Spain and Croatia qualified for the final of the European U20 Championships in Varna.
Both teams dominated in their semifinal matches, defeating their opponents by significant margins. Spain triumphed over Montenegro 15:10, while Croatia downed Italy 19:11.
Spain arrived at the final with a perfect 5-0 record, while Croatia achieved four wins and suffered two losses to the teams that will finish the tournament behind them (Italy and Greece)
All four games in today’s semifinals and the 5th-8th place classification were rematches of the encounters that took place during the group phase. Only one team avenged its earlier defeat: Croatia. The Croats impressively accomplished this.
Three goals separated Italy and Croatia at the end of their first encounter in Varna on Monday (Italy won 16:13). Today, Croatia got off to a flying start, building a 6:2 lead in the first eight minutes. In the remaining three quarters, the difference was never smaller than four goals. The Croats kept momentum after the first break, stretching the margin to 7:2 in the 10th minute. In the rest of the first half, the teams traded goals, and Croatia had a huge 10:5 lead before the third period.
After the third quarter, during which Croatia scored four and Italy two goals, only the Croats’ winning margin was in question. The Croats didn’t slow down and reached a nine-goal lead twice (17:9 and 19:10). Still, Italy scored the last goal in the game.
Maro Susic (CRO) Photo: European Aquatics
Susic and Tonicic were unstoppable. Susic contributed six and Tonicic four goals to Croatia’s 19:11 win. Captain Maffei netted three goals for Italy.
Spain defeated Montenegro 15:10 in the first semifinal. The Spaniards edged Montenegro in a thrilling 14:13 encounter during the group phase, but today’s match wasn’t dramatic. Spain imposed its rhythm from the opening stages and defended superbly, as it did in the quarterfinal against Hungary.
The Montenegrins struggled defensively in the first half, continuing a trend from their previous two matches. They conceded 15 goals against Malta and 18 against Greece.
Montenegro did not get on the scoreboard until the eighth minute, by which time Spain had already built a 5:0 lead. The Spaniards maintained their five-goal advantage until halftime, leading 9:4, before extending it to 10:4 shortly after the start of the second half. Montenegro reduced the deficit to three goals on two occasions, making it 8:11 and later 10:13, but never seriously threatened Spain’s lead.
Tomas Perrone (ESP) Photo by European Aquatics
Tommas Perrone scored four goals to lead Spain to a 15:10 victory. Montenegro’s best scorer was Danlo Stupar with three goals.
Serbia and Hungary will meet in the 5th-place match.
Hungary beat Greece 17:10. On Day 1, the Hungarians earned two points after a penalty shootout win over Greece. Today’s match was decided much before the 32nd minute. Greece had a slightly better start than Hungary, taking a slim lead several times in the first quarter and a half (3:2, 4:3, 5:4, 6:5). The teams were tied at 7:7 in the 14th minute. After that, the Hungarians started dominating. They produced a 7:0 run to enter the final quarter with a comfortable 14:7 advantage, and the game was decided.
Botond Balogh scored five goals for Hungary, and Angelopoulos netted four for Greece.
Serbia had big ups and downs, but defeated Germany quite convincingly, 20:15. The Serbs demolished Germany’s defense in the first quarter (9:2) and added one more goal in the 9th minute for 10:2. However, the persistent Germans didn’t give in and started coming back into the match. In the middle of the fourth period, they cut the deficit to two goals (15:17). Serbia found its rhythm again and closed the game with three unanswered goals in the final 92 seconds.
Pakaski scored five, and Bodigora four goals for Serbia, while Hofmann and Scherrieble found Serbia’s net four times each.
Malta achieved a significant success by beating the Netherlands in the 11th-place game, 15:12. France downed Turkiye 18:9 to secure 13th place.
2026 European U20 Championships, Elite Division, Varna, Day 6
Semifinals
Spain – Montenegro 15:10 (5:1, 4:3, 2:4, 4:2)
Croatia – Italy 19:11 (6:2, 4:3, 4:2, 5:4)
5th-8th place classification, semifinals
Serbia – Germany 20:15 (9:2, 4:6, 3:3, 4:4)
Hungary – Greece 17:10 (4:5, 4:2, 6:0, 3:3)
9th-place match
Malta – Netherlands 15:12 (3:4, 2:2, 5:3, 5:3)
11th-place match
Turkiye – France 9:18 (1:3, 5:5, 2:4, 1:6)
Division 1, Oeiras
Neutral Athletes B (Russia) and Israel advanced to the final match of Division 1 of the European Junior Championships in Oeiras. Therefore, both nations qualified for the Elite Division for the next edition of the European U20 Championships.
They will replace Slovenia and Czechia, which finished in 15th and 16th place respectively at the tournament in Malta.
Semifinals: Israel – Poland 15:13 (2:6, 4:4, 4:1, 5:2), Neutral Athletes B – Belgium 22:11 (3:4, 8:1, 5:3, 6:3)
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