports Fair of Serbia from 26 to 28 September 2025, at Ada Ciganlija, the slogan for the tournament was unveiled, being the phrase "Power that unites".[7]
  • On 11 December 2025, Uniqa was announced as a sponsor for the tournament.[8]

Tickets

Tickets went on sale on 2 October 2025.[9][10]

Partners and sponsors

Format

A new system will be used for this tournament. The new format was unveiled in March 2025. This is the third different format in three editions.[12] Despite some slight changes, the format is very adjacent to the format previously used for the European Handball Championship when the tournament still had 16 teams (the format has been discontinued due to the European Handball Championship expanding to 24 teams). Head coach of Croatia, Ivica Tucak, supports the format change, saying it gives teams a second chance to come back if they stumble earlier in the tournament.[13]

  • Group stage

In each group there will be two teams from the last tournament and two teams from the qualifiers. They will play a round-robin in their groups. The top three teams of each group will advance to the main round (Group A & Group C in Group E and Group B & Group D in Group F) with all results are carried over. The four-bottom ranked-teams will play in placement games.

  • Main round

The advancing teams will play the opponents from the other group in the main round. From the main round, the top-two ranked teams of each group advance to the semifinals, all other teams will play in placement games.

  • Knockout stage

In the knockout stage, the four remaining teams progress to the knockout stage. Two semifinals and a final will determine who wins the championship.

Qualification

Main article: 2026 Men's European Water Polo Championship Qualifiers

For the sixth time, sixteen teams will take part after the expansion in 2016. Overall, 18 teams took part in qualification. Qualification took place in 8–11 June 2025. Qualification is broken up as follows:

Regarding the teams, there is one change to the line-up, with Turkey returning after a six year drought. The Turks replaced two-time champions, Germany, who missed out for the first time since 1962 and failed to qualify for the first time ever.[14] Slovenia qualified for the third consecutive time for the first time.

The lowest ranked team to qualify was Israel, ranked 17th, while Germany is the highest ranked team to not qualify, placed 10th.

Event Date Location Quotas Nation(s)
Host 13 May 2022 1  Serbia
2024 European Championship 4–16 January Croatia 7  Spain
 Croatia
 Italy
 Hungary
 Greece
 Montenegro
 Romania
Qualifiers 8–11 June 2025 Kranj 2  Netherlands
 Slovenia
Istanbul 2  Slovakia
 Turkey
Tbilisi 2  Georgia
 Israel
Gzira 2  France
 Malta

Summary of qualified teams

Team Qualification method Date of qualification Appearance(s) Previous best performance[A] Rank[15]
Total First Last Streak
 Serbia Host nation 13 May 2022 31th 1927a 2024 16 Champions (Eight times)[B] 7
 Croatia Top eight in 2024 8 January 2024 17th 1993 17 Champions (2010, 2022) 2
 Hungary 36th 1926 30 Champions (Thirteen times)[C] 3
 Italy 35th 1927 34 Champions (1947, 1993, 1995) 4
 Spain 31st 27 Champions (2024) 1
 Montenegro 10 January 2024 10th 2008 10 Champions (2008) 5
 Greece 11 January 2024 21st 1970 19 Fourth place (1999, 2016) 6
 Romania 27th 1954 14 Fourth place (1993, 2006) 9
 Slovakia Top two in Group B 9 June 2025 12th 1993 6 Seventh place (2003) 15
 Georgia Top two in Group C 10 June 2025 6th 2016 6 Eighth place (2022) 12
 Israel 3rd 2022 3 Twelfth place (2022) 17
 Netherlands Top two in Group A 31st 1927 6 Champions (1950) 11
 Slovenia 6th 1999 3 Eleventh place (1999) 16
 France Top two in Group D 20th 1927 7 Runners-up (1927) 8
 Malta 6th 2016 6 Fourteenth place (2022) 13
 Turkey Top two in Group B 11 June 2025 8th 2016 2020 1 Twelfth place (2020) 14
a Competed as SFR Yugoslavia from 1956 to 1970 and as Serbia and Montenegro from 1998 to 2006, 11 appearances as Serbia since 2006.

Venue

Similar to 2016, the Belgrade Arena will be used for the entire competition.[16][17][18][19] Built in 2004, it is the biggest indoor arena in Serbia with a capacity of 18,386. Due to the pool having to be raised, the capacity was reduced to 12,500.[20]

Belgrade
Belgrade Arena
Capacity: 12,500

Draw

The draw was held at 19:00 CET on 13 September 2025 at the Beli dvor in Belgrade, Serbia.[21][22] Serbian journalist, Marija Kilibarda, was the host for the draw. Before the draw began, speeches were done by Serbian water polo federation president and local organising committee chair, Viktor Jelenić, and European Aquatics president, Antonio Silva. The guests were Serbian Olympic water polo players, Filip Filipović and Milan Aleksić, who assisted with the draw. The draw started with, in order, pots 1, 2, 3 and 4 being drawn, with each team selected then allocated into the first available group alphabetically. The position for the team within the group would then be drawn (for the purpose of the schedule).

