Men’s 2026 European Water Polo Championships qualifiers get underway

While the women’s qualifiers finished on Sunday, the men’s tournaments kicked off in Kranj and Istanbul, where groups of five are battling for the main Championships spots. The action also starts in Tbilisi and Gzira on Monday where there are groups of four.

European Water Polo Championships
Men’s Qualifications, Day 1
Sunday 8 June 2025

Group A, Kranj

Great Britain 3-27 Netherlands
Slovenia 19-8 Czechia

Group B, Istanbul

Finland 6-33 Türkiye
Slovakia 21-11 Sweden

In Group A, the Netherlands thrashed Great Britain. The heavily-favoured Dutch side, who had qualified and played in the World Cup finals in April, raced into a 10-0 lead by half-time. The Brits finally managed to score after 19 minutes, at 0-13, and then added two more late consolation goals in the fourth.

Hosts Slovenia produced something similar against Czechia, at least in the first half, when they took an 11-1 lead. The second half was more balanced, and the Czechs may have been satisfied to produce an 8-7 partial result.

The hosts of Group B, Türkiye, were less merciful in their first encounter in Istanbul, as they never stopped against Finland. By the time the final buzzer went, they had amassed 33 goals, 10 alone in the last period.

In the other match, Slovakia enjoyed an 8-2 blast against Sweden in the first quarter and then switched to power-saving mood as they cruised to an easy victory.

The action continues on Monday when Group C in Tbilisi and Group D in Gzira will also begin.

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Watch all the action live on www.euroaquaticstv.com and stay up-to-date with all the results/tables by clicking here.

Gergely Csurka for European Aquatics

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