Singapore 2025: 15 European sides (out of 16) still on board for the knockout stages of World Championships

European teams are ruling the water polo tournaments so far at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore. In the men’s tournament, all eight European sides made the crossover round, with three of them advancing directly to the quarter-finals, while the women’s teams booked seven spots, two in the quarters.

Men’s tournament

No hiccups have happened so far, at least not among the European superpowers. The Magnificent Seven all delivered the expected wins, and Romania made no mistake either.

Italy, Spain and Croatia advanced to the quarter-finals directly after topping their respective groups – the United States joined them by finishing first in a quartet with no European rivals (which was a historical outcome of the draw, as it had never happened before).

Teams from the Old Continent have already offered glimpses of their outstanding levels when facing each other in the decisive matches. Whenever the Big Ones clashed, it all came down to a single goal separating them at the end.

In Group A, Italy edged out Serbia in a penalty shootout. The game was full of twists, and even though Italy led 13-10 deep into the fourth, the Serbs fought themselves back and forced a shootout.

Still, Gianmarco Nicosia delivered two penalty stops to secure the Settebello’s first place.

In Group B, Spain and Hungary were also entangled in a grand battle, where the Hungarians – unlike in their previous four encounters – managed to limit the Spaniards to five goals for three periods, a real feat in this new water polo.

However, the World Cup winners staged a magnificent finish, with Alvaro Granados finding his best shots which helped Spain to score the last four goals of the game while shutting out the Magyars in the last 7:21 minutes to win it 10-9.

While the US enjoyed a smooth path to the best eight without facing real challenges, Group D saw tremendous matches of three powerhouses.

Montenegro stunned Greece with a really composed performance (10-9), and two days later they were on par with Croatia for most of the time.

However, the Croats’ experience prevailed as they scored the last two goals to win 13-11 (it was also a one-goal game, with an extra buzzer beater at the end).

The Croats then came back from three goals down against Greece. The Greeks lost both their big games 9-10 to finish third in this group, which sets up a potential quarter-final against Italy.

The other probable fixtures promise plenty of excitements also, as Croatia may take on Hungary, Spain can expect a clash with Montenegro and after the Olympic semi-final, the Serbs should have another showdown with the USA.

Women’s tournament

Hungary and Spain were the two standout European sides in the group stage, with both advancing to the quarters with three fine wins. Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Great Britain and France also joined them, and only Croatia missed the cut, but as World Championship rookies, they already left a fine impression.

Here the other powerhouses from overseas, the United States and Australia proved their quality once more. Though many thought the Americans, fielding a completely rejuvenated team, might be less threatening, it turned out to be a false expectation.

The Netherlands were the first ones to discover the US team is still pretty strong. The Dutch were unable to gear up and ended up losing this crucial match 9-11, which derailed their hopes to take the easiest path to the semis.

A win would have put them in the bracket to face the winners of the GBR v JPN crossover – now this joy goes to the US, while the Dutch will run into the arms of the Spaniards in the best eight.

Spain didn’t face much opposition as they were drawn in the easiest group and they handed big defeats to Great Britain, France and South Africa while amassing 62 goals. GB and France also reached the crossovers.

Hungary kicked off their campaign by taking revenge on the Greeks for their World Cup final loss in April. Though Greece jumped to a 5-2 lead early on, the Magyars came up with a brilliant 6-0 run, only to see the Greeks score three in a row to level up at 9-9. However, Hungary hit the winner and then thrashed Japan and the Croats to sail through to the best eight.

Just like the Dutch, the Italians lost the decisive match played for the first place. The Aussies, runners-up in Paris, were dominating that encounter which, unlike the other similar games, turned into a scoring festival.

Australia bettered them 19-15, which sent Italy to the crossover round, from where they should reach the quarters to face Hungary.

Besides the two thrilling all-European clashes – ESP v NED, HUN v ITA, these are not fixed, but almost sure – Greece is about to meet Australia in the best eight, they just need to beat France. Great Britain will have a tough showdown with Japan where the winner, as mentioned, will bump into the title-holders US in the quarters.

Gergely Csurka for European Aquatics

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