Seeding

The pots were decided by the rankings of the 2024 European Championship and also of the 2026 Qualifiers.

Pot 1
Team Rank
 Spain 1
 Croatia 2
 Italy 3
 Hungary 4
Pot 2
Team Rank
 Greece 5
 Montenegro 6
 Serbia (H) 7
 Romania 8
Pot 3
Team Group
 Netherlands A
 Slovakia B
 Georgia C
 France D
Pot 4
Team Group
 Slovenia A
 Turkey B
 Israel C
 Malta D
2026 Men's European Water Polo Championship – Draw
Draw Live Streaming

Draw results

Group A
Pos Team
A1  Malta
A2  France
A3  Montenegro
A4  Hungary
Group B
Pos Team
B1  Slovenia
B2  Greece
B3  Croatia
B4  Georgia
Group C
Pos Team
C1  Netherlands
C2  Israel
C3  Serbia (H)
C4  Spain
Group D
Pos Team
D1  Turkey
D2  Romania
D3  Italy
D4  Slovakia

Schedule

Schedule[23]
Round Matchday Date
Group stage Matchday 1 10–11 January 2026
Matchday 2 12–13 January 2026
Matchday 3 14–15 January 2026
Classification round Matchday 1 16 January 2026
Matchday 2 17 January 2026
Matchday 3 18 January 2026
Main round Matchday 4 16–17 January 2026
Matchday 5 18–19 January 2026
Matchday 6 20–21 January 2026
5–12 placement games All games 22 January 2026
Knockout stage Semi-finals 23 January 2026
Final 25 January 2026

Referees

On 24 November, the following 18 referees were selected for the tournament.[24][25] The referees represent 18 countries, including the 16 participating teams alongside match officials from Germany and Portugal.

Squads

Main article: 2026 Men's European Water Polo Championship squads

Each nation has to submit a list of 15 players.

Preliminary round

Tiebreakers

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:

  1. Points in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
  2. Goal difference in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
  3. Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
  4. Goal difference in all group matches;
  5. Goals scored in all group matches.

If the ranking of one of these teams is determined, the above criteria are consecutively followed until the ranking of all teams is determined. If no ranking can be determined, a drawing of lots will decide the outcome.

All times are local (UTC+1).

Group A

Pos Team Pld W PSW PSL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Hungary 3 3 0 0 0 49 23 +26 9 Main round
2  Montenegro 3 2 0 0 1 44 37 +7 6
3  France 3 1 0 0 2 41 41 0 3
4  Malta 3 0 0 0 3 31 64 −33 0 Classification round
Source: EuropeanAquatics
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.
10 January 2026
15:15 		Report France  7–15  Hungary Belgrade Arena, Belgrade
Referees:
Boris Margeta (SLO), Andrej Franulović (CRO)
Score by quarters: 1–4, 4–6, 0–2, 2–3
Vernoux 5 Goals Manhercz 4
10 January 2026
18:00 		Report Malta  12–21  Montenegro Belgrade Arena, Belgrade
Referees:
Georgios Stavridis (GRE), Eurico Silva (POR)
Score by quarters: 5–6, 0–5, 4–5, 3–5
Camilleri 4 Goals Gojković 4
12 January 2026
12:45 		Report Malta  13–22  France Belgrade Arena, Belgrade
Referees:
Frank Ohme (GER), Erkan Turkkan (TUR)
Score by quarters: 4–6, 2–5, 3–6, 4–5
Camilleri 3 Goals Vernoux 5
12 January 2026
15:15 		Report Hungary  13–10  Montenegro Belgrade Arena, Belgrade
Referees:
Raffaele Colombo (ITA), Matan Schwartz (ISR)
Score by quarters: 4–3, 4–1, 3–1, 2–5
Angyal 3 Goals Matković 3
14 January 2026
12:30 		Report Malta  6–21  Hungary Belgrade Arena, Belgrade
Referees:
Levan Berishvili (GEO), Erkan Turkkan (TUR)
Score by quarters: 2–4, 2–7, 2–5, 0–5
Galea 2 Goals four players 3
14 January 2026
18:00 		Report France  12–13  Montenegro Belgrade Arena, Belgrade
Referees:
Georgios Stavridis (GRE), Mihai Balanescu (ROU)
Score by quarters: 3–3, 3–7, 2–2, 4–1
Canovas 5 Goals Vučković 5

