Belgrade 2026: European Water Polo Championships Day 5 match previews

Men’s European Water Polo Championships, Belgrade 2026

Match previews, Day 5 – Wednesday 14 January
(local times shown)

Group A

12:45 Malta v Hungary

• Even the unlikeliest outcome, a win for Malta, wouldn’t alter the two sides’ ranking in the group. Hungary have already secured the first place, while Malta cannot move up from 4th.

• After two hard-fought victories over France and Montenegro, the Magyars are set to play their easiest match in Belgrade – on paper, at least. The only clash at the Europeans between these two teams, at Budapest in 2020, ended in a really heavy defeat for Malta. The Hungarians were chasing the best possible goal difference in the last round of the group stage, as their big match with Spain ended in a tie. The Magyars won 26-0, clinched the top spot and went on to win the title. Earlier, in 2018/19, they had two World League qualification matches and Hungary won both 24-8.

• Fun fact: Long before the two sides met a couple of years ago, there was a very first match at the 1936 Olympics. It came as no surprise the Magyars won 12-0 en route to retaining their title. What the match became famous for, however, was a noble gesture from the Hungarians. In the second half, a Maltese player was injured and had to leave the pool. Back in those days, substitutions were not allowed and the seven starting players had to play the entire match. The Magyars decided to continue at equal strength, and one of their players also swam out, so the rest of the match was played six against six.

Group C

15:15 Netherlands v Spain

• Spain are under pressure to gain points in this match after their dramatic loss to Serbia on Monday, and the Dutch showed on the opening day that they are capable of achieving great results, even against the top favourites. They lost only by penalties to Serbia and in the preps they beat Croatia in Rotterdam.

• Ten years ago, Spain beat the Dutch 15-4 here at the Belgrade Arena – then, three months later they suffered a shocking defeat from the Netherlands on the opening day of the Olympic qualification tournament, 5-7 (though later the Spanish went through, while the Dutch fell to France in a shootout in the decisive quarter-final).

• Their next four matches went to Spain in the World League, both were massive wins (9-5, 12-4, 13-7, 14-7), before they met at the 2022 Europeans and the game produced unexpected excitement, as Spain barely survived the Dutch late surge and won 11-10.

• Spain will play without their top ace Alvaro Granados, who has a one-game suspension for the red card he received in the last minute of the game against Serbia.

• Fun fact: Since the 2018 Europeans in Barcelona, the 11-12 loss to Serbia two days ago was only Spain’s second regular-time defeat in the championships across the last five editions. They have had shootout losses, but only Hungary could down them in 32 minutes in the 2022 semis, before Serbia’s Viktor Rasovic managed to score a late winner on Sunday evening here in the Belgrade Arena.

Group A

18:00 France v Montenegro

• Second place in Group A – and the chance to take three points to the next round – is at stake in this match.

• Montenegro holds an overwhelming lead in the head-to-head record between the two teams, 18-1. At the Europeans, they clashed on the opening day in Dubrovnik in 2024 and the game was tied at 10-10, followed by a shootout marathon where the Montenegrins prevailed 10-9. The previous two encounters ended in regular time, with Montenegro winning – 2018: 8-6, 2016: 11-6.

• France’s only win came in 2022 when they upended their rivals 12-9 in the World League quarter-finals.

• Their most recent clash was one year ago, in the World Cup Division One tournament in Otopeni where Montenegro won 18-13.

• Fun fact: Montenegro and Marseille goalkeeper Petar Tesanovic knows France’s players really well – though the same applies to his club teammates who play for the French national team and there are four of them (Bouet, Canovas, Marion-Vernoux, Vernoux); they also know Tesanovic really well. Centre-forward Vladan Spaic may also contribute credible information to the Montenegrins’ game plan, as he’s also a key figure for Marseille (who have players in six different national teams: besides France and Montenegro, Hungary, Spain, Greece and the Netherlands also have one player apiece from the French champions).

Group C

20:30 Israel v Serbia

• The home side regained their pride and confidence by beating the reigning world champions and title-holders Spain just two days after they had gone through some hellish moments against the Netherlands. With an expected win over Israel, the Serbs could start the next phase with five points.

• Israel and Serbia have met twice so far, at the last two Europeans, and both encounters were comfortable wins for the Serba: 18-3 in 2022 and 22-1 in 2024.

• Serbia will have to do without the services of Dusan Mandic for the next two games, as he received a suspension for his red card against Spain.

• Fun fact: The opening match of the Serbs was their first one at European Championships held here in Belgrade that they didn’t win in regular time. At the previous two editions, in 2006 and in 2016, the Serbs won all their matches in four quarters and finished with a perfect 7-0 record (seven wins in a row) on both occasions. Thanks to the late disallowed Dutch goal, though, they have maintained their impressive unbeaten run on home soil.

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Gergely Csurka for European Aquatics

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