Belgrade 2026: European Water Polo Championships semi-final previews
Men’s European Water Polo Championships, Belgrade 2026
Match previews, Day 14 – Friday 23 January
(local times shown)
Semi-final
17:00 Greece v Hungary
• Greece are the only unbeaten team left in the tournament, they have won all of their six matches so far – the Hungarians had one defeat, against Serbia, besides five wins.
• Both were medallists in both majors in 2025 – Hungary claimed silver at the Worlds in Singapore and bronze in the World Cup in Podgorica, while the Greeks had the same medals just in the opposite order, bronze at the Worlds and silver in the World Cup.
• Their historical results at the European Championships cannot be more contrasting – Hungary are the most successful nation with 13 titles and 26 medals, while the Greeks are still chasing their first-ever podium at the Europeans. They made the semis only twice, in 1999 and here in Belgrade in 2016, but ended up fourth on both occasions. The Magyars have made the top four in all but one edition since 1993. They missed the semis only in 2018 and landed a medal in 13 out of the last 16 tournaments.
• At the other majors, Greece have enjoyed a lot more success, an Olympic silver from 2021 and five World Championship medals, and three of those from the last four editions (2022: bronze, 2023: silver, 2025: bronze). However, they are yet to win a big title as a gold has eluded them so far.
• Their most recent match was played at the Trebinje Cup, one week before the teams travelled to Belgrade, Hungary won 12-9, though that was Greece’s second match in seven hours on the same day.
• Last year, they produced two high-scoring encounters – at the World Cup Division One tournament, Hungary won 20-10, while Greece hit back in the World Cup Final tournament 18-14 (both games were semi-finals at the respective events).
• At the European Championships, the Greeks had to wait until the previous edition to beat Hungary. The Magyars won 10 of the first 12 matches with two draws since 1970 (when Greece debuted), then on the opening day in Zagreb 2024 the Greeks beat the young Hungarian side 10-8. Ten years ago, they met twice in this Arena, on the opening day too, when their match was tied, then on the last day, when Hungary beat the Greeks for the bronze medal.
Here is the breakdown of their results at the Europeans:
1970: 11-0, 1985: 8-6, 1989: 13-9, 1991: 10-7, 1993: 9-5, 1999: 8-3, 2006: 10-8, 2008: 8-3, 2010: 6-6, 2012: 9-7, 2016: 8-8, 13-10 (bronze medal), 2024: 8-10.
• In recent high-stakes matches, both teams have had wins – at the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo, the Greeks beat the Magyars twice, in the group (10-9), then in the semi-final (9-6). In 2023, Hungary upended them first in the World Cup quarters (6-4), then in the World Championship final in Fukuoka where they won a shootout thriller (10-10, 4-3).
• Fun Fact I: Both teams are built around their respective top club – both Hungary’s FTC-Telekom (the reigning Champions League winner) and Olympiacos Piraeus have eight players apiece in the respective national teams – plus one “spy”. Greece’s Stylianos Argyropoulos plays for FTC, while Hungary’s Daniel Angyal plays for Olympiacos.
• Fun Fact II: Hungary’s head coach Zsolt Varga has been a guarantee for the semi-final appearance at the European Championships – as a player, he made the top four in all five editions he took part (medalled each time, two of them gold, in 1997 and 1999); as head coach, he led Hungary to the semis in three straight occasions, in 2022, 2024 and now. And years before he became head coach of Hungary, he had already clashed in a big match with Greek head coach Theodoros Vlachos – in 2019, when they were in charge at Ferencvaros and Olympiacos respectively, and the two battled out the Champions League final (just like in Fukuoka, FTC won in a shootout, courtesy of Soma Vogel).
Semi-final
20:30 Serbia v Italy
• The Serbs’ monstrous unbeaten run at their home Europeans (2006-16-26) ended after 19 matches when they fell to Montenegro in Tuesday night’s stakes-less encounter. Thus, both sides have arrived at this clash with five wins and a defeat under their respective belts – the Italians were downed by the Greeks.