Group B

Pos Team Pld W PSW PSL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Greece 3 3 0 0 0 54 24 +30 9 Main round
2  Croatia 3 2 0 0 1 48 22 +26 6
3  Georgia 3 1 0 0 2 35 49 −14 3
4  Slovenia 3 0 0 0 3 23 65 −42 0 Classification round
Source: EuropeanAquatics
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.
11 January 2026
18:00 		Report Slovenia  4–20  Croatia Belgrade Arena, Belgrade
Referees:
David Gómez (ESP), Alex De Raffaele (MLT)
Score by quarters: 1–3, 1–5, 1–7, 1–5
four players 1 Goals Butić 4
11 January 2026
20:30 		Report Greece  20–6  Georgia Belgrade Arena, Belgrade
Referees:
Matan Schwartz (ISR), Veselin Mišković (MNE)
Score by quarters: 3–0, 9–2, 3–2, 5–2
Kakaris 4 Goals Vasić 2
13 January 2026
12:45 		Report Georgia  7–18  Croatia Belgrade Arena, Belgrade
Referees:
Julien Bourges (FRA), Peter de Jong (NED)
Score by quarters: 2–3, 0–4, 2–5, 3–6
Bitadze, Shushiashvili 2 Goals Kharkov 4
13 January 2026
15:15 		Report Slovenia  8–23  Greece Belgrade Arena, Belgrade
Referees:
Veselin Mišković (MNE), Alex De Raffaele (MLT)
Score by quarters: 2–7, 1–5, 2–7, 3–4
Potočnik 2 Goals Argyropoulos, Nikolaidis 4
15 January 2026
18:00 		Report Slovenia  11–22  Georgia Belgrade Arena, Belgrade
Referees:
David Gómez (ESP), Eurico Silva (POR)
Score by quarters: 3–4, 5–4, 2–6, 1–8
Troppan 5 Goals three players 3
15 January 2026
20:30 		Report Greece  11–10  Croatia Belgrade Arena, Belgrade
Referees:
Tamás Kovács-Csatlós (HUN), Matan Schwartz (ISR)
Score by quarters: 3–2, 2–1, 3–4, 3–3
Argyropoulos 4 Goals Fatović 3

Group C

Pos Team Pld W PSW PSL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Serbia (H) 3 2 1 0 0 44 33 +11 8 Main round
2  Spain 3 2 0 0 1 53 22 +31 6
3  Netherlands 3 1 0 1 1 39 38 +1 4
4  Israel 3 0 0 0 3 23 66 −43 0 Classification round
Source: EuropeanAquatics
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
10 January 2026
12:45 		Report Israel  3–28  Spain Belgrade Arena, Belgrade
Referees:
Raffaele Colombo (ITA), Mihai Balanescu (ROU)
Score by quarters: 0–9, 3–6, 0–6, 0–7
three players 1 Goals Granados 6
10 January 2026
20:30 		Report Netherlands  13–13
PSO: 3–5 		 Serbia Belgrade Arena, Belgrade
Referees:
Frank Ohme (GER), Levan Berishvili (GEO)
Score by quarters: 5–4, 3–2, 2–3, 3–4
Te Riele 5 Goals Mandić 6
12 January 2026
18:00 		Report Netherlands  19–11  Israel Belgrade Arena, Belgrade
Referees:
Andrej Franulović (CRO), Peter Radič (SVK)
Score by quarters: 4–3, 5–0, 5–5, 5–3
Van der Weijden 4 Goals Goldschmidt, Schlein 3
12 January 2026
20:30 		Report Spain  11–12  Serbia Belgrade Arena, Belgrade
Referees:
Boris Margeta (SLO), Georgios Stavridis (GRE)
Score by quarters: 3–3, 2–3, 2–3, 4–3
Munarriz 4 Goals Rašović 4
14 January 2026
15:15 		Report Netherlands  7–14  Spain Belgrade Arena, Belgrade
Referees:
Frank Ohme (GER), Andrej Franulović (CRO)
Score by quarters: 2–3, 2–4, 2–5, 1–2
Te Riele 4 Goals Munarriz 4
14 January 2026
20:30 		Report Israel  9–19  Serbia Belgrade Arena, Belgrade
Referees:
Raffaele Colombo (ITA), Peter Radič (SVK)
Score by quarters: 3–4, 3–5, 1–3, 2–7
three players 2 Goals Rašović 4

