Croatia defended its continental junior title, beating Spain 17:14 in the final of the 2026 European U20 Championships in Varna.
Italy won bronze, with a 15:13 shootout win over Montenegro (10:10 regular time)
The juniors thus extended Croatia’s dominance in men’s water polo age-group competitions in 2026, following gold medals won by younger Croatian players at the World U16 Championships and the World U18 Championships over the past month and a half.
The Bulgarian soil clearly suits the young Croatian players. The previous European Junior Championships also took place on the Bulgarian Riviera. In 2024, the U19 teams competed in the European Junior Championships in Burgas, where Croatia won gold, Montenegro finished second, and Spain secured third. Since the age-group limit has changed since then, many players from all teams competed in both tournaments.
But young water polo players from both nations have had a great summer, reaching the podium at each of the three age-group championships this year. As mentioned, Croatia won three golds.
Before silver in Varna, Spain had won the silver medal at the World U16 Championships in Zagreb and bronze at the World U18 Championships in Portugal.
Besides Croatia and Spain, three nations won medals at the three competitions: USA (silver at the U18 Worlds), Serbia (bronze at the U16 Worlds) and Italy (bronze at the U20 Europeans)
Spain controlled the final game for most of the first half. In the early stages, it took a two-goal lead (3:1) and maintained it until the end of the first period (5:3). In the 10th minute, the Spaniards increased their advantage to 6:3. Croatia found its rhythm and scored three straight goals to level at 6:6 (15th minute). In the dying seconds of the first half, Spain regained the lead, but Croatia leveled once again – 7:7.
Photo: European Aquatics
The Croats kept their momentum after the middle break. They opened the third period with two goals, going in front (9:7). Two minutes before the end of the third quarter, Spain caught up with the Croats – 10:10 and leveled two more times (11:11 and 12:12), but just 11 seconds from the end of this period, Burburan gave Croatia a new lead – 13:12. There were no goals in the final period for long. Croatia missed a great opportunity to double its advantage in the 28th minute – Spain’s goalkeeper Pina saved a shot from Jerkovic. However, a minute later, the Croats forced another penalty shot. This time, Susic sent the ball into the net, 14:12. The same player made it 15:12 from a counterattack with two and a half minutes left on the clock. Forty seconds after, Tonicic increased Croatia’s lead to 16:12, and the contest was over
Gabrijel Burburan and Maro Susic led Croatia to a 17:14 victory with five and four goals respectively. Albert Sabadell scored four for Spain.
Both Italy and Montenegro reached the bronze-medal game after convincing semifinal losses (Croatia beat Italy 19:11 and Spain defeated Montenegro 15:10). Italy seemed to recover better from a painful loss, dictating the pace for most of the match. After a balanced 2:2 first quarter, the “Settebello” took control and earned a 7:4 lead early in the third period. They had an 8:5 lead a few minutes later.
Montenegro scored the last goal in the third period (6:8), but Italy kept the lead until the middle of the final period. Italy held a 9:7 advantage with 04:23 remaining. However, Montenegro went on a 3:0 run and went ahead for the first time – 10:9 (31st minute). Italy leveled at 10:10 with 19 seconds to go, and the winner was decided in a penalty shootout. For the third time in the tournament, a match featuring Montenegro was prolonged to a shootout.
The Italians made no mistake in the shootout, for a 15:13 victory. Captains Maffei (Italy) and Gojkovic (Montenegro) were the best scorers with three goals each.
Maurizo Maffei (ITA) Photo by European Aquatics
The 5th-place match was also decided only after a penalty shootout, with Hungary beating Serbia 20:19 (14:14 in regular time).
There were several lead changes during the first three quarters, with Hungary more frequently ahead, although the difference was never more than one goal. Hungary led 11:10 heading into the final quarter and dictated the pace in the fourth period. The Hungarians built a three-goal lead in the 30th minute (14:11). The match appeared to be decided, but Serbia scored three goals in the final 125 seconds. Just one second before the final whistle, Novakovic equalized at 14:14.
