The third-tier European competition for clubs, the Conference Cup, will begin with Qualification Round I (October 22 – 25)
A total of 23 teams will start in the competition, and today’s draw sorted them into five groups.
2027 Men’s Conference Cup, Qualification Round 1
Group A: De Zaan (NED), Solaris Sibenik (CRO)*, Montpellier (FRA), Ydraikos (GRE) , Adalar ASC (TUR)
Group B: Panionios Athens (GRE)*, Vittoria SC (POR), Cannstatt 1898 (GER), Zadar 1952 (CRO), Spartak Volgograd (RUS)
Group C: Trieste (ITA), ZVL-1888 (NED), City of Manchester (GBR), Olymp Tbilisi (GEO)*.
Group D: Vasas (HUN), OSC Potsdam (GER), Banja Luka (BiH), Szeged (HUN)*, Iberia Tbilisi (GEO)
Group E: De Akker (ITA), Mataro (ESP)*, Heybeliada ASC (TUR), Sant Andreu (ESP)
The hosts of the groups are marked with *.
The top three teams from Groups A, B and D, each featuring five teams, will advance to Qualification Round 2. The first- and second-placed teams from Groups C and D will also secure a place in the second round. The 14th and final spot will go to the better third-placed team from Groups C and D, based on the European Aquatics criteria.
These 14 teams will then be joined by the 10 clubs eliminated in the Euro Cup Qualification round.
De Akker, winner of last season’s inaugural Conference Cup, will face two strong Spanish opponents in Group E in Mataro.
Several clubs will make their European debut.
It will be particularly interesting to see what Spartak Volgograd, the 2014 Euro Cup winner, can achieve after Russian clubs’ long absence from European competitions.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: total-waterpolo.com