Group D

Pos Team Pld W PSW PSL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Italy 3 3 0 0 0 56 26 +30 9 Main round
2  Romania 3 2 0 0 1 42 47 −5 6
3  Turkey 3 1 0 0 2 44 55 −11 3
4  Slovakia 3 0 0 0 3 36 50 −14 0 Classification round
Source: EuropeanAquatics
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.
11 January 2026
12:45 		Report Turkey  8–19  Italy Belgrade Arena, Belgrade
Referees:
Julien Bourges (FRA), Peter de Jong (NED)
Score by quarters: 1–7, 2–4, 3–4, 2–4
Kuloğlu 2 Goals Condemi 4
11 January 2026
15:15 		Report Romania  16–8  Slovakia Belgrade Arena, Belgrade
Referees:
Tamás Kovács-Csatlós (HUN), Ivan Raković (SRB)
Score by quarters: 5–3, 4–2, 2–0, 5–3
Georgescu, Belényesi 3 Goals Seman, Tkáč 2
13 January 2026
18:00 		Report Slovakia  12–17  Italy Belgrade Arena, Belgrade
Referees:
Ivan Raković (SRB), Eurico Silva (POR)
Score by quarters: 2–5, 3–3, 4–5, 3–4
Baláž 3 Goals Di Somma 4
13 January 2026
20:30 		Report Romania  20–19  Turkey Belgrade Arena, Belgrade
Referees:
David Gómez (ESP), Tamás Kovács-Csatlós (HUN)
Score by quarters: 4–5, 7–5, 7–5, 2–4
Georgescu 5 Goals Düzenli 5
15 January 2026
12:45 		Report Turkey  17–16  Slovakia Belgrade Arena, Belgrade
Referees:
Julien Bourges (FRA), Veselin Mišković (MNE)
Score by quarters: 4–2, 1–4, 7–3, 5–7
Naipoğlu 4 Goals Baláž, Ďurík 6
15 January 2026
15:15 		Report Romania  6–20  Italy Belgrade Arena, Belgrade
Referees:
Boris Margeta (SLO), Peter de Jong (NED)
Score by quarters: 1–5, 3–4, 0–4, 2–7
Georgescu, Vancsik 2 Goals Del Basso 4

Classification round

Pos Team Pld W PSW PSL L GF GA GD Pts
13  Malta 3 3 0 0 0 49 38 +11 9
14  Slovakia 3 1 0 1 1 32 38 −6 4
15  Slovenia 3 0 1 1 1 34 35 −1 3
16  Israel 3 0 1 0 2 33 37 −4 2
Source: EuropeanAquatics
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.
16 January 2026
10:15 		Report Malta  15–14  Israel Belgrade Arena, Belgrade
Referees:
Ivan Raković (SRB), Julien Bourges (FRA)
Score by quarters: 5–5, 4–2, 3–4, 3–3
Nagaev 6 Goals Buzaglo, Shafrir 3
16 January 2026
12:45 		Report Slovenia  10–10
PSO: 4–3 		 Slovakia Belgrade Arena, Belgrade
Referees:
Peter de Jong (NED), Erkan Turkkan (TUR)
Score by quarters: 3–3, 3–3, 3–3, 1–1
three players 2 Goals Ďurík, Tkáč 3
17 January 2026
10:15 		Report Slovenia  11–11
PSO: 3–4 		 Israel Belgrade Arena, Belgrade
Referees:
Veselin Mišković (MNE), Levan Berishvili (GEO)
Score by quarters: 3–2, 1–3, 4–3, 3–3
Štromajer 4 Goals three players 3
17 January 2026
12:45 		Report Slovakia  11–20  Malta Belgrade Arena, Belgrade
Referees:
Andrej Franulović (CRO), Tamás Kovács-Csatlós (HUN)
Score by quarters: 4–4, 4–7, 1–3, 2–6
Furman, Caraj 3 Goals Camilleri 6
18 January 2026
10:15 		Report Malta  14–13  Slovenia Belgrade Arena, Belgrade
Referees:
Frank Ohme (GER), Eurico Silva (POR)
Score by quarters: 3–4, 5–4, 3–3, 3–2
Nagaev 5 Goals Potočnik 4
18 January 2026
12:45 		Report Slovakia  11–8  Israel Belgrade Arena, Belgrade
Referees:
David Gómez (ESP), Levan Berishvili (GEO)
Score by quarters: 3–2, 3–1, 3–2, 2–3
Balaz 4 Goals three players 2

Main round

All points obtained in the preliminary round against teams that advance as well are carried over.