• Serbia’s amazing run of nine consecutive podium finishes came to an end in Budapest 2020 when they lost to Spain in the quarters (after a shootout) and had to settle for 5th place. Before Budapest 2020, they won seven of the previous nine editions (2001, 2003, 2006, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018), stood on the podium 10 times in the 11 editions they took part since their return in 1997, only missing a medal in 1999 and then in 2020 (their tally stands 7-2-1 – with the Yugoslavia era, the tally is 8-9-5, second on the all-time ranks). That 2020 loss was the beginning of a bad run as they were shockingly beaten by the French in the crossovers to finish 9th in Split 2022, an all-time low. Two years later, a shootout loss in the quarters to Hungary prevented them from making the semis again, so now they have returned to the top-flight after missing it three times in a row.
• Italy have always belonged to the continental powerhouses. They joined the European party in 1938, and they have finished outside the top five only seven times in their following 29 appearances. They stood on the podium 11 times (3-2-7): won the title in 1947, 1993, 1995, were runners-up in 2001 and 2010 and bronze medallists in 1954, 1977, 1987, 1989, 1999, 2014 and in the last edition in 2024. In their last 17 appearances, since 1987, they missed the semis only six times (1997, 2003, 2006, 2008, 2016, 2020). Their 2003 performance was their worst ever (9th).
• The teams’ head-to-head at the Europeans shows anything but a fine balance – it’s another stunning stat that Italy are yet to beat Serbia at the European Championships. They never succeeded in the Yugoslav era (10-0 and three draws) and after 1997 either: it’s 6-0 to the Serbs.
– YUG era: 1950: 9-7, 1954: 3-1, 1958: 3-2, 1966: 2-1, 1970: 4-3, 1974: 4-4, 1977: 5-4, 1981: 8-7, 1983: 9-9, 1985: 10-9, 1987: 7-7, 1989: 8-7 (semi-final), 1991: 11-9 (semi-final)
– SRB (SRB/MNE) era: 1997: 4-3, 2001: 9-8, 8-5 (final), 2008: 11-8, 2012: 12-8 (semi-final), 2020: 8-7 (5-8th places)
• In other high-stakes matches, the Italians have prevailed a couple of times, like in the 2011 World Championships final in Shanghai (8-7, in extra-time) and the 2012 Olympic semi-final (9-7).
• The Serbs have had more big wins in the recent past: 2015 Worlds, semi-finals: 10-6, 2016 Olympics, semi-finals: 10-8, 2021 Olympics, quarter-finals: 10-6, 2023 Worlds, quarter-finals: 11-11 (5-4).
• Fun fact I: While Italian clubs have always been keen to bring Serbian players on board, as of today, no member of the current Serbian roster is with an Italian side. In recent years, Dusan Mandic, Sava Randjelovic, Dordje Lazic, Radomir Drasovic and Nemanja Vico spent a couple of seasons in Italian clubs – Mandic led Recco to a Champions League title in 2022 here in Belgrade and was named MVP of that Final Eight tournament (held in the 11 April Pool, not so far from the Arena). At the same time, Italy also had an eye on the Serbs till last season as their second goalie Francesco de Michelis played for Novi Beograd.
• Fun fact II: Though all four semi-finalists are water polo powerhouses, to date only one major tournament saw these four teams together in the semi-finals – the 2003 World Championships in Barcelona. Interestingly, the match-ups were the same, with Italy beating the Serbs (then Serbia-Montenegro) 6-5 and Hungary downing Greece in extra-time 9-8, and going on to win the title, again in extra-time against Italy (11-9), while the Serbs beat the Greeks 5-3 in the bronze medal match. The current Italian head coach, Sandro Campagna, was also there, leading the Greek national team that time.
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Gergely Csurka for European Aquatics
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