However, after seven rounds of penalty shots, Hungary eventually secured the victory.
Captain Botond Balogh led Hungary with six goals. Luigi Canepa scored four for Serbia.
Greece finished in 7th place, defeating Germany 19:16. Although Germany never took the lead, it kept up with the Greeks for most of the match. The teams were tied at 9:9 with one minute remaining in the first half. Greece built a 11:9 lead with two goals in the last 44 seconds of the second quarter. From there, Greece stayed ahead. Germany reduced the gap to one several times. The last time was in the 27th minute (14:15). Greece quickly responded with two goals, went to 17:14, and managed to keep a safe distance until the end. The top scorer was Hofmann, who scored half of Germany’s goals – eight. Greece’s Lykoudis found the net six times.
2026 European U20 Championships, Elite Division, Varna, Day 7
FINAL
Spain – Croatia 14:17 (5:3, 2:4, 5:6, 2:4)
Spain:Sabadell 4, Nunez 2, Carrio 2, Perrone 2, Gomila 1, Prada 1, Lema 1, Rodriguez 1.
Croatia: Burburan 5, Susic 4, Dragosevic 2, Jerkovic 1, Zilic 1, Tonicic 1, Skejic 1.
Bronze-medal game
Montenegro – Italy 13:15 (2:2, 2:4, 2:2, 4:2, PSO 3:5)
Montenegro: Gojkovic 3, Kovacic 2, Moracanin 2, Durutovic 1, Samardzic 1.
Italy: Maffei 3, Scordo 2, De Simone 1, Valle 1, De Vecchis 1, Salipante 1, Chianese 1.
5th-place match
Hungary – Serbia 20:19 (4:3, 4:4, 3:3, 3:4, PSO 6:5)
7th-place match
Greece – Germany 19:16 (5:3, 6:6, 4:4, 4:3)
Final standings: 1. 2. 3. Italy, 4. Montenegro, 5. Hungary, 6. Serbia, 7. Greece, 8. Germany, 9. Malta, 10. Netherlands, 11. France, 12. Turkiye, 13.Romania, 14. Bulgaria, 15. Slovenia, 16. Czechia.
Neutral Athletes atop Division 1
The Neutral Athletes B (Russia) won gold in Division 1 of the European U20 Championships in Oeiras (Portugal).
They beat Israel 13:9 in the final. Both nations qualified for the Elite Division of the 2028 European U20 Championships
Final: Israel – Neutral Athletes B (Russia) 9:13 (3:3, 2:3, 1:4, 3:3)
Bronze-medal game: Poland – Belgium 17:15 (4:2, 5:6, 2:3, 2:2, PSO 4:2)
5th-place game: Georgia – Ukraine 13:12, 7th-place game: Neutral Athletes A (Belarus) – Portugal 15:16, 9th-place game: Switzerland – Great Britain 9:11, 11th-place game: Lithuania – Finland 29:11.
Final standings: 1. Neutral Athletes B, 2. Israel, 3. Poland, 4. Belgium, 5. Georgia, 6. Ukraine, 7. Portugal, 8. Neutral Athletes A, 9. Great Britain, 10. Switzerland, 11. Lithuania, 12. Finland.
All European junior champions
1970: USSR, 1971: Hungary, 1973: Hungary, 1975: USSR, 1976:Italy, 1978:USSR, 1980: Spain,
1982: Italy, 1984: Italy, 1986: West Germany, 1988: Yugoslavia, 1990: Yugoslavia,
1992: Hungary, 1994: Hungary, 1996:FR Yugoslavia, 1998: FR Yugoslavia, 2000:FR Yugoslavia,
2002: FR Yugoslavia, 2004: Serbia and Montenegro, 2006: Serbia, 2008:Montenegro, 2010: Italy,
2012: Italy, 2014: Serbia, 2016: Serbia, 2018: Greece, 2020: canceled
2022: Serbia, 2024: Croatia, 2026: Croatia
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: total-waterpolo.com
