Conference Cup Women: All eight teams confirmed for next round after thrilling final day of qualifiers

After five tickets to the next stage of the women’s Conference Cup were secured on Saturday, the remaining three places were confirmed on Sunday after a dramatic final day’s action. SV Blau Weiss Bochum edged past Goztepe Sport Klub 15-12, CSM Unirea Alba Iulia won a thriller against VK Jadran Split thanks to a last-second winner, and ASD Brizz Nuoto swept Clube Fluvial Portuense aside in style to confirm their place in Wednesday’s draw for the next round.

2025/26 Conference Cup Women
Qualification Round, Day 3
Sunday 16 November

Group A
(Cottonera, Malta)

SV Blau Weiss Bochum (GER) 15-12 Goztepe Sport Klub (TUR)
San Giljan ASC (MLT) 3-31 CN Sant Feliu (ESP)

Standings: 1. Sant Feliu 9pts, 2. Bochum 6pts, 3. Goztepe 3pts, 4. San Giljan 0pts

Group B
(Alba Iulia, Romania)

Smile Cosenza Pallanuoto (ITA) 16-3 ZVK Crvena Zvezda (SRB)
CSM Unirea Alba Iulia (ROU) 11-10 VK Jadran Split (CRO)

Standings: 1. Cosenza 9pts, 2. Alba Iulia 6pts, 3. Jadran Split 3pts, 4. Crvena Zvezda 0pts

Group C
(Catania, Italy)

Clube Fluvial Portuense (POR) 6-20 ASD Brizz Nuoto (ITA)
CN Tenerife Echeyde (ESP) 17-3 Dalton Koleji SK (TUR)

Standings: 1. Tenerife 9pts, 2. Brizz 6pts, 3. Fluvial Portuense 3pts, 4. Koleji 0pts

Group D
(Cottonera, Malta)

Sirens ASC (MLT) 2-17 ZVL-1886 (NED)
AC PAOK (GRE) 21-12 NC Chania (GRE)

Standings: 1. PAOK 9pts, 2. Chania 5pts, 3. ZVL 4pts, 4. Sirens 0pts

The draw for the Conference Cup Women Qualification Round II will take place on Wednesday, 10am CET, and you can watch live by clicking here on the European Aquatics YouTube channel.

Group A
(Cottonera, Malta)

SV Blau Weiss Bochum (GER) 15-12 Goztepe Sport Klub (TUR)
San Giljan ASC (MLT) 3-31 CN Sant Feliu (ESP)

Bochum and Goztepe clashed for the second qualifying spot, and the Germans managed to wear out the Turks by the end.

In an action-packed first period, Bochum took a 6-5 lead, but Goztepe opened the second with three straight goals and were 8-9 up by half-time.

They doubled their advantage again three minutes into the third, but the Germans struck twice in 36 seconds to level it at 10-10.

The Turks missed a crucial woman-up, and Emilia Khmil buried a penalty to restore the lead, then just 32 seconds later, another goal from a six-on-five put Bochum ahead by two (12-10).

Goztepe halted their scoreless run after more than four minutes, but the 4-0 surge from the Germans ultimately decided the game.

Though the Turks pulled back to 13-12 with a late shot at the end of the third, they couldn’t score at all in the fourth period.

It was an enormous battle – both sides missed two extras – before Aylin Fry finished off a counter with 1:49 remaining, and Emilia Khmil put the icing on the cake scoring from action 28 seconds before the buzzer.

Sant Felieu, who had already secured the top spot, bid farewell to Malta with a 31-goal thrashing of host San Giljan.

Group B
(Alba Iulia, Romania)

Smile Cosenza Pallanuoto (ITA) 16-3 ZVK Crvena Zvezda (SRB)
CSM Unirea Alba Iulia (ROU) 11-10 VK Jadran Split (CRO)

Hosts Alba Iulia edged past Jadran Split with a buzzer-beater to win a thriller and advance to the next round.

The Romanians jumped to a 3-1 lead, but Neli Jankovic put away two penalties to keep Jadran in the game. She then netted an action goal, and midway through the second quarter the Croats scored twice in a span of 19 seconds to go 3-5 up.

The home side were stunned and unable to score – their drought reached the 12-minute mark as the buzzer signalled the end of the first half.

However, Alba needed just 46 seconds to make up what they had missed since 3-1 and equalised with two action goals for 5-5 early in the third.

Still, this didn’t bring enough calm to the Romanians, as they slipped back into offensive struggles for six more minutes while the Croats restored the two-goal gap.

Cecilia Diaz pulled one back 36 seconds before the last break, but her side needed much more in the fourth.

Jadran were also up to the task and kept the lead at 8-9 with three minutes remaining. Diaz then converted back-to-back penalties within a minute to swing the lead back to Alba, but Lara Srhoj sent the ball home from an extra to make it 10-10 with 1:19 on the clock.

The drama unfolded in the dying seconds – Alba had possession after a time-out with 13 seconds left, earned a woman-up with 0:04 remaining, and Yanisbel Lopez just beat the buzzer to send Alba to the next round.

In the other match, Cosenza – having already secured first place – beat Crvena Zvezda comfortably.

Group C
(Catania, Italy)

Clube Fluvial Portuense (POR) 6-20 ASD Brizz Nuoto (ITA)
CN Tenerife Echeyde (ESP) 17-3 Dalton Koleji SK (TUR)

Unlike in the other two groups, here the contest for second place was lopsided. Brizz stormed to a 0-3 lead, then Portuense managed to score twice, but that was their first and last real impact on the game.

The Italians blew them away with a 0-6 rush to take them to 3-9 midway through the second quarter and never looked back.

Brizz dominated the remaining time, shutting out the Portuguese for almost 10 minutes, including the entire third period.

Group winners Tenerife landed three more points with a fine performance in the early-morning game against Dalton Koleji.

Group D
(Cottonera, Malta)

Sirens ASC (MLT) 2-17 ZVL-1886 (NED)
AC PAOK (GRE) 21-12 NC Chania (GRE)

The big questions had already been answered in the first two rounds, as the two Greek sides – PAOK and Chania – beat the other two rivals to secure the qualifying spots with a day to spare.

In the consolation game, ZVL-1886 claimed their first win over host Sirens to finish third.

The in-house battle of the Greeks saw PAOK stage an early 4-0 surge to go 6-2 up, and that determined the rest of the game.

Chania never had a chance for a comeback, as the closest they could get was three goals, and only briefly.

PAOK kept the distance, leading 11-7 at half-time, and then expanded the gap to 15-9 by the end of the third.

The fourth was easy cruising with plenty of goals (6-3), which proved to be an entertaining and fitting finish to the qualifiers.

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Gergely Csurka for European Aquatics

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