Group E

Pos Team Pld W PSW PSL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Serbia (H) 5 3 1 0 1 67 63 +4 11[a] Semifinals
2  Hungary 5 3 1 0 1 69 54 +15 11[a]
3  Spain 5 3 0 1 1 64 44 +20 10
4  Montenegro 5 3 0 0 2 59 63 −4 9
5  France 5 1 0 0 4 51 66 −15 3
6  Netherlands 5 0 0 1 4 52 72 −20 1
Source: EuropeanAquatics
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
Notes:
  1. ^ a b Hungary 14–15 Serbia
16 January 2026
15:30 		Report Montenegro  6–14  Spain Belgrade Arena, Belgrade
Referees:
Boris Margeta (SLO), Raffaele Colombo (ITA)
Score by quarters: 1–4, 2–5, 2–5, 1–0
Perković 2 Goals Granados 4
16 January 2026
18:00 		Report Hungary  16–11  Netherlands Belgrade Arena, Belgrade
Referees:
Georgios Stavridis (GRE), Levan Berishvili (GEO)
Score by quarters: 4–4, 4–2, 3–4, 5–1
Fekete 5 Goals Te Riele, Van der Weijden 3
16 January 2026
20:30 		Report France  10–14  Serbia Belgrade Arena, Belgrade
Referees:
Frank Ohme (GER), Mihai Balanescu (ROU)
Score by quarters: 2–4, 2–5, 2–3, 4–2
Vernoux 4 Goals Drašović 3
18 January 2026
15:30 		Report France  8–14  Spain Belgrade Arena, Belgrade
Referees:
Georgios Stavridis (GRE), Andrej Franulović (CRO)
Score by quarters: 1–2, 2–3, 3–5, 2–4
Bouet 3 Goals six players 2
18 January 2026
18:00 		Report Montenegro  15–11  Netherlands Belgrade Arena, Belgrade
Referees:
Raffaele Colombo (ITA), Mihai Balanescu (ROU)
Score by quarters: 1–3, 6–6, 3–1, 5–1
Vučković 4 Goals Hessels 4
18 January 2026
20:30 		Report Hungary  14–15  Serbia Belgrade Arena, Belgrade
Referees:
Boris Margeta (SLO), Matan Schwartz (ISR)
Score by quarters: 4–4, 3–4, 1–5, 6–2
Nagy 4 Goals Jakšić, Mandić 3
20 January 2026
15:30 		Report Netherlands  10–14  France Belgrade Arena, Belgrade
Referees:
Andrej Franulović (CRO), Eurico Silva (POR)
Score by quarters: 1–3, 2–2, 2–4, 5–5
Gbadamassi, de Weerd 2 Goals Vernoux 6
20 January 2026
18:00 		Report Spain  11–11
PSO: 3–4 		 Hungary Belgrade Arena, Belgrade
Referees:
Frank Ohme (GER), Peter de Jong (NED)
Score by quarters: 3–3, 2–2, 3–3, 3–3
Cabanas 4 Goals Nagy 3
20 January 2026
20:30 		Report Serbia  13–15  Montenegro Belgrade Arena, Belgrade
Referees:
Mihai Balanescu (ROU), Levan Berishvili (GEO)
Score by quarters: 6–5, 4–3, 2–4, 1–3
Mandić 3 Goals Vučković 4

Group F

Pos Team Pld W PSW PSL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Greece 5 5 0 0 0 84 46 +38 15 Semifinals
2  Italy 5 4 0 0 1 81 53 +28 12
3  Croatia 5 3 0 0 2 77 49 +28 9
4  Romania 5 2 0 0 3 59 84 −25 6
5  Georgia 5 1 0 0 4 51 80 −29 3
6  Turkey 5 0 0 0 5 55 95 −40 0
Source: EuropeanAquatics
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.
17 January 2026
15:30 		Report Georgia  14–16  Italy Belgrade Arena, Belgrade
Referees:
David Gómez (ESP), Alex De Raffaele (MLT)
Score by quarters: 2–2, 4–6, 4–6, 4–2
Dadvani, Pjesivac 3 Goals Bruni 5
17 January 2026
18:00 		Report Greece  20–8  Turkey Belgrade Arena, Belgrade
Referees:
Peter de Jong (NED), Eurico Silva (POR)
Score by quarters: 6–3, 6–1, 4–3, 4–1
Papanastasiou 6 Goals Düzenli 3
17 January 2026
20:30 		Report Croatia  17–9  Romania Belgrade Arena, Belgrade
Referees:
Frank Ohme (GER), Julien Bourges (FRA)
Score by quarters: 5–1, 1–2, 5–3, 6–3
Kharkov 5 Goals Neamtu 4
19 January 2026
15:30 		Report Georgia  10–15  Romania Belgrade Arena, Belgrade
Referees:
Tamás Kovács-Csatlós (HUN), Peter de Jong (NED)
Score by quarters: 2–2, 4–4, 1–2, 3–7
Vasić 5 Goals three players 4
19 January 2026
18:00 		Report Greece  15–13  Italy Belgrade Arena, Belgrade
Referees:
Ivan Raković (SRB), Julien Bourges (FRA)
Score by quarters: 2–1, 4–3, 4–3, 5–6
Argyropoulos 4 Goals Iocchi 5
19 January 2026
20:30 		Report Croatia  22–9  Turkey Belgrade Arena, Belgrade
Referees:
David Gómez (ESP), Peter Radič (SVK)
Score by quarters: 6–1, 5–2, 6–4, 5–2
Žuvela 5 Goals Oğuzcan, Yutmaz 2
21 January 2026
15:30 		Report Turkey  11–14  Georgia Belgrade Arena, Belgrade
Referees:
Boris Margeta (SLO), Raffaele Colombo (ITA)
Score by quarters: 3–1, 3–5, 3–2, 2–6
Düzenli 6 Goals Vasić 4
21 January 2026
18:00 		Report Italy  13–10  Croatia Belgrade Arena, Belgrade
Referees:
Georgios Stavridis (GRE), Tamás Kovács-Csatlós (HUN)
Score by quarters: 3–3, 2–0, 2–4, 6–3
Ferrero 4 Goals Burić, Fatović 3
21 January 2026
20:30 		Report Romania  9–18  Greece Belgrade Arena, Belgrade
Referees:
Peter de Jong (NED), Erkan Turkkan (TUR)
Score by quarters: 0–5, 1–4, 4–4, 4–5
Georgescu 4 Goals Genidounias 4

