Belgrade 2026: European Water Polo Championships Day 8 match previews
Men’s European Water Polo Championships, Belgrade 2026
Match previews, Day 8 – Saturday 17 January
(local times shown)
Group Stage II
Group F
15:30 Georgia v Italy
• Italy are all set to maintain their perfect record before they take on their two big rivals, Greece and Croatia.
• Ever since Georgia first qualified for the European Championships, they have been drawn to the same group with Italy in every single edition. Not surprisingly, they have never got close to upsetting them. Here are the results since 2014, Georgia’s first appearance on the big stage:
2014: 15-5, 2016: 21-1, 2018: 14-3, 2020: 18-6, 2022: 18-8, 2024: 22-5.
• They have played one close match, a World League qualifier in 2017, but Italy prevailed there too, 13-12. All in all, the total stands at 9-0.
• Fun fact: Italy topped the group stage in offence: they scored the most goals, 56, and took the most shots, 117, though their shooting percentage, 47.9%, was only 5th (behind HUN, GRE, CRO and ESP).
Group Stage II
Group F
18:00 Greece v Türkiye
• After their dramatic win against Croatia, the Greeks may enjoy an easier – on paper – game against Türkiye who already wrote history by advancing to this stage as they have usually played in the classification matches for the bottom ranks before.
• After a series of World League qualifiers in 2011-13, these two teams first clashed at the European Championships in the Belgrade Arena, in 2016 – the Greeks won with ease, 21-6. Their next match – and the last one to date – two years later in Barcelona ended in a rout, Greece won 27-1. All in all, their total stands at 7-0.
• Fun fact: It’s going to be a special evening for the two coaches, Greece’s boss Theodoros Vlachos and Türkiye’s commander Konstantinos Loudis. They are not only fellow Greeks but were born in the same year (1969) and at the beginning of their playing career, they debuted at the European Championships together in Bonn 1989. While that was the only time Vlachos played a major tournament for the national team, Loudis became a key figure, who stayed on playing for Greece until 2003. As a coach, the opposite happened – it’s the 14th season for Vlachos at the helm in Greece, while Loudis has begun to work with the Turks recently, but his impact is already evident.
Group Stage II
Group F
20:30 Croatia v Romania
• Croatia are now under pressure as they have to win all three matches in the second stage to clinch a semi-final berth. Romania have a mathematical chance, but they would need to upset the Croats and the Greeks, which is highly unlikely.
• While Croatia have a robust record at the Europeans, their head-to-head with the Romanians at the continental showcase is surprisingly even – 2 wins and 2 losses. The first one was embarrassing, upon Croatia’s debut as an independent country in 1993, but Romania upset them in the group to achieve their best-ever finish, a 4th place, while the Croats missed the semis. And the Romanians also had a hand in the Croats’ worst-ever finish at the Europeans – after the favourites beat them on the opening day 10-7, they met again in the 7-10th place crossovers and the Romanians beat them in a shootout (12-12, 4-3). Between the two, Croatia beat them 13-7 at the home Europeans in Zagreb 2010.
• Their most recent match happened at the Paris Olympics where Croatia won, but not by much, 11-8. Three years earlier they downed Romania 16-6 at the Qualification tournament.
• Fun fact: Both teams have been built around one leading home club, from the respective capitals. The Croats have 9 players from Mladost Zagreb, and the Romanians also selected 9 from Steaua Bucharest. As a sharp contrast, while Mladost are set to advance to the Quarter-final Round of the Champions League, Steaua have no chance of making the eight-finals in the Euro Cup as they have lost all five matches so far.
13th-16th Classification
10:15 Slovenia v Israel
• Claiming two points against Slovakia was a great feat for Slovenia on Friday, but they are looking for more and now they take on Israel, who are yet to earn their first points here in Belgrade after four straight defeats.
• Currently, Israel are the only side in the whole field with zero points from four matches.
• These two teams have met once before, four years ago, when Israel, playing at their first-ever Europeans, won 9-5 in the group stage to advance to the top 12.
12:45 Slovakia v Malta
• Slovakia managed to save the game against Slovenia to a tie on Friday, but they lost the shootout. They are yet to win a game here in Belgrade, but at least they have a point – and now they face Malta, who managed to down Israel in the first round.
• They played three matches at the Europeans and Slovakia won them all – each was one of the crossovers in the playoffs for the 13-16th places. The first was here in Belgrade in 2016 and ended in a 17-9 rout. The following two were more balanced, 11-6 in 2018 and 8-4 in 2020.
• Their most recent clash was in 2024 at the World Cup Division II where Malta managed to beat Slovakia for the first time, 15-14.
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Gergely Csurka for European Aquatics
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