Belgrade 2026: Spain overpowers Croatia to secure 5th place at European Championships

Netherlands, France, Montenegro and Spain all finished their European Championships campaigns on a high. Netherlands demolished Türkiye, France edged past Georgia, Montenegro outclassed Romania, and a fresher Spain looked far hungrier than Croatia, who seemed to still be feeling the effects of their devastating loss to Italy on Thursday evening. Interestingly, in the end, all four teams from Group E triumphed against their Group F rivals, and it remains to be seen whether that trend will continue in Friday’s semi-finals…

Men’s 2026 European Water Polo Championships – Belgrade
Day 13, Thursday 22 January

Classification

11th/12th

Netherlands 25-8 Türkiye

9th/10th

France 16-13 Georgia

7th/8th

Montenegro 21-15 Romania

5th/6th

Spain 17-9 Croatia

Classification

11th/12th

Netherlands 25-8 Türkiye
(8-2, 5-2, 5-3, 7-1)

The Dutch stormed to a 3-0 lead in less than two minutes and even though the Turks also netted two a bit later – one from a penalty, after a successful challenge – the favourites kept on delivering in attack and led 6-2.

Then the Turkish situation turned from bad to worse as a VAR review confirmed a brutality foul committed by Fatih Acar and that led to his 4-min ejection with 1:48 to go in the first.

The Dutch added two more before the break to lead 8-2 and despite some sluggish finishing during this constant man-up, they went 10-2 up by the middle of the second quarter.

The Turks, playing another tough match less than 24 hours after their loss to Georgia, looked worn out both physically and mentally, with the four-minute man-down just deepening their already existing wounds.

The contest was becoming more and more lopsided by the minute in the third, and with one more quarter to play, 11 goals separated the sides at 18-7.

Lars ten Broek’s action goal kicked off the fourth, it was his seventh goal in the game, setting a new record for the best individual scoring effort in the tournament.

The team was also on course to perhaps match Spain’s single-game scoring record set right in the opening match of the championship when they hit 28 against Israel, but in the end the Dutch remained three shy of that total.

How the Netherlands began this event – when only a fraction of a second separated them from beating Serbia – and how they finished, in 11th place, is definitely a big contradiction, but this game at least proved once more their level is much closer to the top eight teams.

The Turks could also still be proud that returning to the Europeans after six years, they managed to make the top 12 and play a couple of great matches against quality sides.

Classification

9th/10th

France 16-13 Georgia
(4-2, 6-4, 4-4, 2-3)

The Georgians’ energy reserves lasted for one and a half quarters. Just 24 hours after their somewhat unexpectedly tough battle with Türkiye, they managed to keep up with the French – who had a rest day – till 4-4, then Thomas Vernoux & Co. geared up and staged a 5-0 rush while killing three six-on-five situations, and that left little chance for their rivals for any recovery.

The key players of the French did a tremendous job, taking responsibility to deliver in attack and they really led the charge.

Five players put together the French total of 16 goals – Thomas Vernoux and Alexandre Bouet scored four apiece, Alexis Drahe and Steven Vitrant hit three each, and Romain Marion-Vernoux added two.

All the others but one didn’t even attempt a shot, as they let the big boys produce the fireworks.

Indeed, the Georgians also had desperate attempts to cut the gap, but their defence never reached a level to have a real chance for a tighter result.

Also, to highlight the fatigue some players visibly struggled with, their best scorer in the previous matches, Dusan Vasic, finished the game with 0-for-6, while another fine attacker, Valiko Dadvani, lost his temper and was red-carded in the second period, during that 5-0 surge.

Consequently, the difference never dropped below four goals, only towards the end when the Georgians netted two more after 16-11 in the last three minutes.

Classification

7th/8th

Montenegro 21-15 Romania
(4-3, 6-3, 5-4, 6-5)

Montenegro jumped to a 3-0 lead in four minutes, but laid back a bit early and the Romanians, despite missing their first penalty, climbed back to 4-3 by the end of the first.

A second surge, three goals in 62 seconds to make it 8-4, had a lot direr consequences for the Romanians as the Montenegrin youngsters didn’t slow down and never let them back into the game.

After holding on for 10-6 by the end of the first half, the game turned into a shooting contest where the gap never went under four goals, and early in the fourth the Montenegrins were up by seven at one point.

More skilled, motivated and with better stamina, they cruised to victory while ensuring some proper entertainment for their fans, who could enjoy a 36-goal contest.

Finishing 7th is not something Montenegro are proud of. According to their coach Dejan Savic, they put everything into the match against Hungary but they lost it, then Spain blew them away and from that point they were practically done.

Still, the youngsters – their average age of 24 is by far the lowest in the Top 7 – bounced back, winning their last matches, so they finished 7th with two defeats, which is somewhat strange but also showed their strength and the bright future they may have.

Classification

5th/6th

Spain 17-9 Croatia
(3-0, 4-2, 6-5, 4-2)

The Spaniards completed the Group E teams’ routing of their Group F rivals by blowing away the Croats in Thursday’s final game.

For teams on this level, meeting in a game like this is always about finding a bit more motivation as the players are used to playing for medals, not for 5th place (these two memorably clashed for the title two years ago in Zagreb).

The opening quarter showed the Spaniards’ minds were in this game, while the Croatians were unable to bounce back from their bitter defeat to the young Italian team 24-hours earlier, mostly because of missing a pile of man-ups.

The Spaniards stormed to a 3-0 lead, then added another one before the Croats opened their account after 9:33 minutes.

At 4-1, they had a penalty but Edu Lorrio stopped Loren Fatovic’s shot, just when the Croats showed some signs of life, and Bernat Sanahuja converted a man-up right from the next man-up.

Being down 5-1 instead of 4-2 in this state of mind was another blow for the Croatians.

Spain led 7-2 at half-time and early in the third they went 9-3 up, which is when the Croats managed to put together a much better spell and scored three in a row.

Still, a silly mistake – the re-entry of an already fouled-out player – gifted the Spaniards a penalty despite their missed extra, and that really ended the Croats’ momentum.

They conceded two more in a minute and at 12-6 there was no way back for their rivals.

It didn’t look nice at the end, as after 9-6, the Spaniards had an 8-3 rush, thanks largely to the firepower of their big trio – Alberto Munarriz, Alvaro Granados and Bernat Sanahuja.

After a terrible shooting performance in the decisive match against Hungary (those three combined were 3/17), they netted 10 goals between them to make sure Spain enjoyed a fine farewell.

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Gergely Csurka for European Aquatics

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