Knockout stage

 
Semi-finalsFinal
 
      
 
23 January
 
 
 Serbia17
 
25 January
 
 Italy13
 
 Serbia10
 
23 January
 
 Hungary7
 
 Greece12
 
 
 Hungary15
 
Third place
 
 
25 January
 
 
 Italy5
 
 
 Greece12

Semifinals

23 January 2026
17:00 		Report Greece  12–15  Hungary Belgrade Arena, Belgrade
Referees:
Andrej Franulović (CRO), Julien Bourges (FRA)
Score by quarters: 5–4, 3–4, 2–4, 2–3
Kakaris 3 Goals Manhercz 4
23 January 2026
20:30 		Report Serbia  17–13  Italy Belgrade Arena, Belgrade
Attendance: 12,000[26]
Referees:
Boris Margeta (SLO), David Gómez (ESP)
Score by quarters: 5–3, 4–4, 6–3, 2–3
Mandić, Rašović 4 Goals three players 3

Eleventh place game

22 January 2026
12:45 		Report Netherlands  25–8  Turkey Belgrade Arena, Belgrade
Referees:
Ivan Raković (SRB), Alex De Raffaele (MLT)
Score by quarters: 8–2, 5–2, 5–3, 7–1
Ten Broek 7 Goals Caner 4

Ninth place game

22 January 2026
15:15 		Report France  16–13  Georgia Belgrade Arena, Belgrade
Referees:
David Gómez (ESP), Veselin Mišković (MNE)
Score by quarters: 4–2, 6–4, 4–4, 2–3
Bouet 4 Goals Shushiashvili, Tkeshelashvili 3

Seventh place game

22 January 2026
18:00 		Report Montenegro  21–15  Romania Belgrade Arena, Belgrade
Referees:
Matan Schwartz (ISR), Peter Radič (SVK)
Score by quarters: 4–3, 6–3, 5–4, 6–5
Vučković 6 Goals Georgescu 5

Fifth place game

22 January 2026
20:30 		Report Spain  17–9  Croatia Belgrade Arena, Belgrade
Referees:
Raffaele Colombo (ITA), Mihai Balanescu (ROU)
Score by quarters: 3–0, 4–2, 6–5, 4–2
Sanahuja 5 Goals Kharkov 3

Third place game

25 January 2026
17:00 		Report Italy  5–12  Greece Belgrade Arena, Belgrade
Referees:
Matan Schwartz (ISR), Tamás Kovács-Csatlós (HUN)
Score by quarters: 1–4, 1–3, 2–3, 1–2
Condemi, Ferrero 2 Goals Argyropoulos 4

Final

Main article: 2026 Men's European Water Polo Championship final
25 January 2026
20:30 		Report Serbia  10–7  Hungary Belgrade Arena, Belgrade
Referees:
Frank Ohme (GER), Julien Bourges (FRA)
Score by quarters: 3–2, 2–3, 2–1, 3–1
Mandić 4 Goals Vendel Vígvári 3

Final standings

Best results

Team Previous New
 Greece 4th (1999, 2016) 3rd
 Malta 14th (2022) 13th

Rankings table

Pos Team Pld W PSW PSL L GF GA GD Pts Final result
1  Serbia (H) 8 6 1 0 1 113 92 +21 20 Champions
2  Hungary 8 5 1 0 2 112 82 +30 17 Runners-up
3  Greece 8 7 0 0 1 131 74 +57 21 Third place
4  Italy 8 5 0 0 3 116 94 +22 15 Fourth place
5  Spain 7 5 0 1 1 109 56 +53 16 Fifth place game
6  Croatia 7 4 0 0 3 106 70 +36 12
7  Montenegro 7 5 0 0 2 101 90 +11 15 Seventh place game
8  Romania 7 3 0 0 4 90 113 −23 9
9  France 7 3 0 0 4 89 92 −3 9 Ninth place game
10  Georgia 7 2 0 0 5 86 107 −21 6
11  Netherlands 7 2 0 1 4 96 91 +5 7 Eleventh place game
12  Turkey 7 1 0 0 6 80 136 −56 3
13  Malta 6 3 0 0 3 80 102 −22 9 Classification round
14  Slovakia 6 1 0 1 4 68 88 −20 4
15  Slovenia 6 0 1 1 4 57 100 −43 3
16  Israel 6 0 1 0 5 56 103 −47 2
Updated to match(es) played on 25 January 2026. Source: EuropeanAquatics
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

Qualification table

Statistics

Discipline

The following suspensions were served during the tournament:

Player Offence(s) Suspension(s) Ref
Dušan Mandić in Group C vs Spain (matchday 2; 12 January) Group C vs Israel (matchday 3; 14 January), Group E vs France (matchday 4; 16 January) [32]
Álvaro Granados in Group C vs Serbia (matchday 2; 12 January) Group C vs Netherlands (matchday 3; 14 January) [32]
Dinos Genidounias in Group B vs Croatia (matchday 3; 15 January) Group F vs Turkey (matchday 4; 17 January), Group F vs Italy (matchday 5; 19 January) [33]

Player of the match

For the first time, player of the match awards will be given during the knockout stage.[34] A player of the match award is given to the player deemed as playing the best in each match.

