2026 Men's European U-20 Water Polo Championship

2026 Men's European U-20 Water Polo Championship
Tournament details
Host country Bulgaria
CityVarna
Venue1 (in 1 host city)
Dates10–16 August 2026
Teams16 (from 1 confederation)
Final positions
Champions Croatia (2nd title)
Runners-up Spain
Third place Italy
Fourth place Montenegro
Official website
events.europeanaquatics.org

The 2026 Men's European U-20 Water Polo Championship was the 29th edition of the Men's European U-20 Water Polo Championship, organized by Europe's governing aquatics body, European Aquatics. The tournament was played in Varna, Bulgaria, from 10 to 16 August 2026.[1] Starting this edition, the age level has changed from U19 to U20.[2]

The event was supposed to be hosted by Portuguese city of Coimbra,[3] but instead, for the second consecutive time, Bulgaria was given the hosting rights.[4] This was the fourth time the country hosted the event, after 1982, 1990 and 2024. The host city was Varna, which hosted the event for the third time.

16 teams participated in the tournament, with the rankings from the previous edition deciding who qualified. For the first time, a promotion and relegation system was used for the competition. Croatia successfully defended their title with a victory over Spain in the final, 17–14.

Format

The 16 teams were sorted into two sub-divisions, based on the last edition. The top eight teams made Sub-division 1 and the other eight teams Sub-division 2. Both sub-divisions were split into two groups of four teams. The top two teams from each group of Sub-division 1 advanced directly to the quarterfinals, while the bottom two teams from each group of Sub-division 1 advanced to the crossovers, where they played against the top two teams from each group of Sub-division 2. Starting with quarterfinals onward, the regular knock-out system was used.

Participating teams

No qualification round took place; the sixteen teams that took part in the 2024 edition automatically qualified for the championship, while the remaining registered teams competed in the newly formed Division I.

Teams
 Croatia (1st)
 Montenegro (2nd)
 Spain (3rd)
 Hungary (4th)
 Germany (5th)
 Italy (6th)
 Serbia (7th)
 Greece (8th)
 Netherlands (9th)
 Turkey (10th)
 Romania (11th)
 Bulgaria (12th)
 France (13th)
 Malta (14th)
 Czech Republic (15th)
 Slovenia (16th)

Draw

The draw took place on 16 February 2026 at the European Aquatics Water Polo Office in Zagreb, Croatia.[5][6] The seeding was based off the results of the 2024 European Championship.

Venue

Varna was the host city, with the Yulian Rusev Pool in the Primorski Swimming Complex being the venue.[7][8] The venue was being renovated and was finished by May 2026. The costs of the renovations were 481,000 Euros.[9]

Preliminary round

All times are local (Eastern European Summer Time; UTC+3).

Sub-division 1

Group A

Pos Team Pld W PSW PSL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Italy 3 3 0 0 0 46 40 6 9 Quarterfinals
2  Greece 3 1 0 1 1 41 41 0 4
3  Croatia 3 1 0 0 2 41 45 −4 3 Crossovers
4  Hungary 3 0 1 0 2 45 47 −2 2
Source: events.europeanaquatics.org
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.

Group B

Pos Team Pld W PSW PSL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Spain 3 2 1 0 0 45 36 9 8 Quarterfinals
2  Serbia 3 1 1 1 0 48 39 9 6
3  Montenegro 3 1 0 1 1 43 41 2 4 Crossovers
4  Germany 3 0 0 0 3 37 57 −20 0
Source: events.europeanaquatics.org
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.

Sub-division 2

Group C

Pos Team Pld W PSW PSL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Turkey 3 3 0 0 0 61 22 39 9 Crossovers
2  France 3 2 0 0 1 42 39 3 6
3  Bulgaria (H) 3 1 0 0 2 34 44 −10 3 13th–16th place playoffs
4  Slovenia 3 0 0 0 3 32 64 −32 0
Source: events.europeanaquatics.org
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) Hosts

Group D

Pos Team Pld W PSW PSL L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Netherlands 3 3 0 0 0 55 25 30 9 Crossovers
2  Malta 3 2 0 0 1 44 36 8 6
3  Romania 3 1 0 0 2 40 37 3 3 13th–16th place playoffs
4  Czech Republic 3 0 0 0 3 19 60 −41 0
Source: events.europeanaquatics.org
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.

Championship playoffs

Crossovers Quarterfinals Semifinals Final
B1  Spain 13
A4  Hungary 21 CO1  Hungary 7
C1  Turkey 10  Spain 15
 Montenegro 10
A2  Greece 29
B3  Montenegro 17 CO2  Montenegro 30
D2  Malta 15  Spain 14
 Croatia 17
B2  Serbia 13
A3  Croatia 21 CO3  Croatia 14
C2  France 8  Croatia 19 3rd place match
 Italy 11
A1  Italy 16  Montenegro 13
B4  Germany 16 CO4  Germany 10  Italy 15
D1  Netherlands 15

5th–8th place playoffs

5th–8th place semifinals 5th place match
    
 Hungary 17
 Greece 10
 Hungary 20
 Serbia 19
 Serbia 20
 Germany 15 7th place match
 Greece 19
 Germany 16

9th–12th place playoffs

9th–12th place semifinals 9th place match
    
 Turkey 18
 Malta 19
 Malta 15
 Netherlands 12
 France 9
 Netherlands 19 11th place match
 Turkey 9
 France 18

13th–16th place playoffs

13th–16th place semifinals 13th place match
      
D3  Romania 17
C4  Slovenia 10
 Romania 15
 Bulgaria 11
D4  Czech Republic 13
C3  Bulgaria 14 15th place match
 Slovenia 17
 Czech Republic 13

Final standings

Rank Team
1st place, gold medalist(s)  Croatia
2nd place, silver medalist(s)  Spain
3rd place, bronze medalist(s)  Italy
4  Montenegro
5  Hungary
6  Serbia
7  Greece
8  Germany
9  Malta
10  Netherlands
11  France
12  Turkey
13  Romania
14  Bulgaria
15  Slovenia
16  Czech Republic
Relegated to the 2028 Men's European U-20 Water Polo Championship Division I

References

  1. ↑ "New dates for 2026 European U20 Water Polo Championships announced". europeanaquatics.org.
  2. ↑ "Changes in European age group competitions an 'exciting opportunity'". Swim England Water Polo Hub. 17 May 2024.
  3. ↑ "Competition dates confirmed for 2026 Water Polo events and Artistic Swimming Youth championships". europeanaquatics.org.
  4. ↑ "Варна ще бъде домакин на Европейското първенство по водна топка за мъже до 20 години, дивизия Елит". www.bta.bg (in Bulgarian).
  5. ↑ "Draw details for men's and women's 2026 European U20 Water Polo Championships". europeanaquatics.org.
  6. ↑ "Draws for European U20 Championships in Bulgaria and Portugal". total-waterpolo.com.
  7. ↑ "Варна се готви за домакинство на Европейско първенство по водна топка за юноши". live.varna.bg (in Bulgarian).
  8. ↑ "Варна е домакин на Европейско първенство по водна топка". bnrnews.bg (in Bulgarian).
  9. ↑ "Варна: Ремонтът на басейн „Юлиян Русев" може да приключи до края на май, уверява строителят". www.moreto.net (in Bulgarian).
Wikimedia Commons logo
Wikimedia Commons has media related to 2026 Men's European U-20 Water Polo Championship.
This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.