Croatia has won two men’s water polo world titles within just five weeks.
This evening, the Croats defeated Spain 10:7 in the final of the World U16 Championships in Zagreb, repeating the success achieved by their older compatriots five weeks earlier. Early in July, Croatia’s U18 team became world champions in Rio Maior, Portugal,
The tournament in Zagreb was the third edition of the World U16 Championships. Hungary triumphed in 2022, Spain was the best team two years later, and Croatia entered the circle of the champions this evening.
Croatia recorded a quite convincing 10:7 win in the gold-medal game, but the match was open until the final minute.
Photo by Lila Bajić
The final match featured several lead changes during the first three quarters, but neither team managed to establish a two-goal lead. At the end of the first quarter, the score was tied at 1:1. Croatia took the lead twice in the second quarter, while Spain managed to lead once, resulting in a tie of 4:4 at halftime.
In the third period, the teams traded goals. Spain built a 5:4 and a 6:5 lead, but the hosts leveled on both occasions. Therefore, the teams were tied at 6:6 before the final six minutes.
Sappe (CRO) Photo by Lila Bajić
The Spaniards wasted two man-up opportunities in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter, but performed well defensively, allowing them to take a 7:6 lead from a counterattack midway through the quarter. However, Croatia quickly responded by scoring during an extra-player situation and then added another goal, taking the lead at 8:7 with just 2:06 left in the game.
Everything came down to the final minute. A Spanish player committed a personal foul in Croatia’s half of the field, leading to a counterattack by the hosts. Sappe capitalized on the opportunity, scoring to make it 9:7. Following this, Croatia defended well despite being a man down. Kundid sealed the victory for Croatia in the dying seconds, finalizing the score at 10:7.
Serbia defeated Team USA only in a penalty shootout in the bronze-medal game, 13:11. Although the Serbs led for most of the regular time, they struggled to maintain control of the game. They established a three-goal lead three times during the first three periods: 4:1 and 5:2 in the second quarter, and 6:3 early in the third quarter. However, the Americans, led by Grayson Taylor (5 goals this evening), rallied with a 3:0 run in just 2 minutes and 25 seconds, leveling the score at 6:6. 48 seconds before the last break, Cubrilovic gave Serbia a 7:6 lead.
Kreckovic (SRB) Photo by Lila Bajic
In the fourth period, the Europeans held a slight advantage of 8:7, but the Americans quickly turned the game around by scoring two goals in just 54 seconds. With three minutes remaining, Team USA took the lead for the first time, making the score 9:8. However, Andrija Cubrilovic equalized at 9:9, scoring his fourth goal with 72 seconds left on the clock. The Americans had two opportunities to secure a win in regular time but failed. After that, they didn’t convert two penalty shots. Meanwhile, Serbia missed only once and ultimately claimed the bronze medal.
European teams achieved convincing wins in the final matches in the 5th-8th place classification. Russia defeated Brazil 10:5 in the fifth place game, but the winner was decided only in the fourth quarter. Russia scored four and didn’t concede a single goal in the final six minutes. Anyway, Brazil could be satisfied with their performance and the strong resistance they offered to European favorites Serbia and Russia in the knockout round.
Photo by Lila Bajić
Italy downed Egypt 14:7 to finish in 7th place.
Hungary beat Greece in the 9th-place match. It was a small act of revenge for a defeat to Greece in the group phase, which didn’t significantly help Greece, but prevented Hungary from reaching the quarterfinals. Hungary’s captain Oliver Noe Szaka was outstanding, scoring seven goals from nine attempts.
2026 World U16 Championships, Zagreb, Day 7
Croatia, the world U16 champion Photo by Lila Bajić
FINAL
Croatia – Spain 10:7 (1:1, 3:3, 2:2, 4:1)
Croatia: Domazet 3, Kundid 2, Srzic 2, Loncaric 1, Sappe 1, Bujas 1.
Spain: Lopez 3, Shinske 2, Aguirre 1, Diaz 1
Bronze medal match
Serbia – USA 13:11 (2:0, 3:3, 2:3, 2:3, PSO 4:2)
Serbia: Cubrilovic 4, Muncan 2, Frenc 1, Samardzic 1, Abadzic 1.
USA: Taylor 5, Coleman 2,Wigo 1, Shin 1
Classification 5th – 8th place
5th-place game: Brazil – Russia 5:10 (2:3, 2:2, 1:1, 0:4)
7th-place game: Egypt – Italy 7:14 (3:4, 0:4, 3:4, 1:2)
Classification 9th – 16th place
9th-place game: Hungary – Greece 16:13 (5:2, 2:2, 6:4, 3:5)
11th-place game: Malta – Turkiye 8:6 (2:2, 1:2, 4:1, 1:1)
13th-place game: Germany – Australia 10:5 (1:0, 3:2, 2:0, 4:3)
15th-place game: New Zealand – Romania 12:10 (3:3, 2:2, 5:2, 2:3)
Classification 17th – 24th place
17th-place game: Singapore – Montenegro 5:16 (1:2, 2:2, 1:6, 1:6)
19th-place game: Georgia – Netherlands 4:16 (0:4, 2:3, 1:4, 1:5)
21st-place game: Canada – Poland 11:7 (2:0, 3:2, 2:2, 4:3)
23rd– place game: Kazakhstan – Peru 5:3 (1:1, 0:1, 3:1, 1:0)
Classification 25th – 32nd place
25th-place game: China – Ukraine 9:11 (0:1, 1:4, 5:4, 3:2)
27th-place game: Slovenia – Israel 6:17 (1:3, 2:3, 1:5, 2:6)
29th-place game: Portugal – South Africa 8:7 (1:2, 2:2, 3:2, 2:1)
31st-place game: Zimbabwe – Czech Republic 7:8 (1:2, 3:0, 2:1, 1:5)
Group 33rd – 36th place
Round 3: Mexico – Puerto Rico 18:9, Malaysia – Uruguay 11:10.
Final standings: 33. Mexico 9 pts, 34. Malaysia 6, 35. Puerto Rico 3, 36. Uruguay 0.
More articles about the World U16 Championships
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: total-waterpolo.com