Round Team Match Team Player Ref
Semifinals Serbia  17–13  Italy Milan Glušac [35]
Greece  12–15  Hungary Krisztián Manhercz [35]
Third place game Italy  5–12  Greece Konstantinos Kakaris [4]
Final Serbia  10–7  Hungary Dušan Mandić [4]

Notable statistics

  • Most goals in a game: 39 (Romania 20–19 Turkey, 13 January)
  • Least goals in a game: 17 (Italy 5–12 Greece, 25 January; Serbia 10–7 Hungary, 25 January)
  • Most goals by a team in a game: 28 (Spain 28–3 Israel, 10 January)
  • Least goals by a team in a game: 3 (Israel 3–28 Spain, 10 January)
  • Biggest goal difference in a game: 25 (Israel 3–28 Spain, 10 January)
  • Biggest half time deficit in a game: 12 (Israel 3–15 Spain, 10 January)
  • Most goals scored by a player in a game: 7 ( Lars ten Broek vs Turkey, 22 January)

Controversies

Schedule change

The championship was originally slated for the summer of 2026. However, European Aquatics announced in March 2025 that this edition would actually take place in January 2026, in a timeslot that clashes significantly with the 2026 European Men's Handball Championship.[36] Reportedly, sources close to the European Handball Federation stated that they were surprised with this decision as the European Men's Handball Championship has always been in January without any competition from other sports and now they might have fight for prime-time slots with water polo.

French handball legend, Nikola Karabatić also said this about the situation:

“We’ve built the Handball EURO as a January tradition for decades. And now water polo suddenly appeared in the same window… it changes everything.”

Maltese match-fixing scandal

On 16 January 2026, players from Malta were accused of placing bets on their own games.[37][38] Around four players are being suspected, with the match against Montenegro being investigated particularly. Speaking about the situation, Karl Izzo, president of the Aquatic Sports Association of Malta, said the following:

“God forbid they are true, because that would tarnish the hard work that the association has done to push the sport forward over the past years. The ASA firmly upholds the principles of integrity, transparency, and fair play, which are fundamental to sport at all levels. While we take any allegation of this nature seriously, it is imperative to emphasise that allegations remain allegations unless and until established through due process by the competent authorities. The ASA reiterates its full commitment to cooperate openly and fully with all relevant national and international authorities should any investigation be formally initiated or any request for assistance be made.

Broadcasting rights

The television channels broadcasting the event is as follows:[39]

Territory Rights holder
 Bulgaria
 Croatia
 Cyprus
 Georgia
 Greece
 Hungary
 Israel
 Italy
 Lithuania
 Malta
 Montenegro
 Netherlands
 Poland
 Romania
 Serbia
 Spain
Rest of World
  • Eurovision Sports

