2026 Men’s European Water Polo Championships draw sets up a thrilling tournament

Belgrade’s magnificent White Palace witnessed the draw for the 2026 Men’s European Water Polo Championships on Saturday. The group stage will fire up the event, which starts on 10 January, with the preliminary phase promising a real feast of fierce encounters.

After the welcome speeches by European Aquatics President Antonio Silva and Serbian WP Federation President and LOC Chair Viktor Jelenic, two legends of Serbian water polo took to the stage – Milan Aleksic and Filip Filipovic.

Aleksic and Filipovic are both double Olympic and World champions and they’ve also won numerous European titles during their illustrious careers, but this time their hands were closely followed for other reasons than their good old fakes and shot-making.

The legendary duo helped conduct the eagerly-awaited draw, together with the European Aquatics Technical Water Polo Committee Secretary Matjaz Rakovec and the outcome promises thrilling clashes right from the opening day on 10 January.

With the new format for these Europeans, all the group games will be hugely important as the advancing teams will carry their preliminary results into the next phase.

In Group Stage II, the teams will have three more matches versus three other advancing sides and at the end only the top two from each group will progress to the semi-finals.

Under these regulations, it is clear the bracket with the potential advancing sides from Group A and C will offer thrillers in the group and then in the following stage too.

Montenegro and World Championships runners-up Hungary were drawn together in Group A, while World champions Spain and hosts and Olympic champions Serbia were placed in Group C, so we are likely to witness a re-match of the World Championship final between Hungary and Spain in Group Stage II.

Only two of these four will be able to make the semis – three of the four Singapore semi-finalists from earlier this year – but, of course, France will also fancy their chances of making a surprise visit to the podium.

The clash of Croatia and Greece in Group B will be another highlight during the first days of the competition – as these two teams were also in the same group in Split 2022 – and in the next round both are likely to have a showdown against Italy.

A Greek v Italian rematch of the World Championship quarters would be a huge match to watch – and again, only two of those three giants can stay alive and play for the medals.

The Belgrade Arena, which was also the site of the 2016 edition and saw a world-record attendance of 18,500 fans at the grand final between Serbia and Montenegro, will host the showcase from 10-25 January.

The women’s event shall be staged separately, in Funchal, Portugal, on 26 January-4 February, and the draw for that tournament is set to take place on 2 October in Madeira.

Men’s European Water Polo Championships, Belgrade

Group Stage

Group A: Malta, France, Montenegro, Hungary

Group B: Slovenia, Greece, Croatia, Georgia

Group C: Netherlands, Israel, Serbia, Spain

Group D: Turkiye, Romania, Italy, Slovakia

First three teams advance from each group

In Group Stage II, the qualifying teams from Group A and C, and from Group B and D will play against each other.

Gergely Csurka for European Aquatics

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