Notes

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

References

Preview reports

Matchday reports

  1. ^ Rolle, Andy (27 December 2025). "Belgrade 2026: European Water Polo Championships facts and figures".
  2. ^ a b "Tel Aviv, Belgrade To Host Next Two European Water Polo Championships". swimswam.com. 13 May 2022. Archived from the original on 13 May 2022. Retrieved 13 May 2022.
  3. ^ "Two host cities and new format for 2026 European Water Polo Championships – European Aquatics®". 31 March 2025.
  4. ^ a b c "Belgrade 2026: Serbia crowned European champions after defensive masterclass against Hungary | European Aquatics®". 25 January 2026.
  5. ^ "Alaposan felforgatják a vízilabda-Eb-k eddig ismert rendszerét". ORIGO. 1 April 2025.
  6. ^ Almeida, Luciano (25 August 2025). "New website for 2026 Men's European Water Polo Championships goes live". Archived from the original on 18 December 2025. Retrieved 31 October 2025.
  7. ^ "EWPC 2026". belgrade2026.rs. Archived from the original on 12 December 2025. Retrieved 31 October 2025.
  8. ^ "EWPC 2026". belgrade2026.rs. Archived from the original on 5 January 2026. Retrieved 8 January 2026.
  9. ^ "ПОЧЕЛА ПРОДАЈА УЛАЗНИЦА ЗА ЕП У БЕОГРАДУ: Подршка "делфинима" у Aрени – Dnevnik". www.dnevnik.rs. 2 October 2025.
  10. ^ Rolle, Andy (12 October 2025). "Tickets on sale for men's 2026 European Water Polo Championships in Belgrade". europeanaquatics.org.
  11. ^ "About EWPC". belgrade2026.rs. Archived from the original on 5 January 2026. Retrieved 19 January 2026.
  12. ^ Curcic, Ivan (31 March 2025). "2026 Men's European Championships in Belgrade by new format; women won't play in Serbia". Total Waterpolo. total-waterpolo.com. Archived from the original on 10 June 2025. Retrieved 10 June 2025.
  13. ^ "Continent's top coaches discuss European Championships format and draw in new episode of Water Polo World – European Aquatics®". 20 October 2025.
  14. ^ Curcic, Ivan (11 June 2025). "Historic shock: Germany fails to qualify for European Championships for first time". Total Waterpolo. Archived from the original on 21 June 2025. Retrieved 11 June 2025.
  15. ^ "Men Country Ranking - European Aquatics®". 20 February 2023.
  16. ^ "VENUE".
  17. ^ "Београд домаћин Европског првенства у ватерполу 2026. године". РТС. Archived from the original on 11 December 2023. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  18. ^ "Ватерполо - Србиjа Домаћин Европског Првенства У Ватерполу За Мушкарце 2026". Archived from the original on 25 August 2025. Retrieved 31 October 2025.
  19. ^ "ЕВРОПСКО ПРВЕНСТВО У ВАТЕРПОЛУ ЗА МУШКАРЦЕ – Туристичка организација Србије". www.serbia.travel. Archived from the original on 16 November 2025. Retrieved 31 October 2025.
  20. ^ "The raised pool setup at the Belgrade Arena limits capacity to 12,500 seats for Euro 2026". www.instagram.com.
  21. ^ "Watch the 2026 Men's European Water Polo Championships draw live from Belgrade". europeanaquatics.org. 13 September 2025. Retrieved 13 September 2025.
  22. ^ "2026 Men's European Water Polo Championships draw sets up a thrilling tournament". europeanaquatics.org. 13 September 2025. Retrieved 13 September 2025.
  23. ^ "Regulations" (PDF).
  24. ^ "Men European Water Polo Championship 2026 – WWR – World Waterpolo Referee Association". Archived from the original on 18 December 2025. Retrieved 25 November 2025.
  25. ^ "European Water Polo Championships: Technical Officials, EA Committees and Bureau Representatives announced for Belgrade and Funchal | European Aquatics®". 24 November 2025.
  26. ^ "Serbia secures first European medal after eight years - Total Waterpolo".
  27. ^ "2026 Men's European Water Polo Championship-Final Standings" (PDF). len.microplustimingservices.com. Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 January 2026. Retrieved 25 January 2026.
  28. ^ Curcic, Ivan (25 January 2026). "Serbia climbs European throne!". Total Waterpolo. Retrieved 26 January 2026. "After the final, the top seven players of the Championships were awarded, by the choice of a special jury. Those are: Stylianos Argyropoulos, Strahinja Rasovic, Konstantinos Kakaris, Krisztian Manhercz, Akos Nagy, Dusan Mandic, and goalkeeper Milan Glusac."
  29. ^ Top scorers
  30. ^ Top scoring teams
  31. ^ a b "Overall Team Statistics — 2026 Men's European Water Polo Championship (Belgrade, 25 January 2026)" (PDF). Microplus Timing Services / EWPC 2026. Retrieved 25 February 2026.
  32. ^ a b "Mandic suspended for two games, Granados to miss one match - Total Waterpolo".
  33. ^ "Εθνική πόλο ανδρών: Τιμωρήθηκε με δύο αγωνιστικές ο Γενηδουνιάς, χάνει το κρίσιμο ματς με την Ιταλία". ProtoThema. 16 January 2026.
  34. ^ "Two host cities and new format for 2026 European Water Polo Championships | European Aquatics®". 31 March 2025. Archived from the original on 21 February 2026. Retrieved 31 October 2025.
  35. ^ a b "Belgrade 2026: Hungary and Serbia to clash for European gold after winning epic semi-final clashes | European Aquatics®". 23 January 2026.
  36. ^ Press, TW (1 April 2025). "Handball in Panic as Water Polo Hijacks European Championship Window – Total Waterpolo". Archived from the original on 14 November 2025. Retrieved 13 January 2026.
  37. ^ Zammit, Mark Laurence (16 January 2026). "Several Malta waterpolo players investigated over alleged match-fixing at Euros". Times of Malta. Archived from the original on 16 January 2026. Retrieved 16 January 2026.
  38. ^ "A few Maltese players are being investigated for alleged game-fixing at Europeans - Total Waterpolo".
  39. ^ "WHERE TO WATCH".
  40. ^ "Tucak odredio 15 igrača za Europsko prvenstvo". sport.hrt.hr (in Croatian). Croatian Radiotelevision. 5 January 2025. Archived from the original on 7 January 2026. Retrieved 7 January 2026.
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